Three Kingdoms and Chinese Culture

Introduction

xvii Introduction ‫ﱠ‬ The title of the colloquium for which the essays in this volume were first produced was “The Historical, Fictional, Theatrical, and Artistic Three Kingdoms: A SinoAmerican Colloquium.” The Chinese equivalent for this title was simply “Three Kingdoms Culture” (Sanguo wenhua), a phrase that encompasses a wide range of meanings requiring more elucidation for a Western audience. The quintessential expression of “Three Kingdoms Culture” is the novel Three Kingdoms (Sanguo yanyi) one of the“four masterworks of the Ming novel” (Mingdai si da qishu).1 This novel has been made more accessible to English speakers in recent years through Moss Roberts’s superb translation.2 Set in the historical era of disunion (AD 220– 280 ), Three Kingdoms depicts pitched battles and Machiavellian schemes; alliances are formed, broken, and reformed as various claimants jockey to attain “the Mandate of Heaven” (Tian Ming), and military men and civil advisers alike attempt to identify and back the most likely victor. The novel is vast and sprawling, covering a span of over a hundred years and with over 1000 named characters appearing within its pages; at the same time, it lays claim to some of the most memorable episodes and figures in Chinese literature, including Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Cao Cao, and Zhuge Liang. The most prominent strand within the narrative features Liu Bei and his men. Liu is introduced in chapter 1 as a distant scion of the ruling family, whose own imperial aspirations had been apparent from his childhood. At the time the narrative begins he is twenty-eight. In the first chapter he swears an oath of brotherhood with the two other heroes, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.The three men swear to uphold the Han dynasty mandate, and to support each other to the death in a solemn ceremony . The consequences of this oath are momentous, and are discussed in more detail in Moss Roberts’s foreword and in several of the essays in this volume. In chapter 1 and throughout the novel, the valiant ideals of Liu and his sworn brothers form a contrast with the treacherous villain (jian xiong) Cao Cao. Cao, too has imperial aspirations, and his attitude toward achieving his goals is famously summarized by his own words in chapter 4:“Better to wrong the world, than have it wrong me” (38.) In the early chapters of the novel Liu and Cao team up to support the Han emperor against, first, the rebellious Yellow Scarves, and then against the traitorous minister Dong Zhuo and his general, Lü Bu. However, Cao, who has a genius for recognizing the value of men, soon realizes that Liu and his sworn brothers pose a serious threat to his ambitions to supplant the Han, and they part ways. Cao Cao is a complex figure that generations have loved to hate. In chapter 8 of this collection Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak discusses a contemporary drama that draws on the complexities of Cao’s character to create an antihero with human flaws of universal significance. After the alliance between Cao Cao and Liu Bei dissolves, Liu is in a difficult position. He has the allegiance of great warriors, among them his sworn brothers , Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, but he has no territory in which to establish himself and he lacks a strategist to help him attain a base of operations. At this point in the novel Liu learns of the genius Zhuge Liang, called Kongming, who is living in seclusion. If any single figure can be said to dominate the novel it is Kongming, even though he appears much later in the narrative than Liu Bei or Cao Cao. The novel combines aspects of history and popular legend to create a character with enduring appeal. In this volume of essays chapters 5 and 6 both explore some of the precedents for the novel’s depiction of Kongming, and the connections between changing ideology and Zhuge Liang’s evolving characterization. Determined to gain Zhuge’s assistance, Liu visits Zhuge Liang’s thatched hut three times before finally meeting with him. Zhuge Liang is so moved by Liu Bei’s appreciation of his talent that he agrees to assist Liu, and immediately lays out a plan that will result in the tripartite division of the empire, with Liu occupying the Riverlands (later the Kingdom of Shu, roughly equivalent to modern Sichuan), one of the three parts. Because Zhuge views Cao Cao as the most dangerous enemy, he proposes that Liu ally himself...