Three Kingdoms And Chinese Culture

This is the first book-length treatment in English of Three Kingdoms (Sanguo yanyi), often regarded as China's first great classical novel. Set in the historical period of the disunion (220–280 AD), Three Kingdoms fuses history and popular tradition to create a sweeping epic of heroism and political ambition. The essays in this volume explore the multifarious connections between Three Kingdoms and Chinese culture from a variety of disciplines, including history, literature, philosophy, art history, theater, cultural studies, and communications, demonstrating the diversity of backgrounds against which this novel can be studied. Some of the most memorable episodes and figures in Chinese literature appear within its pages, and Three Kingdoms has had a profound influence on personal, social, and political behavior, even language usage, in the daily life of people in China today. The novel has inspired countless works of theater and art, and, more recently, has been the source for movies and a television series. Long popular in other countries of East Asia, such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, Three Kingdoms has also been introduced to younger generations around the globe through a series of extremely popular computer games. This study helps create a better understanding of the work's unique place in Chinese culture.

A multi-disciplinary exploration of China’s first great classical novel, Three Kingdoms, and its influence on Chinese culture.

“A material epic with an astonishing fidelity to history."—New York Times Book Review Three Kingdoms tells the story of the fateful last reign of the Han dynasty (206 B.C.–A.D. 220), when the Chinese empire was divided into three warring kingdoms. Writing some twelve hundred years later, the Ming author Luo Guanzhong drew on histories, dramas, and poems portraying the crisis to fashion a sophisticated, compelling narrative that has become the Chinese national epic. This abridged edition captures the novel's intimate and unsparing view of how power is wielded, how diplomacy is conducted, and how wars are planned and fought. As important for Chinese culture as the Homeric epics have been for the West, this Ming dynasty masterpiece continues to be widely influential in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam and remains a great work of world literature.

This exciting new translation of the Chinese classic is designed to delight modern readers. The Three Kingdoms is an epic Chinese novel written over six centuries ago. It recounts in vivid historical detail the turbulent years at the close of the Han Dynasty when China broke into three competing kingdoms and over half the population was killed or driven from their homes. readers will experience the loyalty and treachery, the brotherhood and rivalry of China's legendary heroes and villains during the most tumultuous period in Chinese history. Part myth, part reality, The Three Kingdoms is considered the most significant work in classic Chinese literature. Many Chinese people view it not only as a work of art but also as a moral guide to success in life and business. Foreigners often read it to gain insights into Chinese society and culture. From the saga of The Three Kingdoms, readers will learn how great warriors motivated their troops and enhanced their influence while disguising their weaknesses and turning the strengths of others against them. Complete with footnotes and a detailed character list, this readable new edition is sure to thrill today's readers from all over the world. Full of dramatic twists and turns, this third volume offers an exciting conclusion to the tale of Liu Bei, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu.

"The turn of the third century CE—known as the Jian’an era or Three Kingdoms period—holds double significance for the Chinese cultural tradition. Its writings laid the foundation of classical poetry and literary criticism. Its historical personages and events have also inspired works of poetry, fiction, drama, film, and art throughout Chinese history, including Internet fantasy literature today. There is a vast body of secondary literature on these two subjects individually, but very little on their interface.The image of the Jian’an era, with its feasting, drinking, heroism, and literary panache, as well as intense male friendship, was to return time and again in the romanticized narrative of the Three Kingdoms. How did Jian’an bifurcate into two distinct nostalgias, one of which was the first paradigmatic embodiment of wen (literary graces, cultural patterning), and the other of wu (heroic martial virtue)? How did these largely segregated nostalgias negotiate with one another? And how is the predominantly male world of the Three Kingdoms appropriated by young women in contemporary China? The Halberd at Red Cliff investigates how these associations were closely related in their complex origins and then came to be divergent in their later metamorphoses."

This book covers the tumultuous era from Three Kingdoms to The Northern and Southern dynasties.The Three Kingdoms from 220-280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the states of Wei, Shu, and Wu. The Three Kingdoms period started with the end of the Han dynasty and was followed by the Jin dynasty. Start date: 189 AD. End date: 263 AD The Northern and Southern dynasties was a period in the history of China that lasted from 386 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Wu Hu states. It is sometimes considered as the latter part of a longer period known as the Six Dynasties. Start date: 420 AD. End date: 589 AD (Wikipedia)The origins of the Chinese people go far back in time, and Chinese culture is extensive and rich in nature. It is the traditional Chinese high Regard for history that has made this possible.中华民族源远流长，中国文化博大精深，其所以能如此，乃由于国人重视历史之故。 History elucidates the way in which the nations of each age rise and Fall, and the way the virtuous ancients built the character necessary to Rule peacefully. History enables us to distinguish between ourselves and others, and to understand the great principle underlying right and wrong. From history we learn to regard as right what is right, and as wrong what is wrong, thereby leaving the world free of moral ambiguity.历史乃所以明历代国家兴衰隆替之道，古圣先贤修齐治平之理，辨人我之异同，明是非之大端。是者是之，非者非之，使黑白无所遁形于天地之间。The Chinese people are proud of their long and continuous history; history holds a special significance for the Chinese. 悠久而且绵延不断的历史使中国人感到自豪；历史使中国而言是有特殊意义的。This book is one of the Chinese Culture Story Series. The whole set of Chinese Culture Stories Series, 999 articles, 18 categories. Perfect for HSK 4-6, IGCSE Chinese, IB Chinese & School extra readings. Find the QR code on the first page for the best price for the whole set of books. New launching BEST price at http: //edeo.biz/26749 中国的史书浩瀚如海，在中国历史上可歌可泣的人物和事件，不可胜数，所以大家常说：一部二十五史，不知从何说起。我们从历代的史书中，以教育性、趣味性、知识性为取材标准，用简洁的文字，将中国历史撷精择要的呈现给读者。Chinese histories are abundant. In Chinese history the stories of glorious and tragic men and events are so numerous that they cannot be counted. Therefore, people often sya, " One does not know where to begin discussing the Twenty-five Histories. " The historical stories are selected from many stroies with clear and simple wording, they present a complete Chinese history concisely to our readers.This book is one of the Chinese Culture Story Series. The whole set of Chinese Culture Stories Series, 999 articles, 18 categories. Perfect for HSK 4-6, IGCSE Chinese, IB Chinese & School extra readings. Find the QR code on the first page for the best price for the whole set of books. New launching BEST price at http: //edeo.biz/26749

“A material epic with an astonishing fidelity to history."—New York Times Book Review Three Kingdoms tells the story of the fateful last reign of the Han dynasty (206 B.C.–A.D. 220), when the Chinese empire was divided into three warring kingdoms. Writing some twelve hundred years later, the Ming author Luo Guanzhong drew on histories, dramas, and poems portraying the crisis to fashion a sophisticated, compelling narrative that has become the Chinese national epic. This abridged edition captures the novel's intimate and unsparing view of how power is wielded, how diplomacy is conducted, and how wars are planned and fought. As important for Chinese culture as the Homeric epics have been for the West, this Ming dynasty masterpiece continues to be widely influential in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam and remains a great work of world literature.

After the collapse of the Han dynasty in the third century CE, China divided along a north-south line. Mark Lewis traces the changes that both underlay and resulted from this split in a period that saw the geographic redefinition of China, more engagement with the outside world, significant changes to family life, developments in the literary and social arenas, and the introduction of new religions. The Yangzi River valley arose as the rice-producing center of the country. Literature moved beyond the court and capital to depict local culture, and newly emerging social spaces included the garden, temple, salon, and country villa. The growth of self-defined genteel families expanded the notion of the elite, moving it away from the traditional great Han families identified mostly by material wealth. Trailing the rebel movements that toppled the Han, the new faiths of Daoism and Buddhism altered every aspect of life, including the state, kinship structures, and the economy. By the time China was reunited by the Sui dynasty in 589 ce, the elite had been drawn into the state order, and imperial power had assumed a more transcendent nature. The Chinese were incorporated into a new world system in which they exchanged goods and ideas with states that shared a common Buddhist religion. The centuries between the Han and the Tang thus had a profound and permanent impact on the Chinese world.