Here I present a PDF of the Foreign Language Press four-volume boxed set of Three Kingdoms (Sanguo yanyi, 三國演義; lit: “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”; fig. 1) translated by Dr. Moss Roberts. Credited to Luo Guanzhong, this 14th-century Chinese military romance follows the rise to power and careers of sworn brothers Liu Bei/Xuande (劉備/玄德), Guan Yu (關羽), and Zhang Fei (張飛) amid the turmoil of the falling Han Dynasty (202 BCE–9 CE, 25–220 CE) and the rising Three Kingdoms (220–280 CE). The tale contains an astounding 1,000 characters, some historical and some fictional. They range from scheming eunuchs and corrupt government officials to powerful warriors and competing warlords vying for power.
This PDF will complement the books that I’ve previously archived. These include the four-volume 2012 revised edition of Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記, 1592; “JTTW” hereafter) and the four-volume 2000 Library of Chinese Classics Chinese-English bilingual edition of Creation of the Gods (Fengshen yanyi, 封神演義, c. 1620 CE).
Readers may be wondering why I’m archiving this classic. Well, apart from being a great work of Chinese literature, it also influenced certain aspects of JTTW. For example, while searching the Southern Jambudvipa Continent (China) for a divine master in JTTW chapter one, Sun Wukong is drawn to a woodcutter because he sings a song full of Daoist imagery taught to him by an immortal. The woodcutter subsequently directs Monkey to the abode of a Buddho-Daoist sage. This was likely influenced by the similar way in which Liu Bei comes to find the Daoist strategist Zhuge Liang (諸葛亮) in Three Kingdoms chapter 37. My thanks to Irwen Wong over at the Journey to the West Library blog for bringing this to my attention. He plans to write an article listing at least ten JTTW concepts drawn from Three Kingdoms. I’ll link it here when published.
Fig. 1 – The four covers of the boxed set edition (larger version). Image found here.
Archive Link:
Click to access Romance-of-the-Three-Kingdoms-Trans.-Moss-Roberts.pdf
Citation:
Luo, G. & Roberts, M. (2001). Three Kingdoms (Vols. 1-4). Beijing: Foreign Language Press. (Original work published 1995)