San kuo; or, Romance of the three kingdoms (volume 1 of 2) by Guanzhong Luo
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (traditional Chinese: 三國演義; simplified Chinese: 三国演义; pinyin: Sānguó Yǎnyì) is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set during the turbulent final years of the Han dynasty and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period, spanning from the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 CE to the reunification of China proper under the Western Jin dynasty in 280. The novel is based primarily on the Records of
the Three Kingdoms, written by Chen Shou in the 3rd century. Blending history with fiction, the narrative romanticizes the lives of warlords and their retainers, centering on the three rival power blocs that emerged from the collapse of the Han dynasty and eventually formed the states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The novel, with a pro-Shu perspective, depicts the political maneuvering, military campaigns, and personal rivalries among these states as they struggled for supremacy over nearly a century. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is acclaimed as one of the Four Great Classic Novels of Chinese literature; it has a total of 800,000 words and nearly a thousand dramatic characters (mostly historical) in 120 chapters. The novel is among the most beloved works of literature in East Asia, and its literary influence in the region has been compared to that of the works of Shakespeare on English literature. Its impact is also extensive and eminent in Southeast Asia, with many of its characters becoming household names there. It is arguably the most widely read historical novel in late imperial and modern China. Herbert Giles stated that for the Chinese themselves, this is regarded as the "greatest among their countless novels". (This summary is from Wikipedia.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Luo, Guanzhong, 1330?-1400? |
|---|---|
| Translator | Brewitt-Taylor, C. H. (Charles Henry), 1857-1938 |
| Title | San kuo; or, Romance of the three kingdoms (volume 1 of 2) |
| Original Publication | Shanghai: Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1925. |
| Note | Translation of first part of: 三國志演義 (San guo zhi yan yi). |
| Note | Wikipedia page about this book: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms |
| Credits | Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net/ for Project Gutenberg (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Books project.) |
| Summary |
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (traditional Chinese: 三國演義; simplified Chinese: 三国演义; pinyin: Sānguó Yǎnyì) is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set during the turbulent final years of the Han dynasty and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period, spanning from the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 CE to the reunification of China proper under the Western Jin dynasty in 280. The novel is based primarily on the Records of the Three Kingdoms, written by Chen Shou in the 3rd century. Blending history with fiction, the narrative romanticizes the lives of warlords and their retainers, centering on the three rival power blocs that emerged from the collapse of the Han dynasty and eventually formed the states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The novel, with a pro-Shu perspective, depicts the political maneuvering, military campaigns, and personal rivalries among these states as they struggled for supremacy over nearly a century. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is acclaimed as one of the Four Great Classic Novels of Chinese literature; it has a total of 800,000 words and nearly a thousand dramatic characters (mostly historical) in 120 chapters. The novel is among the most beloved works of literature in East Asia, and its literary influence in the region has been compared to that of the works of Shakespeare on English literature. Its impact is also extensive and eminent in Southeast Asia, with many of its characters becoming household names there. It is arguably the most widely read historical novel in late imperial and modern China. Herbert Giles stated that for the Chinese themselves, this is regarded as the "greatest among their countless novels". (This summary is from Wikipedia.) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PL: Language and Literatures: Languages and literatures of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania |
| Subject | China -- History -- Three kingdoms, 220-265 -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 77416 |
| Release Date | Dec 7, 2025 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 3944 downloads in the last 30 days. |
| Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free! | |