Mr. Luo Guanzhong, a novelist of the Ming Dynasty, carefully screened and refined according to the history book "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and various folk materials, and created the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", one of the four famous works in China.
In a "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", after Luo Guanzhong's portrayal, many vivid and vivid characters are described, such as Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhuge Liang, Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Sun Quan, Zhou Yu and so on.
However, if I ask you a question, it is the question of the title of this article: Who is the real first protagonist in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms?
There may be many readers who will say a lot of different characters, but it is nothing more than the characters mentioned above, right?
In fact, Mr. Zheng Zhenduo, a modern literary scholar, said in the article "The Evolution of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms": "Although a "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is said to be a narrative of the Three Kingdoms, it is actually just a 'biography of Zhuge Kongming'"
Was it a bit of a surprise? So many characters emerged in the chaotic world of the Three Kingdoms, even if Cao Cao was not the protagonist, should it be Liu Bei? How could it be a military master under Liu Bei?
In fact, if we carefully read the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", we will find that in the book, the author spent the most effort to describe Zhuge Liang.
When Mr. Luo Guanzhong created the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he eliminated materials that were detrimental to Zhuge Liang's image, and at the same time fictionalized and rendered many plots favorable to Zhuge Liang, making it more legendary and idealized.
Specifically, how to deify Zhuge Liang in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" can be seen from the following three aspects:
First, change historical facts and exaggerate Zhuge Liang's ability and achievements.
As a novel, most of the highlights of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" are related to Zhuge Liang. From the novel's "unknown three-point world" to "the fall of the Great Star of Wuzhangyuan", the history of the Three Kingdoms in the past thirty years is completely centered on Zhuge Liang. Such as grass boat borrowing arrows, tongue battle group Confucianism, wisdom calculation Huarong, three qi Zhou Yu, six out of Qishan, empty city plan, seven capture Meng and so on.
In the novel, most of Zhuge Liang's legendary achievements are based on the author's fiction, and some even do not hesitate to rob the beauty of others. In order to highlight Zhuge Liang, the author deliberately demeans others everywhere to set off, such as pang tong, Zhou Yu and other images.
We must know that in the Song Dynasty's great literary hero Su Shi wrote the famous article "Nian Nu Jiao Chibi Huaigu", he praised Zhou Yu: "When Gongjin was young, Xiao Qiao was first married, and he was majestic and heroic. Lupine scarf, between talk and laughter, the tree ashes disappear. ”
If the Battle of Chibi, which occurred at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang's merits were higher than Zhou Yu's, I think Su Shi of the Song Dynasty stood in front of the Chibi site and would never praise Zhou Gongjin so much.
Second, deliberately belittle Liu Bei's ability and role.
While vigorously exalting Zhuge Liang, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms not only belittled Zhou Yu and others, but also deliberately degraded the ability of Zhuge Liang's protagonist Liu Bei, thus forming a huge contrast between the two.
Before meeting Zhuge Liang, Cao Cao praised Liu Bei as a "hero" and Zhou Yu also called him a "hero", which is not a false praise.
In the novel, Liu Bei's talent and intelligence are not enough to be a "tyrant", especially after getting Zhuge Liang, it is a sharp decline, and sometimes the IQ is even worse than that of a child.
The most typical example is that in the chapter of the fifty-sixth "Kong Ming Three Qi Zhou Yu", Zhou Yu set up a false way to take advantage of the opportunity to take advantage of Jingzhou's plan, Zhuge Liang laughed: "This kind of strategy, Xiao'er can't hide it!" But Liu Bei repeatedly asked: "What does this mean?" and "How?" ”
This kind of excessive description made the Qing Dynasty novel critic Mao Zonggang unable to see it, and he commented: "Xiao'er can't hide it, but adults (referring to Liu Bei) don't know!" ”
The novel either deliberately ignores Liu Bei's exploits in the canonical history or is transferred to Zhuge Liang. For example, the fire attack of Bowangpo, in the "Biography of Wei Shu Li Dian" and the "Biography of Shu Shu And Ancestors" of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is recorded that Liu Bei personally designed and personally sent soldiers, and none of them mentionEd Zhuge Liang, but in the novel, all of them were attributed to Zhuge Liang in the form of "the first skill of the fledgling".
After Zhuge Liang became Liu Bei's military master, Liu Bei's role was only to "print Zhuge Liang with a sword", watching Kong Ming calmly dispatch and command, but Zhuge Liang did not explain all the measures, making Liu Bei "also confused".
In addition, after the Battle of Chibi, Liu Bei resisted Eastern Wu and led his troops west into Shudi, which was originally Liu Bei's great deeds, but they were erased by Mr. Luo Guanzhong, and even let Liu Bei play the role of a mistake, and after making things worse, Zhuge Liang came forward to clean up.
Third, the novel exaggerates Zhuge Liang's guiding role in Liu Bei.
According to historical records, Zhuge Liang should be relied on in the true sense for Liu Chan, the lord of the Shu Dynasty, and for Liu Bei's lifetime, Zhuge Liang was only an excellent assistant under Liu Bei.
However, in the novel, Liu Bei also seems to have become Zhuge Liang's "Ah Dou". After hearing Wolong's teachings in Longzhong, this tyrant not only obeyed Zhuge Liang, but even completely lost his opinion and became a puppet manipulated by him.
The most typical example is Liu Bei's visit to Jiangdong to recruit relatives, which begins and ends in the Book of Shu and the Biography of the Ancestors, whether it is entering Eastern Wu to get married or getting rid of Sun Quan's disguised house arrest, it is Liu Bei who has made up his own mind. Zhuge Liang instead obstructed, but his opinion was not adopted by Liu Bei.
However, in the book "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Liu Bei was kept in the dark from beginning to end, and he was first worried that "he could go into a dangerous place", but Zhuge Liang did not care about his "doubts and unresolved", and "even taught Sun Qian to go to Jiangnan to talk about family affairs" (see the fifty-fourth time).
After that, although Liu Bei "doubted and did not dare to go" and "felt uneasy in his heart", Zhuge Liang still dispatched everything in the way of "tips and tricks". Kong Ming used one bag after another in advance thousands of miles away, covering the whole process of Liu Bei's marriage in Eastern Wu, and Liu Bei could only foolishly "act according to the plan".
Although these plots are interesting to read in the novel, they are not at all reasonable, unless Zhuge Liang is really a living immortal, not only clairvoyant, downwind ear, but also can pre-read the psychology of Sun Quan and others in Eastern Wu.
In short, as a successful novel, the author deliberately portrays a certain person in it, then this person must be the first male protagonist in the book, Zhuge Liang is the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Mr. Luo Guanzhong most focused on describing a character, so Zhuge Liang is the first protagonist in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
This article is referenced from: "Three Kingdoms Idle Tan"