The historical masterpiece Romance of the Three Kingdoms, presumably no one knows, and no one really has not seen it.
This novel tells the story of Chinese history, from the late Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms of Wei Shu and Wu in the Three Kingdoms Era, which is less than a hundred years of story, because of its grand portrayal of war scenes, Zhuge Liang, Cao Cao, Guan Yu and other characters of the magic. It has become a model of classical literature that countless people have enlightened.
For the stories and characters in the Three Kingdoms, few people will not know. For the Shu Han Kingdom headed by Liu Bei who eventually failed to restore the Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, Jiang Wei and others ultimately failed in their achievements, and there are probably few people who do not regret it.
This is true of today's people, and it is also true of the ancients.
Therefore, about 100 years ago, a Republic of China literati lamented the situation of warlords at that time, and because he was familiar with the Three Kingdoms, he wrote a book that can be called the earliest and most refreshing Three Kingdoms and humanities - anti-Three Kingdoms Romance.
1 The Origin of the Anti-Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The author of the Anti-Three Kingdoms Chronicle is Zhou Dahuang (1886-1951), a typical late Qing Dynasty literati. Although it does not have the merits of the Qing Dynasty, it is the same as the old-school literati, with a very deep literary and historical foundation.
He served as a newspaper chief writer, also served in the courts, served as a high clerk, and even served as an aide to several warlords in the autumn of chaos.
Perhaps it is precisely because of so many experiences, coupled with the extreme disgust of the warlords in the Republic of China period and the situation of the people's lack of livelihood. Zhou Dahuang will yearn for an orthodox government with a strong and moderate government, hoping to solve the chaos in the world through the power of this government.
Therefore, he was familiar with the Three Kingdoms, and from 1919 onwards, he began to write this anti-Three Kingdoms Chronicle, which lasted for 5 years to be serialized in the newspaper, and it took another 3 years to write it all; until it was officially collected into a book in 1930. Only then did we see the book Anti-Romance of the Three Kingdoms that we see today.
For this fan fiction that seemed very magical at the time, some scholars commented as follows:
The book "For a hero to complete a unified situation", it contains a cultural and psychological idealistic need that is prevalent among Chinese readers.
In other words, the most basic reason for the book was the reader's dissatisfaction with the years of conquest, the chaotic situation, and the psychological desire for a unified government.
2 How exactly did the Anti-Three Kingdoms Chronicles honor Liu and oppose Cao
Based on the above background, we can roughly know what the original intention of this anti-Three Kingdoms romance was.
Because of this general direction, Zhou Dahuang's tone when writing the book is very clear - that is, respecting Liu against Cao and suppressing Sun.
The so-called Zun Liu: refers to everything that takes Liu Bei's Shu Han regime as the orthodox and first perspective of the protagonist. The core of all original stories is created in order to make Liu Bei's side finally win.
Anti-Cao: It is to treat Cao Cao's side as a traitor and a thief, the biggest villain in the story. The so-called final victory must be the end of the victory over Cao Cao.
Orsun: Although the Eastern Wu side did not reach the level of chaotic courtiers and thieves, it was also a local warlord who divided the side. Therefore, in the anti-Three Kingdoms Chronicle, Eastern Wu, like Cao Cao, became one of the obstacles to the unification of the world. Although he was not dug up and thrown away like Cao Cao, he eventually fell into the fate of withering away and returning to the central government.
With the above big tone, combined with the author's reversal and re-framing of one story after another in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a new picture of the Three Kingdoms of the Three Kingdoms is slowly unfolded in front of the reader.
The content of the whole book can also be divided into three stages:
Xu Shu ran away, the change of Jingzhou and the shu-Wu alliance - in the first stage, the author renovated these classic bridge sections in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms one by one, giving the most favorable results to Liu Bei's side
Shu Han Dynasty, Eastern Wu Change, and Southern Expedition to Mengyu - The second stage, because the results of the previous stage changed, so the author began to make the direction of the story towards a Cool Literary routine.
In the end, Liu Bei Zhuge Liang returned to heaven and Cao Zhangcao Zhi ran away - in the third stage, the author instead withdrew his brushstrokes and sublimated the realm of the book, and did not become a completely cool novel.
The first is the first stage, through many reversals, so that Liu Bei Group has the territory and ability to unify the world
The novel begins in 207 AD, when Zhuge Liang's three Gu Maolu came out of the mountains and Xu Shu switched to Cao Cao because of his mother.
The first case that the author wants to turn over is Xu Shu's regret that he could not assist Liu Bei because he surrendered to Cao.
Although it seems that this is a small event, the subsequent impact is very large.
First of all, Liu Bei's camp has never lacked fierce generals, what is missing is a high-level military division; according to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there are only four truly high-level military divisions: Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Xu Shu, and Fazheng.
Among them, Pang Tong and Fa Zheng died early, Xu Shu threw himself into Cao, and only Zhuge Liang was left. As a result, in the two-headed strategy of Yizhou and Jingzhou, there was no one on the Jingzhou side who could speak to the military division.
Therefore, in order to make Liu Bei's camp have the possibility of victory, Xu Shu, a high-level military division, must stay, and can form a situation in which several top military divisions are combined with several fronts, and Zhuge Liang is in the middle.
So the author let Zhao Yun and Guan Yu out of the horse, and once again came the story of a thousand miles to ride alone. Successfully destroyed Cao Wei's vision, allowing Xu Shu and his mother to stay with Liu Bei. It also left the most fundamental logical basis for the subsequent expansion of Fanren Shuangwen.
Because of the chain reaction of this matter, Liu Bei did not flee south, but successfully took Jingzhou without bloodshed - although the exciting bridge section of Changshanpo was missing, it made Liu Bei's position in Jingzhou extremely stable, and there would be no future situation in which guan Yu would fail and the entire Jingxiang region would immediately fall.
After opening this good start, the follow-up will naturally be easy to open the situation. Liu Bei entered the river like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but Guan Yu had Xu Shu's assistance by his side.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Pang Tong was shot by Zhang Ren's random arrow, and in the Anti-Three Kingdoms Chronicle, the author wrote a Zhuge Liang design instead, directly turning Zhang Ren upside down and shooting Zhang Ren into a hedgehog - Pang Tong naturally survived and became the first army division to assist Zhang Fei.
Therefore, by the time Liu Bei regained Yizhou, in the Anti-Three Kingdoms Chronicle, the entire Shu Han Dynasty formed a total of four major legions, namely:
The Xichuan Army, with Zhuge Liang as its commander and Ma Chao, Huang Zhong, Wei Yan, And Ma Dai as its generals, assumed the responsibility of going out of the Meridian Valley to Chang'an in history and launching a major attack on Cao Wei.
The Jingzhou Army, with Guan Yu as the commander, Xu Shu as the military division, and Guan Ping, Zhou Cang, and others as generals, sat in Jingzhou and undertook the task of deterring Cao Wei and Eastern Wu.
The Xiangyang Army, with Zhang Fei as its commander, Pang Tong as its military division, and Guan Xing, Zhang Bao, and others as its generals, attacked Fangcheng and Wancheng and launched an auxiliary attack on Cao Wei's southern front.
As well as the Yangtze River Army with Zhao Yun as the commander, Ma Liang as the military division, and Liao Hua and others as the generals, they attacked Jiangxia Xiakou and were responsible for the main offensive task against Eastern Wu.
In this way, the four legions marched hand in hand, ranging from 2,300 men to 100,000 men and horses, totaling nearly 200,000 troops, launching a large-scale attack on Cao Wei and Eastern Wu at the same time.
It was precisely because of the operations of leaving Xu Shu in front, keeping Jingzhou and Pang Tong immortal, that Liu Bei's army had sufficient ability to challenge two powerful enemies at the same time.
Although it is still the rhythm of YY Shuangwen, the author has also left a logical hypothetical idea, so that the settings in the book will not be outrageous, and the reader will also read it.
The second is the second stage, when Shu Han fought several major battles between Cao Wei and Eastern Wu at the same time.
After everything was ready, several major battles broke out at the same time, and for a time there were killing noises in the Central Plains, and there were swords and light sword shadows everywhere.
Zhuge Liang's First Army was facing the main force of the Wei army led by Cao Cao; Guan Yu's Second Army did not take a shot (was the author also afraid that Guan Erye was too moving?). Zhang Fei's Third Army replaced Guan Yu's army in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and directly confronted Cao Ren's second-line Wei army, while the Fourth Army led by Zhao Yun fought directly with Lü Meng, who tried to cross the river in white.
The shu army of the three-front battle has been written in the author's pen, which is full of joy and excitement, so that the reader can also enjoy watching it.
Zhuge Liang and Cao Cao first fought several battles before Tongguan; then they really launched a fair duel of hundreds of thousands of people and horses with their old rival Sima Yi, with Luoyang as the center, successively killing Cao Zhen, Xu Chu and other famous generals, and then using gunpowder mines to kill Sima Yi and Sima Shi and others.
The Lü Meng baiyi crossing incident, which was the most upset for the readers in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, was discovered and intercepted by the thoughtful Zhao Yun. Led by Zhao Yun, a number of young generals directly countered Eastern Wu, breaking through Cities such as Jiangxiaxiakou and killing Xu Sheng, Lü Meng, and other famous Eastern Wu generals. Guan Yu would never again have the regret of losing Maicheng.
The rhythm of these battles in the book is extremely tight, and after more than 30 times and more than 100,000 words, the causes and consequences of the incident and the war scenes have been explained very clearly. But in terms of writing skills, Zhou Dahuang is more than one or two chips higher than the current online authors.
Moreover, all the battle scenes are all closely related to the theme, and they are not written as completely one-sided, such as Zhang Liao, Xu Sheng, and other famous generals with both moral integrity and ability, and there are also famous scenes of the great defeat of the Shu Han troops in turn. Of course, these victories did not help to change the big picture. However, it also increases the suspense and excitement of the whole story, so that the reader feels that the victory of Shu Han is not obtained all the way.
In the third stage of the overall sublimation, the Shu Han eventually unified the world, but it also left many regrets.
By the end of the novel, Cao Cao is already dying of anxiety, Sima Yi is killed by Zhuge Liang's mines (finally fulfilling the long-cherished wish of the upper valley), Eastern Wu is also defeated, and the unification of the Shu and Han dynasties is within reach. Instead, the author did not continue to write down according to Shuangwen's ideas, but turned his pen sharply to write about the life and death of the core characters of all parties in this situation.
As the big tree in Lousang Village withered for no reason, a generation of tyrants Liu Bei also died. Prior to this, Liu Chan was assassinated at the station, and he still maintained the habit of not being able to support it. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Zhan, the king of the Northern Lands, who eventually died with Shu Han, instead got his wish in the Anti-Three Kingdoms Chronicle and became the first monarch after the unification of the world. It can also be regarded as a reward for his suicide and martyrdom in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Of course, the most regrettable thing is Zhuge Liang.
Even in this kind of fan-made Shuangwen, Cheng Xiang finally died with Liu Bei with a smile on the eve of the unification of the world.
However, the difference is that Zhuge Chengxiang in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the one who died before he was born, often making the hero cry, while the Zhuge Chengxiang in the Anti-Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the final fulfillment of his wishes, although the lamp is exhausted, but he has realized his ambitions.
In addition, Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi fled into the desert north to leave a bloodline for the Cao family, and the Young Lord sun Liangju of Eastern Wu went to sea but suffered a hurricane to cut off their descendants. It clearly represents the two different endings of the Later Northern Yuan and the Southern Song Dynasty, and it is also an infinite emotion.
This contrast and imperfect beauty are the fundamental reasons for the sublimation of the ideological realm of this fan novel. And this way of writing from the cool text to the fateful ending also makes this fan novel a hundred years ago have an essential difference from the current fan article.
3 Character settings in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms
After talking about the plot of the Anti-Three Kingdoms Romance, let's take a look at some of the character settings in the book.
First of all, the author's obvious favorite characters are two people, Ma Chao and Zhao Yun.
The former, as the sharpest spear of the Shu Han, changed the depressed ending after the surrender of the original novel, rushed to kill on all sides, always fought with Cao Wei at the forefront, and finally gave birth to Huaxin, dug up the grave and killed the corpse (unsuccessfully), and completely avenged the family's murder.
And the latter is no longer the captain of the Guards who has the opportunity to command the army after he is old, not only has a legion of his own, but also marries Ma Chao, which can also be regarded as the depressed breath in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Secondly, because the plot behind is completely fictional, the author also fictionalized a group of excellent warriors and joined the lineup of Shu Han.
Including Huang Zhong's son Huang Xu, Li Yan's son Li Feng, etc., in the anti-Three Kingdoms Chronicle, the strength of these military generals is slightly inferior to That of Guan Xing Zhang Bao. The problem of the excessive number of middle-grade military generals in the Shu Han Dynasty was fully alleviated.
In the end, Wei Yan, Jiang Wei, Ma Mo and other military generals who were not ambitious in the late Shu Han Dynasty also got a happy ending in the story. In particular, Wei Yan and Jiang Wei, the former in the rendition, can be said to be a heart higher than the fate of the sky thinner than paper, and finally fell under the hands of their own people, while the latter fought alone for 30 years, witnessing the final glory of Shu Han.
Both of them have been fully affirmed by the author in the anti-Three Kingdoms Romance. Although it did not reach the level of the Five Tiger Generals in the end, it also reached the point where in addition to the Five Tigers General and Zhuge Cheng Xiang, he could be tied with Pang Tong Xu Shu and the highest reward of the second grade of the Wenchen Martial Generals, which was also considered to be the final wish.
Of course, in the adjustment of a dry new role setting and the old role, the most brilliant is Ma Chao's sister Ma Yunlu.
As the sister of Ma Chao and the wife of Zhao Yun, the heroic Ma Yunluo can be said to be the most successful original role created by the author, and there is no one.
To what extent has it been successful? Even the Japanese Glory Company, which produced the Three Kingdoms game most rigorously in the future, regarded her as one of the few female generals in the orthodox game, and gave her a super high attribute of about 90, even surpassing Cao Ren, Li Dian and other Cao Jun generals.
In the film and television animation, Ma Yunlu appeared more often, and many people even thought that she was a character who really existed in the history of the Three Kingdoms.
Being able to set up characters to do this, Zhou Dahuang's anti-Three Kingdoms romance can also be regarded as the leader in fan fiction.
4 Conclusion
As the first well-documented Three Kingdoms fandom novel, the anti-Romance of the Three Kingdoms has a superior level and its own characteristics in terms of plot setting, writing skills and character interpretation.
In a specific era, the author's desire for the unification of the world and the well-being of the people conveyed through this book is also the height of thought that many fan fictions cannot reach today.
The story is refreshing enough to make Shu Han fans addicted to watching it (of course, readers who like Cao Cao and Eastern Wu may feel a little breathless).
The setting is novel enough, and the logic is rigorous enough, and there will not be many cases in other novels that break beyond logic.
Add to that the interesting newcomer setting and the ending with a certain reflective meaning. This book, both for readers who like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and for those who are interested in that era. It can be read as a fine novel for leisure and leisure.
I also hope that through this book, you can find some different perspectives to revisit the most colorful era in Chinese history.
If there is anything you want to know about this book or express your emotions, you are welcome to leave a message below to discuss the interesting things of the Three Kingdoms era.