Romance of the Three Kingdoms —— A Brief Edition of Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Preface)

? Romance of the Three Kingdoms is my favorite novel. The original intention of changing it into a simplified version of the vernacular originated from watching the TV series Romance of the Three Kingdoms with my youngest son. During the reading, my son didn't quite understand, and I kept asking questions. I also took pains to explain, and my son read it with relish.

? Two episodes later, my son is still wanting more. What I want to say is the following plot. I took out the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms and let him read it himself. After reading a few paragraphs, he said a lot of words and meanings, and he didn't know them and didn't want to read them. After all, he is under eight years old and still pesters me to explain. I tried to speak a passage in modern Chinese, and my son was more absorbed. I suddenly had an epiphany. If there is a modern vernacular romance of the Three Kingdoms, wouldn't it solve the problem of children's reading? Then came the idea of rewriting The Romance of the Three Kingdoms into modern vernacular Chinese.

? Romance of the Three Kingdoms is actually a popular novel, but the author is from the end of Yuan Dynasty to the beginning of Ming Dynasty, and his words and sentences are slightly classical. Some of them kept some "chapters, essays and ci fu" and some authors' own poems. Therefore, it is difficult for people who have no knowledge of classical Chinese to read, which is also the reason why children have difficulty reading.

Since the emergence of novels in Ming and Qing Dynasties, there has been a saying in China-"Don't look at the water margin when you are young, and don't look at the Three Kingdoms when you are old" (this sentence seems to be said by Jin Shengtan). Why do you say that? Because the water margin is talking about the same loyalty, taking rebellion and murder as the spirit and looting as the hero. Young people are full of blood, so it is inevitable to follow suit. So try to make them watch less. The three countries mainly focus on intelligence, wisdom and strategy, and are interested in "old people" (in the past, people's life span was short, and middle-aged people over 40 could be called old people). Old people think too much, which is harmful to the rule of society. Of course, when time has entered the modern society, there are no such so-called taboos.

? Anyone who has read The Romance of the Three Kingdoms knows that The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is based on the history of Wei, Shu and Wu at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Yellow Scarf Uprising, which began in the first year of the Eastern Han Dynasty (A.D. 184), has been described until the death of Wu in the first year of Jin Taikang (that is, the fourth year of Sun Hao's foundation in the State of Wu, that is, A.D. 280). It took almost a hundred years.

First, the number of words has decreased. The original Romance of the Three Kingdoms has 700,000 words, but I reduced it to about 350,000.

Secondly, as far as language is concerned, try to avoid using classical Chinese words, such as "I", "You", "He", "Zhi", "An", "Fei", "Nai", "This must", "No", "Yue" and "Yan". However, idioms remain basically unchanged, and some idioms have been added in the revision.

? Thirdly, in the narrative method, the expression, scene and environment of the speaker are increased, and the action descriptions of some characters are added.

? Fourthly, the tradition of praising Liu and belittling Cao in the original work was abandoned, and the experiences of the main historical figures in the three countries were objectively described.

? Fifth, some rare words are marked with phonetic notation to facilitate readers' reading.

? Sixth, this book published some of the author's own views and explanations, all marked in brackets.

Finally, I mainly proceed from the plot and simplify the complex. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms involves as many as 1370 characters, some of whom are completely unnecessary, and many anecdotes appear simply to add interest. For example, "naked resignation Cao", "Lucky for Rain" and "Liu An Cutting Meat" are both feudal superstition and dross. There are too many original materials, and the plot narrative appears dry and meatless. Without a good memory, it is difficult for readers to sort things out.

? Some obviously wrong plots have been changed to make the plot more logical, the main body more coherent, and there is no sense of confusion and noise. For example, "Hou Wen" was the title after Lu Bu killed Dong Zhuo again, and "Prime Minister" was restored as Prime Minister by Cao Cao in 208 AD (13th year of Jian 'an). The original works have all appeared before. Of course, novels can be fictional or understandable. The official positions such as "the assistant minister of the Ministry of Industry, the prince's suit" (the 22nd time) and "the minister of the Ministry of Industry, Deng Zhi" (the 85th time) should not have appeared. The title of "Six Departments of Rites, Soldiers and Punishment" appeared only after Sui and Tang Dynasties, which was absolutely absent in the Three Kingdoms period.

Many plots in the original are written for the development of the story, but they cannot be scrutinized. For example, Guan Yu passed five customs and killed six generals. The generals who guard the five levels all came out to die by themselves. As long as any general is guarding the pass and can't come out, can Guan Yu fly over with his wings?

For another example, Queen Fu's father put forward the "imperial decree of clothes and belts". The purpose of the "imperial edict on clothes" was to prevent Cao Cao's eyes and ears from spreading all over Xian Di, so the problem came. Wan Fu can advise Xian Di, so he is not afraid of Cao Cao's eyes and ears? And so on, there are many more (see the appendix of Romance of the Three Kingdoms for details).

? What needs special explanation is that the writing process of Romance of the Three Kingdoms is long, and it was actually completed by Luo Guanzhong who provided the blueprint collectively. This process includes the History of the Three Kingdoms written by Chen Shou, a historian in the Jin Dynasty, the Notes on the History of the Three Kingdoms written by Pei Songzhi in the Southern Dynasty, the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Han Dynasty written by the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the anecdotes of celebrities in the Three Kingdoms recorded by Liu Yiqing in the Southern Dynasty, the History of the Three Kingdoms written by Sima Guang in the Northern Song Dynasty, the History of the Three Kingdoms circulated by folk artists in the Song and Yuan Dynasties and the Early Yuan Dynasties. Luo Guanzhong, the author, was comprehensively processed on the basis of the above-mentioned historical books, miscellaneous notes, storytelling and operas. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which we are seeing now, was revised by Mao Lun and Mao Zonggang in the early Qing Dynasty, and was widely circulated in 120. It can be seen that the change to it is not disrespectful, but a need.

Although the plot of this book is basically within the framework of the original, the content and form have been greatly modified, so it is named Romance of the Three Kingdoms to distinguish it from the original.

It's a sequence!

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