How Total War: Three Kingdoms adapts the romance of the novel
Written 1000 years after the events took place, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms tells the story of the collapse of the Han Empire in broad strokes. But far more than that, it’s a story about people: the peasantry of China, long-suffering under corruption, famine and war, but also of the famous warlords and heroes of the time. Master manipulators like Cao Cao who rigged the game, pitting rivals against each other. Idealists like Liu Bei who acted with integrity and mercy, to protect the people. And greedy warlords like Dong Zhuo, who took what he wanted and crushed all who opposed him - or got the mighty Lü Bu to do it, at least.
Though it describes great events, some of which actually happened, the Romance is at its heart a story of characters, and how they found common cause to fight for the future of their country, then soon fell out, violently betraying each other in the name of unity and ambition.
However, the novelisation of these events is far from accurate - collected together over hundreds of years, the Romance represents an epic retelling of the past, popularised by storytellers and dramatic re-enactments, and then supposedly written by Luo Guanzhong. The skeleton for the Romance actually comes from The Records of the Three Kingdoms, which is a historical account written by an official of the time, Chen Shou.
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