"The Yangtze River flows eastward, and the waves wash away heroes ..." Mention this word, and people will think of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, one of the four classical novels.
I did a family survey. No one knows that the full name of Romance of the Three Kingdoms is Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but everyone knows that it was compiled by Luo Guanzhong, a writer of the Ming Dynasty. To read a novel, we should first look at its title and find some key information from it. According to the full name, we know that this novel is written according to the annals of the Three Kingdoms. Since it is a novel, it is certainly not as solemn as the official history. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms has become more artistic and story-telling than the History of the Three Kingdoms. Below, I will comment on this 660,000-word masterpiece from several aspects.
I. Truth and fiction
The biggest difference between romance and official history is that romance is not true, but a novel. Everyone says that the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a seven-point historical fact and three-point fiction, which is true. But fiction, using artistic methods to fiction, is not just that historical facts can be used for fiction. For example, Guan Gong killed Hua Xiong with warm wine, which is not recorded in the history books. Another example is about going to a meeting alone with Lu Su. History books say that Lu Su went to see Guan Yu alone. There are of course countless similar examples. After reading it, a little analysis shows that most of these fictional plots pave the way for the characters described in the novel. Some readers will ask, why? Actually, the reason is very simple. Writers should have certain political thoughts and colors when writing novels. If described according to the official history, it may be contrary to the author's political thought.
Moreover, while making fiction, the author also noticed the rationality and coherence of the plot, rather than making fiction stiffly, which is why he felt immersive after reading it. In a word, the author's writing in this respect is quite successful, and these plots also show part of the author's subjective wishes.
Second, deification and uglification.
The characters in The Romance of Three Kingdoms are not real characters, but processed characters in the official history, including deified characters and demonized characters.
The typical representatives of deified figures are Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu. Zhuge Liang was deified by "prophecy" and Guan Yu by "loyalty" and "righteousness". Below, I want to briefly compare why the author focuses on deifying these two people.
Zhu was a famous Neo-Confucianist in the Southern Song Dynasty, and he thought he was the orthodoxy of the Three Kingdoms. Since Chen Shou, most of Zhu's previous views were based on Cao Wei. Since Zhu, kings, ministers and people have also begun to accept Zhu's point of view, because it conforms to Confucianism and can be accepted by the ruling class. Luo Guanzhong also agreed with Zhu. Therefore, most of his deified characters are loyal to the Han family. Among them, the author writes that Zhuge Liang is the embodiment of "wisdom" and Guan Yu is the embodiment of "loyalty" and "righteousness". This is why Daoguang ruler was influenced by The Romance of Three Kingdoms and gave Guan Yu posthumous title with more than 30 words.
As for uglification, it is basically apotheosis. For example, Zhou Yu, a hero in history, died young, but The Romance of the Three Kingdoms described him as a jealous man. The purpose of uglification is mostly set off by deification.
Third, people and clues
One of the great successes of The Romance of The Three Kingdoms is that it has successfully created many distinctive characters, such as Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Liu Bei, Zhao Yun, Cao Cao, Zhou Yu and Mi Fei. The author embodies the distinctive characteristics of the characters through detailed description. For example, when writing Zhang Fei, in the seventieth chapter, the author made a detailed description and description of Zhang Fei's narrow-minded battles, and at the same time increased the dialogue between Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei, showing Zhuge Liang's superb wisdom.
The reason why The Romance of the Three Kingdoms can properly handle many characters and their complicated relationships is that the author not only writes with the techniques of reality, emptiness, detail, omission, insertion and flashback, but also uses the literary techniques of narrative along clues. The main line of Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the process of the establishment and demise of the Shu-Han regime until the three-point return to Jin, which is interspersed with clues. For example, during the period of Battle of Red Cliffs, the author began to narrate from three lines: Liu Bei, Sun Quan and Cao Cao. These three lines are interrelated, and they will not only describe one or two clues in one chapter. If intertwined, readers will feel very coherent, rather than just looking at a clue.
Fourth, feudalism and kingship
One of the political ideas expressed in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is to advocate typical Confucianism-kingly way and benevolent government. A large part of the fictional stories in Romance of the Three Kingdoms are to express this idea. In this way, the author boldly created a series of artistic images of "loyalty" and "righteousness" in his works.
The first one is Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang described in Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the embodiment of loyalty and wisdom, especially the author's wisdom of Zhuge Liang, which is even more exaggerated.
Zhuge Liang, in the ruling group of the landlord class at that time, was a sensitive, courageous and resourceful person. However, he has these advantages because he attaches importance to practice. For example, Cao Cao captured Jingzhou and led his troops south. Zhuge Liang analyzed the situation to Sun Quan and predicted that Cao Cao would be defeated, precisely because Zhuge Liang compared the advantages and disadvantages of the enemy and ourselves before the war. For another example, Zhuge Liang dared to come up with an "empty plan" because he analyzed the situation of the generals of both sides and knew that Sima Yi knew that he was "cautious all his life and would never take risks", so he took advantage of Sima Yi's long-term understanding of himself and adopted a very "dangerous" plan to solve the crisis. However, in more chapters, the author wrote Zhuge Liang as a "prophet". For example, Zhuge Liang's Watching the Sky at Night and Rolling Up His Sleeves several times. In "Sacrificing the Wind at the Seven Stars Altar", it is an absurd description. Similar problems are also found in Eight Arrays, Half Stone Sacrifice to Lushui, Wu Ganxing and Dingjun Mountain Show the Sage.
Guan Yu is also a character described in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In the author's pen, Guan Yu also became a heroic and loyal hero in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms from a military commander who was as famous as Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong in the Three Kingdoms. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms beautifies Guan Yu in this way, which is completely advocating the feudal thought of "loyalty" and "righteousness". After the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu became a figure completely in line with the ideals of the feudal ruling class, and Guan Yu's influence among the people became wider and wider. The rulers of Ming and Qing dynasties called him "the Great Emperor" several times and built temples for him everywhere. This clearly shows how the description of "loyalty" and "righteousness" advocated by Guan Yu suits the needs of feudal rulers.
In addition, in order to advocate serving the feudal masters, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms also created a series of so-called "loyal ministers" images, such as Dong Cheng, Wang Zifu and Ji. In order to be loyal to Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty, they wiped out Cao Cao, a "national thief". "Although they wiped out the nine clans, they had no regrets". The author touted these people as immortal model figures. In addition, when writing characters such as Jiang Wei, he advocated feudal "filial piety" and when writing characters such as Mrs. Sun, he advocated feudal "festival". Therefore, the characters depicted in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms run through the author's social and political views.
Verb (abbreviation for verb) poetry and ode
Another great success of Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the introduction of a large number of poems and songs. Although the number is less than that of A Dream of Red Mansions, there are many excellent works. Some poems are introduced to express feelings, while others appear in the singing or writing of characters. For example, "The sky is like a round cover and the earth is like a chess game ..." (Chapter 37), which was written by Zhuge Liang. Another example is, "Cao Cao is an adulterer, and Zhou Lang was cheated for a while ..." (45th time), which is the story that later generations lamented that Cao Cao was wrongly accused of killing Cai Mao and Zhang Yun. The first word "Linjiang Xian" is magnificent, which gives readers a sense of awe. After reading it, I have a feeling that I can't stop. At the end of the article, the poem "Antique" summarizes 660,000 words of the rise and fall of the Three Kingdoms in a century into a long narrative poem with only over 300 words. Although there are no flowery words, it is like a rhyming postscript, which leads readers to relive the situation of the Three Kingdoms. Its last few words even triggered the author's thinking and understanding of history: "The succession of things is endless, and the number of days cannot be avoided. The three-legged leg has become a dream, and future generations will complain. " Leave readers with infinite reverie.
In a word, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the best of the four classical novels after A Dream of Red Mansions. Although some of these thoughts are worth discussing, they are of far-reaching significance to the Chinese nation.
Cao Cao is one of the most wonderful figures in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Luo Guanzhong, the author, rated it as "a lean man in troubled times", denounced it, and deliberately compared it with Liu Bei, rendering feudal orthodoxy. I don't agree with this: behind the troubled times, Cao Cao is actually a "genius who manages the world"
Cao Cao, whose name was Meng De, was a politician, strategist and poet in the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Or, in a word, Cao Cao is a versatile writer.
Cao Cao's military ability is beyond doubt. At the age of twenty, he raised Xiaolian as an official, broke the yellow turban insurrectionary, captured Lu Bu, destroyed Yuan Shu, collected Yuan Shao and removed Ma Teng, and finally unified the North. Starting from the bottom, with real talent and practical learning, I worked hard in more than half of China, and I was in the limelight for a while. In particular, the battle of Guandu is still talked about as a classic example of "winning more with less".
Cao Cao's achievements in the literary world are beyond the reach of Liu Bei and Sun Quan. As one of the seven sons of Jian 'an, Cao Cao led the wind of Jian 'an and left us many excellent works! Among them, Watching the Sea, Although a turtle is a longevity, and Short Songs are the most famous. The famous phrase "Martyr's courage in his twilight years" embodies Cao Cao's persistent pursuit of his career and has been inspiring people, especially middle-aged and elderly people, for thousands of years.
Cao Cao can achieve great things, and his political ability should not be underestimated.
After gaining Dong Zhuo's trust, Cao Cao could have attached himself to Dong Zhuo for promotion and wealth, but instead of doing so, he dared to do what others dared not do and assassinated Dong Zhuo with a seven-star nod. In my opinion, this is the embodiment of Cao Cao's political foresight: seeking the world instead of Rong Lu. He knows very well that the thief Dong is perverse and cruel, and everyone hates him. Such a regime has no future-a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, and Cao Cao knows this well.
It is a very important move for Cao Cao to rise among the heroes in the future, recruit talents and make good use of talents. When the battle of Guandu was deadlocked, Cao Cao's thirst for talents was revealed. Xu You, an enemy general, came to Cao Cao's camp. Cao Cao rushed to meet the enemy before he even had time to tidy up his clothes and shoes. This made Xu You extremely moved and surrendered: in Cao Cao's words, this is called "the mountains are never too high, and the sea is never too deep". The duke of Zhou vomited and the world returned to his heart. "This also shows that cao cao doesn't understand choose and employ persons. Also, when dealing with the contradiction between Yu Ban and Xia Houdun, Cao Cao did not favor Xiahou's paternal relatives, but put the overall situation first and selflessly supported the general. In this way, achieving maximum unity is a reliable guarantee for great achievements. In this case, Cao Cao wrote Xun You, Yu Xun and Guo Jia; With Coss, Dian Wei and Xia Houdun, Cao firmly occupied a place in the world. But some people think that Liu Bei is better than Cao Cao in employing people, which I don't agree with. Liu Bei, although he is also a famous soldier under his command, even a clever figure like Zhuge Liang, is full of small circles and individualism. However, Guan Yu defied the military order of "releasing Cao Cao" openly, but he was not punished; Zhang Fei drinks and makes trouble. He was robbed of Xuzhou by Lu Bu, but he remained calm. Putting the "buddy complex" of Taoyuan's sworn relationship above the political atmosphere finally developed into personal revenge, which violated the important and correct political strategy of "uniting Wu to resist Wei", and attacked Wu on a large scale, making Shu weak and declining.
After all, Cao Cao was a figure in feudal times. While he is brilliant, he also fully shows his sensitive, fragile, aloof and even jealous and suspicious human weakness. Therefore, we must pay more attention to the evaluation of Cao Cao's multiple personalities. Cao Cao offered his sword to Dong Zhuo. After the defeat, he went to his father's righteous brother Lv Boshe, suspecting that he would hurt himself and kill his family. He said: "I would rather let the whole world blame me than let the whole world blame me." When this statement came out, Cao Cao was notorious. Dong Chengmou led to her own heavy losses, and Dong Guifei was also implicated in the execution. Mi Heng scolded cao thief for being naked, and Cao Cao took advantage of the situation to stage a drama of impeded people. Yang Xiu guessed Cao Xin, and Cao Cao also killed him on trumped-up charges of shaking the morale of the army ... These endless examples show Cao Cao's suspicious, jealous and cruel side. However, careful study: people can't help themselves in the rivers and lakes. In troubled times, Cao Cao is very talented in managing the world. He can do great things. Wouldn't it be a waste of genius to fall on a nobody like Lv Boshe? Moreover, the feudal rulers, who lived at the top of the temple, were actually very empty inside. They are afraid that others will challenge their position, and they can't be publicly guilty than Mi Heng and Yang Xiu, so they have to kill them quickly. Therefore, Cao Cao must pay attention to everything, be more careful and have more tricks.
Cao Cao's success has its advantages. No matter how anyone comments on his fault, I will still say it in the words of one family: this is that he has achieved great personality and great career.