The time of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was written, roughly the Song Dynasty theory, the middle and late Yuan dynasty theory, the end of the Yuan, the early Ming dynasty, the middle Ming dynasty and so on. Among these statements, the author is more inclined to say that the middle and late yuan are said.
"No Kyo No Sea Collection"
Mr. Zhang Peiheng, who held this opinion, from the examination of the "present-day place name" in the small character annotation of the "Popular Interpretation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms", believed that it was "probably written before the second year of the Yuan Wenzong Calendar (1329)", without a clear upper limit; Mr. Yuan Shishuo concluded that "it was about the twenties and forties of the fourteenth century" [1].
Based on the information I have seen, the author believes that in addition to being further confirmed, the conclusions of the two gentlemen can also be explained in more detail. The test is as follows.
First of all, the upper limit of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" can be explained by the circulation of the "Speaking three points" script.
Since the Song and Yuan dynasties, Imami's "Three Points" have been published in the "Three Points of The Strategy" published in the 31st year of the Yuan to the Yuan Dynasty (1294), and another version of it was published in the "Three Kingdoms Zhi ping dialect" during the yuan to the zhi (1321-1323) period .[2]] The basic law of ancient novel engraving and circulation is the survival of the fittest, and the situation that the "Three Kingdoms Zhiping Dialect" in the third year of the Yuan Zhizhi (1323) is still being engraved shows that there is no better Three Kingdoms novel than it at this time.
Since then, the fact that "saying three points" such as "Three Kingdoms Zhi Ping Dialect" has not seen a new version should be seen as a sign that the "Popular Interpretation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has been produced. Therefore, the upper limit of the book written in the third year of the Yuan Dynasty (1323) for the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is more credible.
Secondly, the lower limit of the book of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms should be based on the time when the book can be seen speculatively.
This is a much more complex question, and it is easy to find out. Qu You's "Poetry of Guitian" rolls down the "Hanging White Gate":
QingQianlong's Insufficient Knowledge of the Zhai Carved Edition of "Guitian Poetry"
Chen Gangzhong's "White Gate Poem" Yun: "The south of the city is not sad enough, and the old concealment is exhaustive." I don't know if there are other three points, only at that time, the ears are big. "Yong Cao Cao killed Lü Bu. The cloth was tied, and it was said: "The binding is too urgent." Fu Yue: "The tiger has to be in a hurry." "It is intended to be born. Liu Bei sat down and said, "Ming Gong didn't see Lü Bushi Ding Jianyang and Dong Taishihu?" Bu scolded: "This big-eared child Doesn't remember when the Gate shoots?" ”
Zhang Silian composed "Binding the Tiger" Yun: "The soldiers under the White Gate are surrounded, and the Tiger on the White Gate is on the upper floor." The tip of the halberd does not fall off the two tails, and the robe flower has taken off the colorful clothes. Twist the tiger's brain and cut off the tiger's claws. Eyes see tigers, like cats small. Jump not more high, blood kiss empty thousand mile grass. Raising tiger meat is not enough, and tiger hunger can eat people. The tiger rope is not urgent, and the rope is wide and the tiger has no relatives. General Liu, who sits in the middle of the tiger, does not eat han thieves from the tiger, but kills the tiger to give birth to thieves, and eats the original food Zhuo He foot anger! "Remember the events and laugh at them. Si Lian has a compilation of "Yong Shi Le Fu", all of which use this body.
According to Chen Gangzhong character Yan Rou, Min Qing people. Emperor Gaozong of Song entered the army in the second year, and the official was appointed to Taifu Cheng, and Zhang Silian was named Xian, and his name was Yu Zhensheng. A native of Shanyin (present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang). The young man was unruly, and later he was recruited by Zhang Shicheng as a staff officer of the Taiwei Mansion, and slightly moved the privy council capital. After the death of Yuan, he changed his name and sent food to the monk temple. There are ten volumes of the "Jade Collection", volumes one and two are what Qu You called "Yong Shi Le Fu", and there are more than ten poems on the current affairs of the Three Kingdoms.
[Supplement: According to the inscription of "Red Rabbit" in volume 3 of the "Collected Poems of Yang Weizhen", the poem "Binding the Tiger Line" can also be found in the Qingzhaotang series of books "History of Iron Cliff Yong", "There is the word 'Lü Bu' under the inscription. Record two poems, and the other one is: 'The Soldiers Under the White Gate Are Surrounded'" "Yun Yun, that is, this poem." In the poem, "do not fall off" as "fall", "eyes look at the tiger, such as cat small" as "look at the tiger in the eyes like a cat small", "sitting in the middle of the nai" as "ordinary life letter", "not from" as "not indulgent". [[3]] Selected Poems of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Dushixian Xiao Chuanyun: "Si Lian Shi Yang Lianfu, Especially the work of the ancient feeling. Lian Fu said: "I use the three-body Yongshi and the ancient music house is not easy to reach, and I am only Zhang Xianneng." Although it is doubtful who wrote this poem after all, it is still in doubt, but it has no logical relationship with the following discussion. ]
Ming Ji Guge engraved "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"
In the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and the "Book of later Han", the interpretation of Chen, Zhang Ershi and Qu You, which describes Cao Cao's killing of Lü Bu in Baimenlou, is basically based on the history books. Only Lü Bu lin scolded Liu Bei, and the Biography of Lü Bu in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms was written as "Bu Yin pointed to Bei: 'He is the most faithful!'" The Later Han Shu Lü Bu Biography is written as "The Big Ear is the Most Faithful!" It is far from Qu Ju's "Cloth Scolding" Yunyun.
However, the "Later Han Shu Lü Bu Biography" already has the term "big ear", and the phrase "big ear" in Chen Shi is the same as the situation in the Song Xian poem "Scolding Wu'er 'Big Ear'" quoted in the Song Xian poem "White Gate Cao Cao Chop Lü Bu" in Volume IV of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and it should also be considered to be from the Book of Later Han.
In addition, the word "叵奈" in the sentence "General Liu of The Seat in the Middle" of Zhang Shi's poem, and the poem "叵信" in the "Jade Collection" is well documented in history. The narrative of the "Jade Collection" is roughly close to the history books, and this poem "叵信" has the basis for the version, of course, it can be regarded as the original work.
If Qu You's quotation as "叵奈" is not a mistake in memory, it may be due to the mistake caused by his previous statement "Bu scolded', 'This big-eared Ryuna does not remember when the Yuanmen shoots the halberd'".
However, the narrative of "Binding the Tiger" still overflows into the history books. For example, the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Book of later Han all record that Lü Bu once "plucked a few halberds" and did not say the length of the fang ji, but this poem says that "the tip of the halberd does not drop the second tail of the zhang", which is called Lü Bu's halberd "zhang'er", Yu Shi Wuzheng.
In addition, the "Jade Collection" yong three kingdoms also has a "Southern Flying Bird", with the inscription "Cao Cao", there is a sentence "Baimen Donglou chasing the red rabbit", betting "Capture Lü Buye", saying that Lü Bu was captured in the "White Gate East Building"; but the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is said to be "White Gate Tower" but does not say the location of the building, and the Book of Later Han "Bu and His Subordinates Dengbai Gate Lou" is quoted in Song Wu's "Northern Expedition" as "Wei Wu Captures cloth in the White Gate", and also quotes Li Daoyuan's "Water Classic Notes" as saying: "The South Gate is called the White Gate, and Wei Wu Captures Chen Palace here." "It is clearly said that the White Gate Tower is the south gate of the Lower Pi, then the "White Gate East Building" is also in Shi Wuzheng.
Qing carved version of the "Jade Collection"
Of course, what is more important is that the phrase "cloth scolding" mentioned in the above quotation of Qu You's interpretation of Chen Shi is not found in the history books, and as a poetic term, it is obviously not Qu You's fabrication. From the fact that there are more than ten poems about the history of the Three Kingdoms in the "Jade Collection", it can be seen that Zhang Silian is familiar with the history of the Three Kingdoms; Qu You is also familiar with the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which is evidenced by his "Qinyuan Chun Guan "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in his "Legacy of Lefu".
Therefore, these written statements about the Three Kingdoms that appear in their writings about the History of the Three Kingdoms are unlikely to be misremembers of historical facts, but must have another basis. The basis for this is crucial to the issue we are discussing.
Generally speaking, since they do not appear in the canonical history, they should come from wild history novels or operas. In the volume of the "Three Kingdoms Zhiping Dialect", it is said that Lü Bu "made Zhang'erFang Tianji", and Zhang Shi's "Zhang'er" had landed. However, the "Plain Talk" only has the title of "White Gate Chopping Lü Bu", and the main text does not mention "White Gate Tower" at all. As for Lü Bu's scolding, it is "Lü Bu scolded: 'Big ear thief, force me to hurry!' In addition to mentioning the "big ear thief", the words and meanings are also far from the clouds of "cloth scolding" cited by Qu You.
Of course, the Song and Yuan "three points" should have been more than just this kind of book, but the unique transmission of the Three Kingdoms Zhiping Dialect should show that it is the best of the books. Such specific depictions and such wonderful words as Qu Ju's "Cloth Scolding" are not found in this book, and it can be roughly concluded that they do not appear in other "three points" texts.
Comic strip "White Gate Tower"
Jin and Yuan Three Kingdoms played the White Gate Lou Affair, and now only Yu Boyuan's "White Gate Chopping Lü Bu" is known. This drama is overdue. Depictions such as "White Gate East Building" and "Cloth Scolding" do not absolutely rule out the possibility of the posthumous text of this play, but it is unlikely, and Qu You will not base it on it. There are two reasons for this:
1. The year of Yu Boyuan's birth and death is unknown, but Zhong Sicheng's "Record of Ghosts" is listed in the list of "those who have compiled legends and deeds in the world who have died in the past".
The Book of Recorded Ghosts is presumed in the first year of Zhishun (1330), and then died before the first year of Zhishun. The "White Gate Chopping Lü Bu" was written earlier, but it is generally said that it will not be earlier than the publication of the "Three Points Strategy" and the "Three Kingdoms Zhi Ping Dialect", so its creation is based on the history books, and it is almost necessary to refer to this "three points" plain saying. Since there is no such content in the plain words of "saying three points", it is generally said that it will not appear in the miscellaneous drama of "White Gate Chopping Lü Bu".
Second, opera began in novels, poets use things, and there are far less people who use opera than those who use wild history novels; Qu You is also a poet and novelist, who compiled "Cutting The Lamp Record" when he was young, and later became famous in the world for "Cutting the Lamp New Words", and it is difficult to imagine that he used the text of opera instead of using wild history novels to say poetry. Therefore, taking a step back, even if the "White Gate Chopping Lü Bu" has the words "White Gate East Building" and "Cloth Scolding", Qu You's quotation may have another basis.
These two reasons lead us to conclude that these phrases do not come from the three kingdoms of Zhiping dialect around the same time or before.
The above-mentioned Song, Jin, and Yuan texts about the Three Kingdoms and operas that can be expected to be based on Zhang and Qu after the three kingdoms are the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
Nowadays, Cha Jiajing's "Popular Interpretation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms" writes that Lü Bu holds the "Fang Tian Painting Sword" and does not say "Zhang'er"; however, although the "White Gate Cao Cao Chops Lü Bu" does not explicitly state that the White Gate Tower is the Lower Pi East Gate Tower, and its narrative is "the East Gate has no water", Hou Cheng "steals the red rabbit horse to go to the East Gate, wei continues to release", Lü Bu "looks at each door, to scold Wei Xu, to go through Hou Cheng", "Bu Shao is in the building, sitting on a chair and sleeping", so he was captured... With the following "Gao Shun and Zhang Liao are in Ximen... Captured. Chen Gong was at the south gate and was caught by Xu Huang, "it also coincides."
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Therefore, Zhang Shi's statement of "White Gate East Building" is likely to be an impression obtained from the "Popular Interpretation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms". And Lü Bu lin scolded Liu Bei, and the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is written here as "Bu looked back and said: 'Big ears, don't remember when you shoot at the gate?' Although there is no word "叵奈" in the sentence, it is also true to think that it is the source of the "cloth scolding" cited by Qu Youshi Chen Shi.
As for the fact that Jiajing wrote "Fang Tianhua Jie" without saying "Zhang'er", probably because the novel writes that Zhang Fei is "eight feet long" and uses "Zhang's eight-point steel spear" ("Sacrifice Heaven and Earth Taoyuan Jieyi"), and then writes Lü Bu "one zhang" ("Lü Bu assassinated Ding Jianyang"), it is unreasonable to say that his halberd is "Zhang'er".
Therefore, as mentioned above, Zhang's poem "Zhang'er" may have been originally from the "Three Kingdoms Zhiping Dialect". The traceability may be from Tang LiBai's "Sending Nephew Zheng Guan to join the Army Three Songs" No. 2: "Zhangba snake spear out of Longxi, the golden plate thrown by ten thousand people." ”
Moreover, lü Bu's scolding in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms does not have the word "叵奈", which should be caused by a leak or publication in circulation. "Nai" is also known as "Nai Nai", which is an idiomatic term used in Song and Yuan novels.
Comic strip "Crossing the River to Strike Liu Table"
In fact, Luo Guanzhong's novels often use this term, such as the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" Volume II "Sun Jian Crosses the River to Attack Liu Biao": "Liu Biao broke my way back in the past, and now I don't take the time to hate, what year will I stay?" It is also rumored that Luo wrote the twelfth time in the "Biography of the Three Sui Ping Demons": "You became a monk, did not keep your duties, and dared to deceive people and money!" ”
In short, in the absence of strong counter-evidence, we can think that Zhang Shi used "White Gate East Building" and Qu Youju "Cloth Scolding Yue" to produce the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". The current "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was revised by the Ming people, and what Zhang and Qu saw should be its ancestral version or a book closer to the original work. Those books are all predated on Zhang Silian's "Binding the Tiger Line" and "Nan Fei Wu" poems of The Poetry of Shi Lefu.
According to qian Zhonglian and other editors of the Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House edition of the Great Dictionary of Chinese Literature, Zhang Silian was born about the seventh year of Yuan Renzong (1320) and died about the sixth year of Ming Hongwu (1373). Then, even if his Yong Shi Le Fu was composed after entering the Ming Dynasty, the "Popular Interpretation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms" on which he was based should have been produced at the end of the Yuan Dynasty.
Considering that it takes a long time for a book to circulate to it, such as "Cloth Scolding Yue" and other words to be broadcast in the public and become poetry material, the lower limit of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" should also be greatly advanced. If specific explanations are given, it is generally reasonable for Mr. Yuan Shishuo to draw a judgment that "it was about the 1420s to the 1440s and 1940s" from the "present-day place names" in the small character annotation of Jiajingben.
However, as some scholars have pointed out, it is unlikely that the annotations in small characters including the notes on "present-day place names" are from the author's hand [[4]]] which can be further advanced from the lower limit of the "forties" of the book, which is consistent with Mr. Zhang Peiheng's conclusion from the examination of the small-character notes "present place names" in Jiajing's "Popular Interpretation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms" that "the Popular Interpretation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms seems to have been written before the second year of The Wenzong Calendar (1329)".
Therefore, from the examination of this article and the opinions of Mr. Zhang and Mr. Yuan Er, we believe that the "Popular Interpretation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was written between the third year of Yuan Yingzong to Zhi (1323) and the second year of Yuan Wenzong's calendar (1329), that is, around the third year of Yuan Taiding (1326).
Incidentally, it is pointed out here that, just as many scholars have considered that the Jiajing version of the present Cun was revised by the Ming Dynasty, the author suspects that some of the descriptions of the literal prison in the book are additions to later generations.
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms has four descriptions of the prison of words: one is the prison of the fourth time Dong Zhuo's Shao Emperor's "Double Yan Poem", the second is the thirty-fourth time Cai Mao slandered Liu Bei for making anti-poetry, the third is the seventy-second time Yang Xiushi "chicken ribs" were killed by Cao Cao, and the fourth is the prison where Sima Zhao killed Cao Zhao's "Hidden Dragon Poems" in the 14th time. These plots, except for Yang Xiushi, have clues and ants found in the history books, and the others are all in the history of Wuzheng, nor in the "Three Kingdoms Zhiping Dialect", which is completely fictional.
Luo Guanzhong, the author of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, is also one of the authors of The Tale of the Water Margin. It is very coincidental that "Water Margin" writes about the hero of Kususazawa, and there are actually two descriptions of the literal prison, namely, the thirty-ninth "Xunyang Lou Song Jiang Yin Anti-Poem", the sixty-first "Wu uses wisdom to earn jade Qilin" to create Lu Junyi's anti-poem, these two plots are not found in the important basis of the "Water Margin" book" "Xuanhe Testament" and other documents, which are obviously also fictional.
Shi Li Ju Collection "New Publications and Testaments"
The author believes that these fictional stories of literal prison are unlikely to be the work of Luo Guanzhong and Shi Nai'an. There are two reasons: one is that there is no basis for historical facts, legends or early texts as described above; second, although there were literal prisons in the Song and Yuan dynasties, there were very few killings as a result. From the perspective of life deciding creation, Luo Guanzhong and Shi Nai'ansheng were not very serious in the Yuan Dynasty, and it is unlikely that they would have paid such special attention to and emotionally in-depth descriptions of the literary prison.
These depictions should have been added by later generations. Lu Xun's "Changes in the History of the Chinese Novel" on the ending of "Water Margin" says:
As for the layer where Song Jiang took poison, it was joined at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, and after Ming Taizu unified the world, he was suspicious of the heroes, wantonly killed, and there were very few people who died well, and the people added the matter of Song Jiang taking poison to become a god for the sake of sympathy for the victims of the victims. This is the de facto flawed man, the old example of the novel reuniting him.
Similarly, due to Zhu Yuanzhang's suspicions and rampant killing, the famous literati of the early Ming Dynasty were also "very few who died well" (see Zhao Yi's "Twenty-two Historical Notes: The Scourge of Literature in the Early Ming Dynasty"). From Lu Xun's point of view, the description of the Chinese character prison in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in addition to not being "becoming a god" and not in line with the "old practice of reuniting him", can be seen as "showing sympathy" to the murdered literati. Therefore, it is also very likely that people in the early Ming Dynasty added it.
There is no shortage of literati in the early Ming Dynasty who protested against the literal prison through novels. For example, Qu You, who seems to be very familiar with the story of the Three Kingdoms, wrote more than once in his "New Words on Cutting the Lamp" written in the eleventh year of Ming Hongwu, attacking this barbaric cultural dictatorship.
For example, the "Record of The Dream of Ling Husheng" writes that Ling Husheng was detained by the underworld for writing poems, and in the "confession", he said that "he occasionally blamed him for his unevenness and was accused of many words", which deeply dissatisfied with the sinners of Pluto with poetry; the "Biography of the Man in Green" wrote that Jia Xiangdao engaged in "official downfall" to sell smuggled salt, and some students satirized it with poetry, "so the soldiers were imprisoned, on the crime of slander." He also wrote that Jia Xiangdao traveled to the west of Zhejiang to carry out the Gongtian Law, and the people suffered from it, and some people wrote poems to satirize it, and they also "caught it and were far away."
"Cutting the Lamp New Words", Xiang Zhizhu Dian School, Zhonghua Bookstore November 2020 edition
It is particularly noteworthy that in the seventh year of Hongwu, Gao Qi was killed for writing the Shangliang Wen for wei Guan, the prefect of Suzhou, but the "Records of the Qinghui of the Water Palace" wrote Yu Shanwen for the Dragon King and was treated as a guest of honor, which as the first part of a book, it was simply a singing and playing against the Ming Taizu Fang's rising text prison.
However, Qu You in Yongle was kept in custody for ten years because of the poetry disaster. In the "Guitian Poems" written a few years before his death after the pardon, he also recorded in detail the situation of many friends he saw and heard who were persecuted by the literal prison, and he mourned bitterly and complained about it all his life.
Isn't it quite possible and logical for Qu You to attack Zhu Yuanzhang's literal prison and lifelong grudge with his novel innuendo, and to speculate that someone has added descriptions of the literal prison to the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin"? Therefore, the descriptions of the literal prison in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and the "Water Margin" of the Present Jiajing Ben are most likely added by people in the early Ming Dynasty.
This kind of plot addition (including corresponding text changes) due to some sustenance often has a greater impact on the ideological tendency of the work. However, as far as the whole book is concerned, it does not necessarily cause much difference in writing. Therefore, the common understanding of the "small character notes" made by several scholars such as Zhang Peiheng is still credible.
In summary, the repetition of our conclusion is that Luo Guanzhong's "Popular Interpretation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was written between the third year of Yuan Yingzong and the third year of the reign of Emperor Yuanwenzong (1323) and the second year of the Yuanwenzong Calendar (1329), that is, around the third year of Yuan Taiding (1326), and the "Popular Interpretation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms" of the present Cun Jiajing, as many scholars have explained from other angles, was changed by the early Ming Dynasty, and this change includes the addition of the description of the literal prison.
"Shen Bojun Comments on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms"
Notes
This article has been changed five times, during which Mr. Shen Bojun has written many times and given Kuang Zhenghe advice by telephone, and finally before the final revision, Mr. Shen's letter to the author was attached:
"In addition, I checked several versions of the Three Kingdoms at hand, among which the Twin Peaks Hall Ben's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and The Qiao Shan Tang Ben's "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms" both have the phrase 'big ears, don't remember the time when the Yuanmen shoot the sword', which may be closer to the tone quoted by Qu You ('Ya' and 'also' are connected) than the Jiajing Ben, for my brother's reference."
This is an important opinion. In addition to expressing my heartfelt thanks, the author has received two enlightenments: (1) The phenomenon that different systematic versions of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms have this language in common shows that this language is most likely to come from Luo Guanzhong's original Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The conclusions drawn from this in-depth investigation should be reliable; (ii) it may reinforce the view of many scholars that the zhichuan is based on an earlier basis than the Jiajing ben, and thus closer to Luo Guanzhong's original view. If these two points of understanding are reasonable, they should be attributed to the selfless contribution of Mr. Shen's letter.
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exegesis:
[1] See Shen Bojun, "A Review of Research Since the 1980s", in Barnyard Sea Xinhang- Proceedings of the Third Dalian Ming and Qing Novel International Conference, Chunfeng Literature and Art Publishing House, July 1996.
[2] According to the 1993 edition of the Encyclopedia of Ancient Chinese Novels by the Encyclopedia Publishing House of China, the term chen xianghua was written by Mr. Chen Xianghua.
[3] [Yuan] Yang Weizhen,"Collected Poems of Yang Weizhen", Zou Zhifangdian School, Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House, 2010 edition, p. 160.
[4] See Shen Bojun's Review of Research Since the 1980s.