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Luo Guanzhong

Author of Three Kingdoms

103 Works 3,455 Members 53 Reviews 4 Favorited

About the Author

Very little is known about Lo the man, and even the extent of his participation in the works bearing his name is in some doubt. All we can say for certain is that he lived during the transition from Yuan to Ming dynasties, hailed from T'ai-yuan (in Shansi Province), and spent at least part of his show more adult life in Hangchow. There, he authored three dramas, one of which survives, and worked on two historical narratives that eventually became the famous fiction masterpieces "Outlaws of the Marsh" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Traditionally, Lo is given as the first author of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", whereas he is listed as secondary author after Shih Nai-an for "Outlaws of the Marsh". However, it seems probable that he was actually the primary writer of both. He based the first on the historical work "Account of the Three Kingdoms", about events following the breakup of the Han empire (168--265), and based the second on storyteller's material compiled by Shih about a legendary band of outlaws active during the reign of Hui-tsung in the Northern Sung (1101-1125). Nevertheless, in deference to tradition, "Outlaws of the Marsh" will be discussed under the entry for Shih Nai-an. Lo's main contribution to Chinese literature in the Three Kingdoms epic is in taking incidents recorded in history and long borrowed by the storytelling tradition, and molding them into a coherent chronological narrative. In the process, he attempts to sift out the patently false or exaggerated elements while maintaining liveliness and artistic interest. His goal seems to have been to reach a wide reading audience with his lessons, while not pandering to vulgar cravings for Taoist magicians' stunts or Buddhist popular proofs of retribution in the workings of history. Instead, he invites his readers to reflect on how ambition affects different human characters at a time when the stakes are very high---a dynastic title is the prize. Lo's is a complex vision of reality; his heroes are not rigidly black or white, and virtue is not necessarily rewarded. But his universe is not without laws, and his portrayal of events illustrates the Confucian belief that one's actions determine the outcome of events. According to a younger contemporary, Lo was a shy and retiring man. Perhaps his personal modesty is mirrored by the style of his great narrative, which is generally lacking in rhetorical flourish, but yet not highly colloquial---a kind of simplified classical Chinese. With his plain style and sober attention to historical fact, the result could have been a dry chronicle; but such was Lo's passion for his subject, and his ability to achieve character that generations of Chinese readers have seen the Three Kingdoms period through his eyes and even today admire his heroes and hate his villains. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Image found at cultural-china.com

Series

Works by Luo Guanzhong

Three Kingdoms (1300) 1,204 copies
The Water Margin: Outlaws of the Marsh (0014) — Editor — 947 copies
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Vol. 1 (2002) — Author — 323 copies
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Vol. 2 (2002) — Author — 185 copies
三国演义 (2007) 2 copies
三國演義 (2016) 2 copies
Sangokushi engi. 3 (2014) 1 copy
三国演义 少年版 (2000) 1 copy
Three Kingdoms vol 1 (2004) 1 copy
Ĉe akvorando (2004) 1 copy

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****Romance of the Three Kingdoms - Year long group read in 2021 Category Challenge (October 2021)
Group Read, February 2020: The Water Margin in 1001 Books to read before you die (May 2020)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms in 1001 Books to read before you die (August 2011)
Three Kingdoms - Read along in Ancient China (September 2008)

Reviews

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a 15th-century novelization of the events of China's 3rd-century Three Kingdoms period. The novel revolves around Liu "Xuande" Bei and his chief minister Zhuge "Kongming" Liang as they combat Cao Cao, a Chinese prime minister who has made the Imperial family his puppet rulers. Mixed into this is the sometimes-ally sometimes-enemy Sun clan, whose Southland has declared independence from the declining Imperial court. While much of the book revolves around military tactics (which here is often outright trickery), the later stages of the book pit Xuande's loyalty to his two oath-brothers against his desire for good strategy and administration (the latter of which is almost always backed by Kongming). As historical novelizations do, this account attributes conversations and emotions to characters that could not possibly be known, but the author stays pretty true to historical events and timelines. Unlike in many modern novels, all of the main characters in this story grow feeble and die--not just in physical stature, but also in mental acuity, which is a little heartbreaking to read. While I generally gravitate toward more modern works, I definitely appreciated this book in its context as one of the great works of Chinese literature.… (more)
½
 
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Phrim | 17 other reviews | Feb 8, 2024 |
Read the abridged version a while ago, but reading the Iliad made me think about this book again. Someday, I'd like to find and read the whole thing. It's a good look a Chinese war history. Just a heads up, there are several characters to keep track of and with similar names. The reason I read this though was because I enjoy learning about ancient China and because of the video game Dynasty Warriors. Having played that game actually helped me a little with who was who in the novel.
 
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Ghost_Boy | 1 other review | Aug 25, 2022 |
only read 50 pages...o my.. maybe a classic ... but too many names to follow and so forth. I need a structure - a little bit please!
 
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apende | 3 other reviews | Jul 12, 2022 |

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Associated Authors

Yu Sumei Translator
Patrick Hanan Translator
Robert E. Hegel Introduction
Moss Roberts Translator
Sidney Shapiro Translator
Lin Yutang Introduction
Franz Kuhn Translator
J. H. Jackson Translator
Shi Changyu Introduction

Statistics

Works
103
Members
3,455
Popularity
#7,359
Rating
4.1
Reviews
53
ISBNs
314
Languages
12
Favorited
4

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