Romance of the Three Kingdoms is China's first historical novel. Written in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. It was written by writer Luo Guanzhong according to folklore and rap stories, drawing lessons from historical materials such as The History of the Three Kingdoms. This novel was first published as Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms, with 24 volumes and 240 articles. Later, Li Zhuowu in the late Ming Dynasty and Mao Zonggang in the early Qing Dynasty sorted and processed it, and it became the 120 edition we see today.
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, with more than 700,000 words, has a magnificent structure, many characters and complicated plots. It vividly reflects the political and military struggles between feudal ruling groups during the 90 years from the Yellow Scarf Uprising to the unification of the Western Jin Dynasty, and reproduces the historical features of the Three Kingdoms period. The major events described in the novel are in line with historical truth. But The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is not a history book, but a literary masterpiece. It is based on the selection and processing of historical events, weaving plots and shaping characters through imagination and fiction. The familiar stories in the works, such as the three vows in Taoyuan, the three visits to the cottage, the gathering of heroes, and the empty city plan, are almost household names. Those typical figures with artistic talent, such as Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and Cao Cao, are almost known to all women and children.
It is one of China's "Four Wonders" and a classic with a long history in China. It is the result of artistic creation on the basis of historical truth. With strong thoughts and feelings, distinct political inclination, exquisite artistic skills and profound cultural background, it occupies the literary world of China classical literature, and its characterization, war description and psychological analysis also have unique artistic charm. His works not only involve political, economic and military issues, but also contain the essence of Confucianism, Taoism and philosophy. It is a war epic full of heroism, a historical scroll full of wisdom and experience, which gives people in China and even the world beautiful enjoyment. Confucianism and Taoism embodied in the works give people a spiritual baptism, which contains heroic strategy, economic concept and organizational consciousness, and cultivates people's ability to judge right and wrong.
Judging from the ideological content of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it mainly embodies the tendency of "supporting Liu and opposing Cao". This has an indescribable subtle relationship with China's cultural tradition. China people have always attached importance to justice, and the ancient Chen Guang Uprising is a good example. "Night Fire: Great Chu Journey, Chen" In order to clear the name of the uprising, Chen Guang lit a fire at night and shouted like a fox that the trip to Chu was in Chen Sheng. The reason for "supporting Liu against Cao" is that Liu Bei is a descendant of the Han Dynasty. Liu Bei is orthodox, but other than that, he is unruly and wild. Secondly, it has a lot to do with the national sentiment of Chinese people. In that war-torn era, what people need is peace and stability as soon as possible. Therefore, the article embodies the Confucian thought of "helping the world and strengthening the country" from the beginning, and runs through the whole work from beginning to end. The Three Kingdoms period is an era of years of war and long-term disputes. Under this background, people with insight, ambition and ideals began to use their brains to calm the war, unify the motherland, stabilize the people's hearts and put them into practical action. For example, the vows made by Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei in the "Three Oaths of Taoyuan" have determined their life-long struggle path and purpose. Although their surnames are different, they are brothers, so they work together. From the very beginning, the work shows the great ambitions of Liu, Guan and Zhang, which boosts morale. Therefore, their subsequent every move, every word and deed, and their manners and manners have attracted the attention of the people. The toiling masses who suffered from the war pinned their hopes on the stability of the country and the well-being of the people. In the eyes of the people, they are the "saviors" of the people and the "gods" of the world. This shows how urgent the people's desire for peaceful reunification was at that time, and whether the three of them can make contributions is also a matter of concern to the people. Zhuge Liang was also one of the focal figures at that time. He is brave and resourceful, and he is the master of the war. In the minds of the people, as long as there is a war in which he participates, he will win the battle. Heroes in the world lived in seclusion in Longzhong when they were young, which didn't help much for national affairs, but they always cared about national affairs. Later, Liu Bei was invited out of Longzhong because of his sincerity in "visiting the thatched cottage". The second time was "defeated and ordered by danger." In order to accomplish the great cause of reunification for more than 20 years, he struggled hard and made positive progress until he "worked hard until he died", which made people in previous dynasties lament. Third, the reason for "supporting Liu against Cao Cao". It shows the people's desire for benevolent governance, their hatred of tyranny, their dissatisfaction with alien rule and their strong nationality. From the beginning of the novel, Liu Bei is a symbol of benevolent king. "The ancestor's Hongyi is generous, knows people and treats people, and is a hero in the style of Gaozu." And Cao Cao is a symbol of great rape and evil. He is selfish, narrow-minded, suspicious and cunning. In the selection of materials, it is sometimes too far-fetched, imposing the greatness of others on Liu Bei Group and deleting the defects of Liu Bei Group. Linguistically speaking, Liu Bei is called "the first emperor", "the great uncle" and "the first master", and Cao Cao is called "the Han thief". We know from history that it is extremely unfair that Liu Bei is more capable of managing Cao Cao in the world. But as a historical novel, it reflects people's wishes, which is against history, and we can understand it. It reflects people's pursuit of an ideal in an era.
Also, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms embodies the Confucian idea of benevolent governance. First, Confucianism embodies benevolence and righteousness. Jun, Chen and Zi are in good order. Liu Bei is a descendant of the orthodox Han Dynasty. His revolution is a continuation of the Han Dynasty. Others are suspected of committing crimes and insurrection, which Confucianism cannot tolerate. Second, it embodies a kind of on-the-job meaning. It emphasizes the meaning of serving the country and reporting the people of Li Shu. The concept of "Three Oaths in Taoyuan" is pinned on Liu, Guan and Zhang, making them brothers. Treat people with courtesy. Justice enables them to help the poor, and Qi Xin works together. In the novel, Guan Yu is a symbol of righteousness. Guan Yu's image is not damaged in the novel, although he values small righteousness and forgets great righteousness. Furthermore, it embodies the Confucian thought of benevolent governance. Confucius said, "Let anyone love others". The benevolent government advocated by Confucianism is the rule of virtue, and the country is governed by sages. And Liu Group is a model of this sage.
Finally, it embodies people's admiration for wisdom. Zhuge Liang is the embodiment of wisdom. It was with his participation that Shu Han flourished in every war and every decision.
Of course, A Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a microcosm of China culture, and it can't be summarized in a few words. In recent years, many scholars have paid more and more attention to it systematically.
After The Romance of The Three Kingdoms came out, it produced a great sensation in the society, and had a certain impact on social and political thought, morality and military affairs. The ruling class once used the orthodox ideas of loyalty and justice in the book to serve its ruling people, as evidenced by the ruler Guan Fenggong in the early Qing Dynasty. But on the other hand, the novel also gives the leaders of the peasant uprising experience and means of struggle. Ren Huang's Collection of Short Stories in the Qing Dynasty said: "In modern times, Zhang Zhongxian, Li Zicheng, Zhang Geer and Hong Xiuquan were all in harmony at first, but Qiang had no discipline. Later, they made a little siege, took risks and fortified themselves, and gradually became witty ... I heard that they all used the examples in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms as the only cheats of the jade account. " In literature, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms created a historical romance novel in the history of China's novels and provided a model for the creation of such novels. A well-known Taoist in Wumen, The Preface to the New National Records, said that "since Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the national history has been performed for more than a hundred times as a popular romance, which is worthy of the world and effective for the heirs ..." Wu Woyao's Preface to the Romance of the Two Jin Dynasties also said that "since the Romance of the Three Kingdoms came into being, historical novels have emerged one after another", all of which clearly pointed out.
2. Enlighten people's thoughts and teach them loyalty, righteousness and being a man.
It is common sense in academic research to know the version before reading. A comprehensive and systematic study of a work and an understanding of its origin and development are indispensable foundations. For researchers as a whole, if they lack correct version knowledge, the scientificity, accuracy and completeness of the research will be limited. To give a typical example, some people often use the phrase "We will part for a long time" to summarize the theme of The Romance of Three Kingdoms and analyze Luo Guanzhong's thoughts. In fact, this is just a smooth and easy statement. Although convenient, it is not accurate. First of all, this statement is based on the first sentence at the beginning of Mao Ben's "The History of the Three Kingdoms": "It is said that the general trend of the world will be combined for a long time, and it will be combined for a long time." However, there is no such sentence in various versions of Ming History, which cannot be used to express Luo Guanzhong's creative intention at will. Secondly, in Luo Guanzhong's mind, "fen" and "he" do not have the same status. Although the work shows the process from "combination" to "separation" in the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is only the beginning of the book and a narrative of established objective historical facts. This "score" does not reflect the author's wishes. On the contrary, the author feels sad for this "Fen" history. The author focuses on the difficult process from "separation" to "combination", which is the great achievement of heroes from all walks of life who strive for unity. It can be seen that in order to fully grasp the ideological connotation of the works, we must understand the differences between different versions; To improve the research level as a whole, we must lay a good foundation for version research.
1. Develop in depth under the background of big culture.
Since the middle and late 1980s, with the multi-level and multi-directional observation of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the study of literature has increasingly extended to the study of culture. This is not only a reflection of the "cultural research fever" in the study of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms in the whole historical period, but also an inevitable requirement for the study of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms to March into breadth and depth.
A rich and profound work is not only a literary phenomenon, but also a cultural phenomenon. In particular, masterpieces such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms have had a far-reaching impact on the spiritual life and national character of the Chinese nation. From the perspective of pure literature, Romance of the Three Kingdoms has become one of the best novels in ancient China with its historical development of novel genre, colorful story lines, colorful characters, grand and rigorous overall structure and uninhibited artistic style. At the same time, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is an encyclopedic work with extremely rich cultural connotations and various cultural meanings. Therefore, the study of The Romance of The Three Kingdoms can be carried out from the perspective of pure literature as well as culture. For example, for the great influence of The Romance of Three Kingdoms, Mr. He Manzi went beyond the analysis of pure literature and explained it from the perspective of people's historical feelings. He believes: "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is indeed the first successful work in China's historical novels ... but the reason why it has such a far-reaching influence cannot be entirely attributed to the artistic ability of the novel itself, and the story of the Three Kingdoms cannot be spread so widely. It is an ancient memory that the characters in the book are so deeply rooted in people's hearts. The more important factors here are the special attention of people who have asked for knowledge of history since the Southern Dynasties to the critical period of the historical turning point of the Three Kingdoms, and the power of various literary forms to help spread. This kind of understanding is obviously more comprehensive and profound than just looking for reasons from the artistic achievements of romance itself. Another example is: since the mid-to-late 1980s, while the literature research of The Romance of Three Kingdoms has made great progress, some scholars have studied the Romance of Three Kingdoms from the perspectives of talents, strategies, management and leadership art, and published many works of "applied research", that is, they regard the Romance of Three Kingdoms as the crystallization of the ancient wisdom of the Chinese nation and as the enlightenment of life. This is entirely possible. Of course, this kind of "applied research" is not the main body of the study of the Three Kingdoms, let alone the whole study of the Three Kingdoms. In the new century, we should make an all-round study of The Romance of The Three Kingdoms under the broad background of great culture. This includes at least three aspects: first, continue to explore the literary characteristics and achievements of romance; The second is to put romance in the long river of China's cultural development and dig deep into its cultural connotation; The third is to comprehensively summarize the extensive influence of romance on our national spiritual life and national character. In this way, the research field of Romance of the Three Kingdoms will be infinitely broad.
2. Actively use new research methods. The history of academic research proves that the renewal of research methods is of great significance. The research method is not only a general tool problem, but also a philosophical methodology and epistemological depth problem. Every historical progress in the study of ancient novels is related to the change of research methods. The research and development of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms in the past twenty-one years also proves this point. For example, many scholars have made wonderful discussions on the image of Zhuge Liang, among which Mr. Qiu Zhensheng's paper "Just Like a Feather in the Flame Mountain" and Mr. Chen Xianghua's monograph "A Study on the Image History of Zhuge Liang" are very influential representatives; Mr. Huang Jun, on the other hand, found a new way of exploration from the perspective of motif, pointing out that Zhuge Liang, as a tragic hero, his spirit of struggle, which he knew he could not do, tried to compete with God and eventually failed, was actually an eternal motif in China's literary creation, including myths, legends and novels. Zhuge Liang's evolution from a historical figure to an artistic image is bound to be influenced and restricted by the "racial memory" left by tragic heroes in ancient mythology, especially Kuafu. "This extremely solemn and heroic contest between heroes such as Kuafu and Zhuge and nature and destiny can only be passed down from generation to generation by paying fire sacrifices." This argument can give people new enlightenment. In the new century, with the further liberation of people's minds, new literary theories and new research methods will emerge constantly. We should be open-minded and realistic, carefully identify and choose to absorb, and promote the further study of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
3. Be brave to put forward new ideas. The process of academic research is a process of continuous exploration and pursuit of truth, and it is always necessary to bravely break through what Chen said and put forward new viewpoints. In the past twenty-one years, many researchers have adhered to the principle of "emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts", dared to think independently, or questioned Chen's theory, or developed predecessors' viewpoints, or put forward new viewpoints, opened up new research fields and made gratifying progress on a series of issues. For example, in the early 1980s, some scholars put forward the view that "the characters of the Three Kingdoms are typical shining models" according to the law of "from typical to typical" in European narrative literature theory, which had a considerable influence. In this regard, some scholars refute that the formulation of "typed typical" is unscientific. Mr. Liu Shangsheng further put forward a new category, thinking that the characters in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms are artistic images of characterization, even typical ones, which represent the peak of characterization art, which is conducive to the in-depth study. In the new century, we should better carry forward the spirit of innovation and strive for new achievements worthy of the times.