Positive review
"Three Kingdoms" written by Chen Shou, like the first three histories, is also a private history. After his death, Shangshu Lang Fan Kui wrote: "Chen Shou wrote "Three Kingdoms" with many words of exhortation, good friends and good deeds, and good for the people. Although the writing is not as beautiful as the others, the quality is straightforward. I would like to record it." It can be seen that after "Three Kingdoms" was written, it was well received and praised by people at that time. Chen Shou's narrative is brief, rarely repeated in the three books, and his records are detailed and detailed. It is also very careful in the selection of materials, which has been valued by historians of all ages. The historians regard "Historical Records", "Hanshu", "Later Hanshu" and "Three Kingdoms" collectively as the first four histories, which are regarded as masterpieces of biographical history.
Excellent literary talent
Although the overall literary talent of "Three Kingdoms" is slightly inferior, it still has wonderful descriptions. For example, regarding the Battle of Chibi, Chen Shou placed relevant historical materials in "Book of Shu·Biography of Zhuge Liang", "Book of Shu·Biography of the First Master", "Book of Wu·Biography of Lord Wu", "Book of Wu·Biography of Zhou Yu", "Book of Wu·Biography of Zhou Yu", "Book of Wu·Biography of the First Master" In several biographies such as "The Biography of Lu Su", the Battle of Chibi is vividly rendered through descriptions with different emphasis. In particular, the dialogue between Wu and Shu, their respective monarchs and ministers, is very vivid.
Records of good history
Chen Shou can also conceal taboos in his narrative without losing the truth, and promote good things without hiding shortcomings. Chen Shou lived in an era where various political relationships were complex and historical and practical issues were entangled. Chen Shou made great efforts to reflect the historical reality in a tortuous way. "Three Kingdoms" has some concealment about the relationship between Han and Wei, but the wording is subtle and not false, and some real situations are revealed elsewhere. For example, in the first year of Jian'an (196), Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty moved the capital to Xuchang. This was originally an attempt by Cao Cao to blackmail the emperor and make the princes disloyal. Chen Shou does not need to write explicitly about Cao Cao's political intentions here. This is a taboo. But when he writes about moving the capital instead of calling him emperor, he says that Dong Zhao and others persuaded Taizu to agree to it. This is a criticism. In addition, he revealed the true situation at that time in "The Biography of Xun Yu", "The Biography of Dong Zhao" and "The Biography of Zhou Yu, Lu Su and Lu Meng". Although Chen Shou had feelings for his homeland towards the Shu Han Dynasty, he did not hide the mistakes of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang. He recorded Liu Bei's killing of Chang Yu out of personal grudge and Zhuge Liang's misuse of Ma Di. This is also a manifestation of the talent of a good historian. Although Chen Shou nominally respected Wei as the orthodox, he actually wrote books based on the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu, faithfully recording the situation of the three kingdoms, showing that they were independent, not subordinate to each other, and had the same status. As far as the method of recording events is concerned, the "Xianzhu Zhuan" and "Wuzhu Zhuan" are also about the chronology of events, which is exactly the same as this chronicle, but they are not called chronicles. Chen Shou's handling of this matter was in line with the historical facts and actual conditions at that time, which shows his brilliance and originality.
Careful review of materials
Careful review of materials from "Three Kingdoms". Pei Songzhi's "Annotations to the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms" records as many as 20 memorials and edicts at the turn of the Han and Wei dynasties. In "The Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms: Chronicles of Emperor Wen", Chen Shou wrote about this important event in just one 173-word edict. Regarding the death of Sun Ce, we discard the absurd legends in books such as "Sou Shen Ji" and only remember that Sun Ce was Xu Gong's assassin and even died of serious injuries. These all reflect his attitude of carefully examining historical facts, being responsible for history, and making careful choices.
The writing is concise and clean
The writing of "Three Kingdoms" is concise. It often uses concise pen and ink to write vivid characters. "The Biography of the First Lord" records that Cao Cao and Liu Bei were discussing heroes. When Cao Cao said, "Today's heroes are only the envoys and Cao Er. There are only a few disciples from the beginning." The record made Liu Bei's humble mood appear vividly on the paper. "The Biography of Zhou Yu, Lu Su and Lü Meng" records that when Cao Cao heard that Liu Bei had occupied Jingzhou, he "written a book and put it down on the ground", which vividly highlights Liu Bei's position in Cao Cao's mind and the situation at that time. The book describes the elegance of celebrities, the strategies of counselors, and the prowess of military generals. Most of them are sparingly written, but they are vivid and vivid. They have left a strong mark on history and have been praised by later generations. They also provide us with the basis for our study of history today. Indispensable historical data.
Negative comments
The narrative is too simple
In general, "Three Kingdoms" records are relatively simple, which may be related to the amount of historical materials. Chen Shou was from the Three Kingdoms period. Because Huang Hao was trying to gain power, Chen Shou refused to attach himself to Huang Hao. Therefore he was excluded. He was thirty-one years old when the Shu Kingdom fell. The "Three Kingdoms" he compiled was a modern history at that time. Many things he had personally experienced, heard and seen, which were relatively real. It is said that he had the conditions to collect historical materials.
However, due to the recent times, many historical materials have not yet been disclosed; at the same time, because the grievances have not been eliminated and there is still a certain subjective color, it is difficult to give fair praise and criticism, which also brings certain difficulties to the selection of materials and the revision of history.
From the comparison of the three books of Wei, Shu and Wu, "Shu" has only fifteen volumes, which is simpler than the two books of Wei and Wu. This is probably the reason why there are more historical materials on Wei and Wu than on Shu. When Chen Shou wrote "Three Kingdoms", the State of Wei already had Wang Shen's "Book of Wei", and the State of Wu also had Wei Zhao's "Book of Wu" for reference. This provided great convenience for Chen Shou to collect historical materials. However, the Shu Han Dynasty had neither historians nor ready-made history books to draw from, so it was very difficult to collect historical materials. Chen Shou spent a lot of effort, even searching for some fragmentary fragments, and found only fifteen volumes of "Shu Shu". The deeds of many important figures in the "Book of Shu" are very briefly recorded, which shows that the historical materials of the Shu Han are quite lacking. For example, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun were the founding fathers of the Shu Han Dynasty, but the "Book of Shu·Biography of Guan Yu" only has more than 1,200 words; "Book of Shu·Biography of Zhang Fei" only has more than 800 words; "Book of Shu·Biography of Zhao Yun" only has more than 800 words; "Book of Shu·Biography of Zhao Yun" only has more than 1,200 words. More than four hundred words. Another example is Xu Qian, Chen Lin, Ying Jue, Ruan Yu and other famous scholars in the Jian'an period (the Seventh Son of Jian'an). None of them have official biographies, and they are only appended to the Biography of Wang Can in the Book of Wei. And except for the three to four hundred words about Chen Lin, the rest are only a few words.
Guarding for curved writing
Another shortcoming that Chen Shou was criticized by later generations is that there are often curved writings in the book, but many of them are defended. Liu Zhiji said in "Shi Tong·Zhi Shu Pian" that "at the beginning of the foundation of Yi and Jing, when Cao and Ma were in dispute, they might form a camp in Weiqu to see Qu Wuhou, or they might attack Yuntai to injure them. Cheng Ji, Chen Shou and Wang Yin were speechless and speechless." He criticized Chen Shou and Wang Yin for protecting the powerful figures Cao Cao and Sima Yi when compiling history. It is true that we did not see the content discussed by Liu Zhiji in the "Three Kingdoms·Book of Wei". In this regard, Zhao Yi of the Qing Dynasty wrote in the "Three Kingdoms Many Returns" in Volume 6 of "Notes on the Twenty-Two Histories": "Spring and Autumn" book The king of heaven was hunting in Heyang. He did not say that he was summoned by the marquis of Jin, but thought that the emperor was patrolling the hunt and had provided cover. However, this matter is taboo for the venerable. As for the matter of the child's father, a big book was written to correct it. Ru Xu Zhi, Zhao Dun and others refused to borrow a word, so they were sincere and righteous. Since Chen Shou wrote "Wei Benji", many people have responded to it. During the revolution between the two dynasties, he was granted a title, swords and shoes, nine tins, and a Zen position. There were edicts and strategies, and it became a certain calligraphy. Later, all the books of Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen were regarded as the official form, and it was believed that this should be the way to write history. However, if longevity is too protective, there will always be those who are not safe.
The most serious incident in "Three Kingdoms" is the murder of Gao Guixiang. According to "Han Jin Spring and Autumn", "Wei's Spring and Autumn", "Shiyu" and "Wei Dynasty Biography", It was the conflict between Cao Mao, the Duke of Gaogui Township, and Sima Zhao. The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms does not mention this, but it records the unilateral statement of Empress Dowager Guo enumerating Cao Mao's "sins" and Sima Zhao and others' unilateral statements. Zhao Yi sighed: "This record is like this, and there are no scattered biographies about it. This is especially true for his writing. However, it is still said that he was an official in the Jin Dynasty, and he dare not not be tabooed by the Jin Dynasty. When it came to Cao Wei, it was a separate dynasty. , why should we keep it taboo?" Zhao Yi's accusation is sharp and profound, and there are many examples. For example, Cao Cao killed innocent people indiscriminately when he conquered Tao Qian, and recorded that Cao Wei's battle against Shu "exclusively concealed his defeat and boasted about his victory." Finally, Zhao Yi believes that Chen Shou was not only involved in the chronicles of the rulers in power, but was also tabooed in many biographies.