Volumes 11,12,15, 17, 18, 19, 20 of this edition. The Three Kingdoms (Sanguo yanyi ????; also called Sanguo zhi yanyi ?????) This romance about the war between the three kingdoms Wei ?, Wu ? and Shu ? is said to be a writing by Luo Guanzhong ??? (1494), but it was probably already written during the Yuan dynasty. It developed from popular stories about the heroes of that historical period, their strategies, tactics and battles. Comparing the novel with the historical book Sanguo zhi (written during the Jin dynasty) and the Song time "Summary of the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government" Zizhi tongjian gangmu ??????, we see that there is a great difference in judgment about justified rule. Contrasting to the historical book, where the ruler of Wei, Cao Cao ??, is seen as the legal ruler of all China, the later histories and the romance see him as an usurpator of the throne that has to be possessed by the Liu family, whose descendant Liu Bei ?? was ruling in Shu. Central figures in the novel are heroes like the wise tactician Zhuge Liang ???, Zhang Fei ?? or the red faced semi-god Guan Yu ??. Not describing in black and white, the novel judges nevertheless between the good side, the followes of Liu Bei, and their conterparts like Sun Quan ??, king of Wu, and the usurper Dong Zhuo ??.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Luo Guanzhong

Jin Zhoung Book Store

2001.046.005.410