About Three Kingdom

Myths from the Three Kingdoms era existed as oral traditions before written compilations. With their focus on the history of Han Chinese, the stories grew in popularity during the reign of the foreign Mongol emperors of the Yuan Dynasty. During the succeeding Ming Dynasty, an interest in plays and novels resulted in further expansions and retelling of the stories.

The earliest attempt to combine these stories into a written work was Sanguozhi Pinghua (三國誌評話，三国志评话; Sānguózhì Pínghuà), literally "Story of Sanguozhi", published sometime between 1321 and 1323. This version combined themes of legend, magic, and morality to appeal to the peasant class. Elements of reincarnation and karma were woven into this version of the story.

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is traditionally attributed to Luo Guanzhong, who lived sometime between 1315 and 1400 (late Yuan to early Ming period). Some scholars argue for an origin from around the second half of the fifteenth century (mid-Ming) based on characteristics of the text. This theory is extensively developed in Andrew Plaks' Four Masterworks of the Ming Novel.^[3] It was written in partly vernacular and partly Classical Chinese and was considered the standard text for 300 years. The author made use of available historical records, including the Records of the Three Kingdoms compiled by Chen Shou, which covered events from the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 up to the unification of the three kingdoms under the Jin Dynasty in AD 280. The novel also includes material from Tang Dynasty poetic works, Yuan Dynasty operas and his own personal interpretation of elements such as virtue and legitimacy. The author combined this historical knowledge with a gift for storytelling to create a rich tapestry of personalities, and initially published it in 24 volumes. It was copied by hand until first printed in 1522^[4] as Sanguozhi tongsu yanyi^[5] In the 1660s, during Kangxi's reign in the Qing Dynasty, Mao Lun (毛綸; 毛纶)^[2] and his son Mao Zonggang (毛宗崗; 毛宗岗) significantly edited the text, fitting it into 120 chapters, and abbreviating the title to Sanguozhi yanyi^[5]. The text was reduced from 900,000 to 750,000 characters; significant editing was done for narrative flow; use of third party poems was reduced and shifted from conventional verse to finer pieces; and most passages praising Cao Cao's advisers and commanders were removed.^[6] Scholars have long debated whether Mao's viewpoint was anti-Qing (identifying Southern Ming remnants with Shu-Han) or pro-Qing.^[7] The previous version was almost completely supplanted by Mao's edition, which is considered to be the superior literary work.^[8]

This novel reflects the Confucian values that were prominent at the time it was written. According to Confucian moral standards, loyalty to one's family, friends, and superiors are important measures for distinguishing good and bad people.