The Literature Book

66

WE THREE WILL SWEAR

BROTHERHOOD AND UNITY

OF AIMS AND SENTIMENTS

ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS

(14TH CENTURY), LUO GUANZHONG

A

s the first of China’s four

great classical novels,

Romance of the Three

Kingdoms is a hugely significant

and influential work of literature.

As with the other three works—

The Water Margin, Journey to

the West, and Dream of the Red

Chamber—it marked a radical

departure from the “high style” of

Chinese poetic and philosophical

literature. Aimed at an audience

of common people, it employed

techniques akin to oral storytelling,

such as the use of vernacular

language and songs, and addressed

the reader directly. Despite being

heavily based on historical texts,

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

(like the other three classic Chinese

texts) is recognizably a novel.

It is a feat of imaginative writing

sustained over 800,000 words in

translation, and featuring more

than a thousand characters.

The first novel?

The book describes the collapse

of China’s Han dynasty into three

kingdoms in the 3rd century ce,

and the 111 years of warfare that

followed. Written over a thousand

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

China’s four great

classical novels

AFTER

14th century The second

great classical novel, The

Water Margin by Shi Nai’an, is

the story of a band of outlaws

who oppose a corrupt ruler.

16th century The third great

classical novel, Journey to the

West, by Wu Cheng’en, tells of

a Buddhist monk’s pilgrimage

from China to India.

c.1618 Some scholars consider

The Plum in the Golden Vase,

its author unknown, to be the

fourth Chinese classical novel.

Although hugely popular, it

was suppressed because of

its overt sensual realism.

c.1791 The generally accepted

fourth great classical novel,

Dream of the Red Chamber

by Cao Xueqin, focuses

on the rise and fall of an

aristocratic family.

Luo Guanzhong

Although his existence is not in

question, very little else can be

confirmed about the life of Luo

Guanzhong (c.1330–c.1400). He

is traditionally regarded as the

author of the first of China’s four

great classical novels, Romance

of the Three Kingdoms, and

coauthor or editor of the second,

The Water Margin. He is also

thought to have written story

collections that deal with

China’s dynastic past, including

the fantastical tale The Three

Sui Quash the Demon’s Revolt.

But in 14th-century China,

attributing authorship to one

person may in fact denote that

they were the chief compiler and

editor of a large number of texts

by earlier storytellers.

Other key works

The Water Margin (as editor)

The Three Sui Quash the

Demons’ Revolt

The End of the Tang Dynasty

and the Period of the Five

Dynasties

Chronicle of the Sui and Tang

Dynasties

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