Three Kingdoms: A Historical Novel.: Translated from the Chinese [San guo yan yi] with Notes and an Afterword by Moss Roberts    

lg8vo llustrated wraps; PO USC Prof Jack Wills sign to fep ow appears unread NF: [12]+1096pp, notes, chronology, index of characters; the one volume standard translation of this classic novel of state formation; a very thick, heavy book, usually publ in 4vols. "This epic saga of brotherhood and rivalry, of loyalty and treachery, of victory and death, forms part of the indelible core of classical Chinese culture. In 220ad, the 400-year-old rule of the mighty Han dynasty came to an end and three kingdoms contested for control of China. Liu Bei/Liu Pei, the legitimate heir to the Han throne, elects to fight for his birthright and enlists the aid of his sworn brothers, the impulsive giant Zhang Fei/Chang Fei and the invincible knight Guan Yu/Kuan Yu. The brave band faces a formidable array of enemies, foremost among them the treacherous and bloodthirsty Cao/Cao/Ts'ao Ts'ao. The bold struggle of the three heroes seems doomed until the reclusive wizard Zhuge Liang/Chuko Liang offers his counsel, and the tide begins to turn. San guo yan yi is one of China's oldest novels and the first of a great tradition of historical fiction. Believed to have been compiled by the playwright Luo, Guanzhong /Lo Kuan-chung in the late fourteenth century, it is indebted to the Sanguo ji/ San-kuo chi (Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms) completed by the historian Chen Shou just before his death in 297ad. The novel first appeared in print in 1522. Luo, Guanzhong aka Lo Kuan-chung (ca1330-1400) was a novelist and dramatist who played an important role in the development of Chinese popular fiction." ASSOCIATION: John E. Wills, Jr. 1936-2017, Longtime USC China Studies Professor was PO of this volume and has signed his full name to fep, but it looks like he never got around to reading this particular copy. Wills was a prolific scholar of works on relations between China and the West during the age of exploration; his book on the Ming-Qing transition period entitled 1688: A Global History. is now a classic.