Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Fandom
Name:	Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Abbreviation(s):	SGYY, R3K
Creator:	Luo Guanzhong
Date(s):	14th century
Medium:	novel
Country of Origin:	China
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Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo Yanyi) is a historical novel written in the 14th century about historical events of the 3rd century CE in China. The novel combines official bureaucratic historical records with folk tales and legends to create a remarkably readable epic, following the period of conflict between the collapse of the Han dynasty and formation of the Jin dynasty in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. First translated into English in the late 19th century, it has inspired several adaptations in the form of TV series, video games, and others.

Canon

Original Novel

The empire, once divided, must unite; one united, must divide

Such is the opening line of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. We follow the history of China and a huge array of characters from the beginning of the break-up of the Han Dynasty in 180 CE to re-unification under the Jin dynasty in 280 CE. The title derives from the titular Three Kingdoms, Wei, Wu, and Shu, which formed around 220 CE, having gobbled up or consolidated numerous minor warlords and provincial governors. The novel follows several main themes, including heroic duels, great battles, clever stratagems, loyalty and betrayal, the conflict between filial piety and duty, and ultimately the tragedy that virtue is no guarantee of success.

At the beginning of the novel, the Yellow Turban rebellions flare up all over China in response to the central government's ineffectiveness in dealing with natural disasters. Several major characters get their start by heading out to heroically defeat the rebels and restore order. Central authority being weak, local governors and warlords begin to recruit their own armies. One of them, Dong Zhuo - the closest thing R3K has to a villain - takes over the capital and makes the child Emperor their puppet. In response, other warlords form a coalition, which however dissolves without doing more than denying Dong Zhuo control over most of eastern and southern China.

Dong Zhuo is betrayed and killed by his adopted son Lu Bu, who is universally acknowledged to be the best warrior of the era. The child emperor is passed around and ends up in the hands of Cao Cao, who mostly through cleverness and subterfuge consolidates control over northern China. Meanwhile, Liu Bei - the closest thing R3K has to a hero - along with his sworn brothers Zhang Fei and Guan Yu sets up the kingdom of Shu in the southwest, and the Sun clan establishes the kingdom of Wu in the southeast.

Liu Bei recruits Zhughe Liang, aka Kongming, who becomes the prime minister of Shu and organizes the defense of Shu allied with Wu against Wei. Zhughe Liang is evidently the favorite character of the author (or perhaps of the folk tales he drew from), and the middle of the novel is full of Zhughe Liang being clever and outsmarting the more powerful neighbors of Shu.

But the action of the novel is long enough that all the characters who were introduced and the reader has grown attached to die of old age or in battle. Their heirs, who are mostly less compelling characters, carry on the fight. Finally Cao Cao's heirs in Wei defeat and conquer Shu and Wu, but are themselves usurped by the Sima clan, who establish the Jin dynasty.

Notable Adaptations

Two TV series made in China in 1994 and 2010 stand out. The story is so complex that a TV series with 100+ episodes is the only feasible way to do it justice.

The video games series Dynasty Warriors (Koei, 1997-), Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Koei, 1985-), and Total War: Three Kingdoms (2019-) have served as an entry point for many.

Archives and Communities

• https://kongming.net/ began in 2002 as a site primarily focused on the Koei video games, but has since expanded to include forums, fan fiction, essays, and a community-made english translation of the entire novel
• https://the-scholars.com/ the forum site associated with kongming.net and run by the same core volunteer group