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Derivatives

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance

The historical novel that fixed the empty fort, Diaochan, and the borrowed arrows. Most readers meet the Qing revision by the Mao family, not an earlier print.

This entry follows the Romance and later storytelling. The Records do not contain it, or keep only a faint parallel.

Form
Book
Date
Shaped about the 14th century; the Mao edition is the usual text
Creator
Attributed to Luo Guanzhong; revised by Mao Lun and Mao Zonggang

The Romance is not Chen Shou’s book. It became a chapter novel on the base of Song and Yuan storytelling and is traditionally credited to Luo Guanzhong. Earlier prints, such as the Jiajing Sanguozhi tongsu yanyi, are not the same as the 120-chapter text most people read. In the early Qing, Mao Lun and Mao Zonggang cut, rewrote, and commented. They opened the book with Yang Shen’s ci, “The great river rolls east.” The television theme follows that tradition. It is not a Han song.

The novel keeps the order of Guandu, Red Cliffs, Yiling, and Hanzhong, and it rewrites motives, speeches, and the explanation of victory. Entries on this site marked “romance” have their center in this book and its storytelling sources. Read it beside the Records. Do not replace a year with a chapter title.