Novel
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
三國演義
Luo Guanzhong · 1522
Synopsis
At the end of the Han dynasty, the empire falls apart under the blows of the Yellow Turban rebellion. Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei swear brotherhood in a peach orchard and pledge to serve the Han, while General Dong Zhuo seizes power. Liu Bei wins over the strategist Zhuge Liang. From 169 to 280, three kingdoms, Wei, Shu and Wu, contend for the empire through arms, alliances and stratagems, and clash notably in the great battle of Red Cliffs.
Context
The novel draws mainly on Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms, in the third century, and on the tales of storytellers since the Song; a narrative printed between 1321 and 1323 already brought them together. The first printed edition of the novel dates from 1522, in twenty-four volumes; the New World Encyclopedia mentions an edition dated 1494. In the 1660s, the Mao recension condensed it into one hundred and twenty chapters, which became the standard text. In French, Nghiêm Toản and Louis Ricaud translated it for Flammarion, a translation completed by Jean and Angélique Lévi in 2009; Chao-yin Durand-Sun produced another with You Feng.
Who it is for
An immense novel with hundreds of characters; two French translations exist, from Flammarion and from You Feng.
Prizes and reception
Moss Roberts published a complete English translation in 1991, after that of Charles Brewitt-Taylor in 1925.
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