Luo Guanzhong (about 1330-about 1400), named Guanzhong, nicknamed Huhai Sanren, was a novelist in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties and the author of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". A native of Taiyuan Prefecture, Bingzhou, Shanxi, his main works include the novels "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "The Chronicles of the Sui and Tang Dynasties", "The History of the Remaining Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties", and "The Story of Sansui Pingyao". Among them, "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms" (also known as "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms") is Luo Guanzhong's masterpiece. This novel has a profound influence on later literary creation. In addition to novel creation, there is also a drama "Zhao Taizu's Dragon and Tiger Meeting".
Character Evaluation
Luo Guanzhong is not only recognized as the author of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", one of the earliest chapter-style novels in China and the pioneer of the "historical romance" type, but is also considered to have pioneered the chapter. Among the "hero legends" and "gods and demons novels" types of novels, the authors of "Water Margin" and "The Legend of Sansui Pingyao" all include Luo Guanzhong's statement, while the other major category of "novel about worldly affairs" is derived from adaptations of The "Jin Ping Mei" plot of "Water Margin". From this, it can be considered that Luo Guanzhong alone serves as the originator (or at least one of the originators) of the four main categories of Chinese classical chapter-length novels, and has epoch-making significance for the development of Chinese novels. Some people even call Luo Guanzhong "the king of ancient Chinese novels".