"The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" provides the basic experience of "seven parts facts and three parts fiction" on how to write historical novels. Most of the historical events and characters in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" are real. The Yellow Turban Rebellion, Dong Zhuo's Rebellion, Guandu, the Battle of Chibi, etc. are real events in history. At the end of the Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos, and many heroes emerged, including Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, Liu Bei, Sun Quan, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhuge Liang, etc., and they did exist in history. This is the "seven percent truth." The creation of historical novels, when involving history, must in principle conform to historical reality and must not be fabricated or fabricated. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be historical fiction. But on the other hand, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is not equal to the history of the Three Kingdoms. It is a novel after all. Therefore, many of the contents and plots are fictional and exaggerated. Not only do there not exist events in history such as "Wu Guotai Buddhist Temple to see the groom", "Huang Gai was tortured for presenting a secret plan" and "Zhuge Liang worshiped the wind at the Seven Star Altar". Moreover, even historical figures such as Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were not copied from "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" to "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Rather, the author processed and transformed it based on the idea of ??respecting Liu and denouncing Cao. Some are beautified and deified, and some are vilified. These characters in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" are already models of art. This is "three-thirds fiction."
Historical events are almost true, but the vast majority are exaggerated. For example: in the Battle of Chibibi, Cao Cao's army was 200,000. It's not 830,000 as written in the book, Sun and Liu's army is 50,000, and Zhuge Liang captured Meng Huo seven times, it's not 500,000, but the difference is not big, only one "0" is missing, it's 50,000! ! ! Moreover, it marched in three directions. The West Route Army was led by General Wang Ping, the Middle Route Army was led by General Xiang Chong (it is mentioned in "Departure List": General Xiang Chong has a good temperament), and the East Route Army was led by Zhuge Liang. The other two generals also defeated Meng Huo, and it is true that it was Zhuge Liang's role that made Meng Huo surrender.
As for the description of the characters, the gap between it and the real situation is bigger. The biggest injustice is Zhou Yu. Everything Zhou Yu said is half a beat slower than Zhuge Liang. In fact, Zhou Yu, as the commander-in-chief of the Soochow Army, When he commanded the Battle of Chibi, Zhuge Liang was not yet famous. He was just a clerk (currently a clerk) under Liu Bei, and there was no conflict between the two of them. The second most unjust case is that of Lu Su. The real Lu Su was a man who was both civil and military, brave, resourceful and courageous, not the image of a loyal elder that everyone sees now. Lu Su’s home is: [ Xuzhou] Linhuai East City [today's Dingyuan, Anhui], Cao Cao's territory. When he led dozens of strong men and more than 200 family members to south to Soochow, Cao Cao knew about it and immediately sent troops to pursue him. When he caught up, Lu Su ordered the young and old When the woman walked in front, he and the strong men stayed behind. Lu Su ordered his people to hang a shield on a tree and shoot several arrows. Not only did the arrows hit the shield, but they also penetrated the shield, frightening the Wei soldiers. , and spoke impassionedly, and understood the truth. Wei Bing felt ashamed and went back. And it was also the theory of dividing the world into three parts that was first proposed by Lu Su (10 years earlier than Zhuge Liang, but one of them belonged to Liu Biao, not Liu Bei); as for attending the meeting alone, it was even bigger. Lu Su and Guan Yu had two discussions in one sitting. The incident in Jingzhou happened for the first time in a neutral place. Both sides had some senior generals, and they also brought a lot of troops. The military strength of both sides was equal. A general from Xishu said that he would not return it, and Lu Su immediately became furious, and Guan Yu immediately said: That person cannot represent Xi Shu, and asked that person to withdraw from the meeting immediately. The second negotiation was in Jingzhou, and the situation was favorable to Guan Yu. The generals of Soochow advised Lu Su not to go, but Lu Su went to Jingzhou alone with only a few followers. When they met, he said sternly that Xi Shu was not trustworthy. Guan Yu was left speechless, and finally agreed to return the three counties immediately (a real one-man meeting). Guan Yu used an iron sword weighing more than 40 kilograms (there was no such weapon as a sword at that time). He could only kill Yanliang, but not Wenchou; he had surrendered Cao, but there was no three-part rule; he had not killed six generals, and he had not warmed the wine. Killing Hua Xiong and Three Heroes Fighting Lu Bu are also fictional. Cao Cao was originally frightened by Guan Yu and prepared to move the capital, but did not do so under Xun Yu's persuasion. Later, he made peace with Soochow and captured Jingzhou, and Guan Yu was eventually killed. It was Guan Yu's willfulness that ruined the great state of Shu and led to its decline, which completely failed his plan to divide the world into three parts, costing him his own life and ruining his reputation. Zhang Fei is not that ignorant, and he is very knowledgeable in the art of war. It is said that his calligraphy is also very good. Zhao Yun was just Liu Bei's personal guard chief. He didn't know any art of war, so he was a real warrior.
Zhuge Liang didn't have a straw boat to borrow arrows, borrow the east wind and the three qi from Zhou Yu, but he actually went to Soochow during the Battle of Chibi, just to deliver a letter, and came back as soon as the letter was delivered. As for the burning of Bowangpo and the burning of Xinye, it was Liu Bei who As for the retreat of Sima from the empty city and the renewal of life by the seven stars, it is also fictitious. ((In my opinion, Zhuge Liang is not as powerful as the legend at all. At least he does not know the weather knowledge. For example, in Chapter 103, he trapped Sima in the valley. Three father and son, and the fire attack was about to succeed, suddenly it rained heavily to extinguish the flames. That rain was inevitable, because the water vapor in the valley was very thick, and when the fire was lit, a lot of small particles like dust would fly into the sky, and it would rain. There are two conditions: one is that there is enough water vapor, and the other is that there are condensation nuclei. At the beginning, there was only the first one, and the fire set by the Shu army provided the second condition, so it was inevitable that Sima and his son would not be burned to death. Yes, the most you can do is scare them)). However, Zhuge Liang was still very outstanding in terms of economic development and military training. He was a very outstanding politician and military strategist. In fact, Liu Bei had a very bad temper, and it was Liu Bei who beat him, and it was Guan Yu and Zhang Fei who persuaded him to leave, etc.
The widely circulated stories are even more fictitious: Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were not at all There has never been any sworn friendship. Wait
"The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is just a novel, not an official history. It is mixed with too much subjective emotion, and in order to highlight the orthodox status of the Liu surname in Xishu, other people can only be sacrificed. For example: in order to highlight Zhuge Liang's wisdom and Zhou Yu's treachery and pettyness, Lu Su must be sacrificed. In order to highlight Liu Bei's generosity, we can only highlight Cao Cao's treachery. Moreover, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" mainly promotes loyalty and righteousness, which is what feudal rulers need most.