Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58486 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 708 pages

Synopsis
ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS is Lo Kuan-chung's retelling of the events attending the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220 AD, one of the most tumultuous and fascinating periods in Chinese history. It is an epic saga of brotherhood and rivalry, loyalty and treachery, victory and death. As important for Chinese culture as the Homeric epics have been for the West, this fourteenth-century masterpiece is still loved and read throughout Asia.

Customer Reviews

Beats Iliad
As a military history fan I picked up this book several months ago and I must say it's one of the best purchases I've ever made.

Romance of three kingdoms focus on arguably the most chaotic and ruthless period of the acient China (220-280 AD), shortly after the collapse of eastern Han dynasty, over a dozen warlords rose to power in the name of 'Restoration of Han', this book is based on three major power, Shu, Wei, Wu and their constant struggle for power. Instead on focusing on warfare itself, this book gives absolutely brilliant account on deceptions, trickery, use of intelligence, as well as cunning diplomatic solutions behind the warfares. Clearly, Sun Tzu's Art of war has infulenced the author greatly.

The only problem about the book is the character names, as the translated Chinese names seem to running to each other every two paragraphs, it takes alot of memorization. But if you have the patience, it will pay off soon.

However, some famous battles mentioned in this novel was not well chronicled, it's highly likely many historical details are simply made up. And the purpose of Shu is probably not as noble as the book portrayed. But as a novel, it's unparalleled.

Read, if you want to know what deception means.

China's best loved epic
Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a fantastic story about the struggle of the Han empire. The first novel concentrates on the rise of the "Three Kingdoms" period, which begins life as a strategy for balancing power between the three main rivals. I use the word fantastic because the stories in this book were recorded by those who were there at the time, but they were also passed through word of mouth all around China. Therefore parts of the story are exaggerated and twisted in the telling (or writing). There are also spectacular observations of shamanistic type magic and very advanced healing methods, Hero's of epic proportions and might, and characters with very interesting traits. This book contains a great balance between an epic dialogue concerning the main protagonists and several short moral stories about specific characters. It also gives you a great sense of Chinese culture, the story being about the re-uniting of the three factions in order to re-form China.

ROTK
This review is looking at both books one and two as they are meant to be read together.These books are a good blend of History and Fiction. Focusing on the major powers in the 'Three Kingdoms' period, it looks mostly at the eponymous kingdoms, Wu, Shu and Wei. The fact that the novelist lived at the time is a mixed blessing. On one hand he has a keen insight into the events and the context surrounding them. Unfortunately, his early ancestors sided with Shu's leader Liu Bei (or Pei). The bias placed on the Shu characters can get a little grating at times and it places questions on the texts overall validity. However, it remains a good read and highlights an intruiging clash of ideologies, each faction representing one style of rule. You'll soon find yourself siding with one side or another, and when you do the books become difficult to put down.