The ultimate conclusion of the Three Kingdoms saga boils down to a legendary rivalry between the two master strategists: Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang; a rivalry which will echo throughout the ages...

History became legend; legend became myth.

The once historical characters of the Chinese Three Kingdom period have been catapulted into the realm of demi-god status by modern Chinese culture, regularly revifiying their status' as a staple in Chinese pop culture in the form of new movies, TV shows, manga and video games. These immortalized legends aren't going away anytime soon; so what's made them such legends?
Well of course there's the history aspect for one. The Han dynsaty 2000 years ago of which Han people, Han language and Han culture originate from have their true root in this time period, so all events attaining to this time period are of special significance - especially in regard to the time of it's disintigration. So what seperates the the tragic end of the Han from the collapse of other major civilizations? Perhaps not much. But one thing we can say about the time is the scale of the destruction wrought on by the collapse. From the period of the Yellow Turban Rebllion (184ad) to re-unifcation of China under the Jin Dynasty (280ad), up to 40 million people died at a time when the global population was only 205 million.

Ok so what else? There have been many depopulation events throughout history, what makes this special? This is where the story comes in...

Imagine there was an event in your history so traumatizing that it echoed on in the form of folk tales passed from generation to generation. These folk stories spread throughout the villages and evolved in complexity over time, combining with the lore passed down in other villages and would further be buttressed by the actual scholarly ccounts. After approximatly 1200 years from the actual event, all these legends would coalese in one meta narrative - the Romance of the Three Kingdoms written by Luo Guangzhong in 14th century Ming China.

Although the official account was written in the 3rd century ad, this 'meta narrative' would be the story that imprints itself on the DNA of Chinese culture. So what is it about the story that's so great?
Like any truly great story, the characters in the book are relatable and provide the reader an ideal to live up to. These ideals are based on the Confucian tradition and the characters journeys revolve essentially around their ability or inability to live up to these ideals.
Although not immediatly obvious to a foreign audience upon first reading, the narrative explores many deep subjects through the formulation of its plot. One of them is free-will verse predetermination (or as it's called in the book, heavens will). Another is pragmatism verse idealism. The book isn't the kind that openly preaches what the authors ideas about the world are-- it's actually really just a story. But the story is rooted in the history and you could say the story has been made up to make sense of this traumatic period of history. Questions pertaining as to why fellow men would go out into the battle field to slaughter eachother are pertinent to ask. It's important to know their motives and the psycholgy behind their actions, so this is where the story has it's place.


So if you've made it this far, I'm writing this post to gee you up on learning about the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I have spent the past 6 months deeply immersed in the study of this book and as of yesterday completed the final part of a video series about the subject. I would like you watch this series. If your interested in China, I can't highly recomend enough that you watch my series as this book is such an important staple in Chinese culture and is imperative for furthering your understanding about it.
In this final video, I discuss the beggining of the end of the Three Kingdoms period. Our protaganist, Zhuge Liang, is on a mission to fulfill the dying wish of his lord to resurect the dead Han civilization by destroying the rebels that caused it's demise. But to be successful, he needs to overcome his most deadly rival so far; Sima Yi. Both sides claim to have the will of heaven on their side, but who will be victorious still remains unclear...

0:00 Sima Yi
3:44 Zhuge Liang invades the north to fulfill his promise to Liu Beis
9:24 Zhuge Liang rebukes Wang Lang and kills him with words
14:38 The invasion begins
17:18 Sima Yi returns
24:47 Zhuge Liang uses the empty fort strategy
34:49 The desperation of Shu
43:15 Sima Yi converses with Zhuge Liang
52:15 Wu teams up with Shu against Wei once again
1:03:24 Thats my star
1:13:53 The empire long divided must unite, long united must divide, thus it has ever been

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