The Romance of the Three Kingdoms
2 min readNovels of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
The late years of the Yuan Dynasty and early years of the Ming Dynasty saw the emergence of Chinese novels.They were not created by a single writer but developed through ages by people of many generations and finally written down by a single author.Three famous novels are recommended here.
The Romance ofthe Three Kingdoms
In vernacular fiction one of the greatest novelists was Luo Guanzhong(罗贯中)(1330一1400)(see Figure67),known for his masterpiece,The Romance ofthe Three Kingdoms.
Figure 67 Luo Guanzhong The story begins in 169 and ends in 280,telling the battles and complicated connections among the Three Kingdoms—Wei,Shu and Wu.Cao Cao stands for the north power.He holds the Han’s emperor under duress and founds the Wei Kingdom.In the south,Liu Bei,who once sold straw mats and shoes,founds the Shu Kingdom because of his Imperial Uncle title and reputation;while Sun Quan,head of Wu Kingdom seating in the southeast.There are also many politicians and knights helping the three persons.In order to consolidate China,Cao Cao makes several battles.On the other hand,the other two men want to enlarge their force and power to be king of the unified China.On the other hand,he wants to unite China and put the country under his control.
After several generations,the kingdom of the Caos was usurped by the Sima Family who used to be the subordinates.
They founded the Xi Jin Kingdom.Through many battles,lastly,the Xi Jin Kingdom run by the Sima family defeats the Kingdoms of Shu and Wu.They united China temporarily.