Romance of the Three Kingdoms (novel): Difference between revisions

The ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' (original title 三國演義) is a 14th-century Chinese epic novel about the century of war, turmoil, and bloodshed known as the Three Kingdoms Period (188-280 AD). It is considered one of the "Four Great Classical Novels" of Chinese literature -- forliterature—for good reason. This epic is renowned for its beautiful style, complex and heroic characters, and enduring motifs and themes that remain relevant even in modern society. It not only left its influence throughout the Chinese culture, language, and literature, but also spawned [[Dynasty Warriors|many, many]] [[Romance of the Three Kingdoms (anime)|derivative]] works in various media ([[Ikki Tousen|some]] [[Ryofuko-chan|more]] [[Koihime Musou|derivative]] than others) throughout the world.

** There's an archery contest in Cao Cao's new palace where five consecutive officers of Wei competing for a crimson silk robe all score bullseye -- Zhangbullseye—Zhang He shooting backwards, while Xiahou Yuan does it bent over backwards -- butbackwards—but it's Xu Huang who wins... by {{spoiler|shooting the twig holding the robe itself}}.

* [[Arranged Marriage]]: A staple of the times, not uncommonly forced, but Liu Bei's marriage to Sun Quan's sister is a hilarious subversion of the trope:<br /> {{spoiler|Zhou Yu convinces Sun Quan to do it as a pretext to capture Liu Bei}}. Liu Bei makes [[May-DecemberMay–December Romance|an attempt to get out of it]] since he's bright enough to realize the danger, but is compelled to agree on grounds of political expediency (and since Zhuge Liang promises to protect him). When he arrives, it turns out that the Sun family's queen mother hadn't been told -- andtold—and Zhuge Liang, having predicted that, got Zhao Yun to publicize the proceedings before the whole town. The mother of the bride is prepared to exercise her [[Parental Marriage Veto]] (by letting the groom be attacked) despite Liu Bei's high reputation, until she and the "State Patriarch" (father of the Qiao sisters and thus Zhou Yu's father-in-law) actually meet Liu Bei and change their minds, blessing the marriage. In the meantime, Liu Bei is scared to death of his new [[Action Girl]] wife, and is stuck in Wu for a whole year after Sun Quan and Zhou Yu switch plans (deciding to keep him "drunk and happy" in hopes of dissolving his force)... When he decides to return, ''his wife'' is the one who proposes the idea of eloping, and then ''[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|scolds four Wu generals into backing down in the course of their escape]]''. And throughout the whole proceedings, Sun Quan and Zhou Yu are put through a massive [[Humiliation Conga]]:<br />1.) Sun Quan's mother and Zhou Yu's father-in-law curse them for ruining the girl, since if the plan succeeds the story will follow her ("what man would want her now?!")<br />2.) Then they curse them for trying to kill Liu Bei after meeting him and giving their approval (despite Sun Quan's mother having been prepared to allow the plot).<br />3.) Then ''the bride'' curses them -- herthem—her brother and brother-in-law -- forlaw—for trying to stop her escape.<br />4.) And just when Liu Bei and his bride escape, Zhuge Liang's chorus line of soldiers is conveniently lined up on the other side of the river ''just to mock Zhou Yu''.<br />Of course, Liu Bei (somewhat), Zhou Yu and Sun Quan are all left holding the [[Idiot Ball]], and Zhuge Liang wins... yet again.

** He's even in the Celestial BureacracyBureaucracy pantheon in ''[[Scion]]''.

* [[Boisterous Bruiser]]: Zhang Fei - and [[Subverted]] when he used his enemies' knowledge of his love for wine to lure them into a trap. (Unfortunately both before and after this, his love for wine -- orwine—or rather, the [[Unstoppable Rage]] that could come about -- didabout—did cause negative consequences for Liu Bei, the last one being {{spoiler|his death when his last two victims had their revenge}}. That, and there's the time that in {{spoiler|stealing Lu Bu's war horses, he single-handedly broke an alliance that Lu Bu might have actually kept}}.)

** And Liao Hua, who refused to take Liu Bei's captured wives for himself, killed his partner (who did want to take them) and then promptly turned himself and his partner's head over to Guan Yu. An excellent career choice, as he outlives most of the other characters -- ancharacters—an accomplishment for one who turns up that early in the novel.

** The probably most famous example is Guan Yu refusing to sleep with Liu Bei's wives while in Cao Cao's custody, as one of his three conditions for surrendering to Cao Cao was the protection of Liu Bei's wives. Then again, the incident -- andincident—and all of his privileges -- wereprivileges—were attempts to sway his loyalty to Liu Bei, and Guan Yu was probably aware of this. (Later, when presented with ten maids Guan Yu turned them over to his sisters-in-law.)

** Though Lu Bu is arguably more honorable then often portrayed in other media. Though he betrays several masters (which seems all to common at the time), he refuses to harm Liu Bei's family when they were on opposite sides, and even used his archery skills to end a conflict without having to kill a single man. If nothing else, he is at least portayedportrayed as a human character.

* [[Cool Horse]]: Red Hare, said to be faster and stronger than the horses of its day (the Chinese term is "thousand-''li'' horse"). [[Mobile Suit Gundam|May or may not go three times as fast as a regular horse.]] Either way, though, it's a stallion whose body and hair are ''entirely'' [[Law of Chromatic Superiority|"glowing-sun red."]] The steed of {{spoiler|Lu Bu until his death, then Guan Yu, who is regularly depicted atop Red Hare. (As an aside, Guan Yu is also described as being red-complexioned, which fits...)}}

* [[Death by Despair]]: Zhuge Liang managed to {{spoiler|irritate Zhou Yu to death}}. He managed to [[Hannibal Lecture]] two other Wei officials into a fatal fit later on as well. Happens to others as well.

** {{spoiler|Ironically, Zhuge Liang himself is victim to this at the very end, after the freak rainstorm at Mount Qi that saved Sima Yi's butt from a trap that quite literally took ten years for Zhuge Liang to be able to force him into. This wound up being the thing that finally pushes Zhuge Liang's already fragile health at the time over the edge.}}

* [[The Dragon]]: Basically Lu Bu while in Dong Zhuo's service, as his defection eliminates the last check on Dong Zhuo's rise to power and he's recognized as the linchpin that holds the regime together even moresomore so than the army and other officers.

* [[Four-Star Badass]]: Too many to count -- generalscount—generals routinely lead their troops from the front and meet on the battlefield. Probably the best example is Lu Bu, whose knowledge of military tactics and strategy, and in fact any talent he may have as a military leader, is dwarfed by his personal combat ability.

* [[Gentle Giant]]: Xu ChuZhu. He was at least 6 foot 5, with a 52 inch belly, but he was known by names such as Sleeping Tiger, Tiger Fool, etc because while in battle, Xu was like a tiger, while outside of battle he was known as being simple-minded and honest.

* [[Good Hair, Evil Hair]]: Guan Yu's beard was reputedly ''fabulous'' to the point where Cao Cao gave him a beard bag. Oh, and when confronted by bandits, his taking off the bag caused them to promptly surrender and their leaders to beg to join him -- albeithim—albeit this was probably also because they recognized him for the [[Badass]] that he was.

** Turned around in a way when Zhuge Liang ordered Guan Yu's execution for {{spoiler|sparing Cao Cao in Huarong Valley}} -- at—at which point Zhuge Liang's own lord Liu Bei begged for his sworn brother's life.

* [[Professional Butt-Kisser]]: Guo Jia, who lays out the ten ways in which Cao Cao is better than Yuan Shao. [[The Simpsons (animation)|Smithers]] could take lessons in ass-kissing from this guy.

* [[Speak of the Devil]]: Or, as the Chinese say, "Speak of Cao Cao and he appears." Parodied (by being taken to its logical extreme) [https://web.archive.org/web/20130624052057/http://san.paulguo.com/?id=100 here].

* [[Villainous Glutton]]: Dong Zhuo. {{spoiler|An official lit a wick in his corpse, and it burnt for days}}.

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* ''[[Koihime Musou]]'': A [[Gender Flip]] of just about the [[Improbably-Fundamentally Female Cast|entire cast]] set in a version of Ancient China mainly ruled by women that includes somehow bazookas and maid cafes. Notably light-hearted compared to many adaptations and source materials.

== [[Video Games]] ==

[[Category:TheLiterature Epicof the 14th century]]

[[Category:Chinese Literature]]