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"Romance of The Three Kingdoms"
Chinese Novel, circa 1320
 | synopsis |
“Success is not worth rejoicing over, failure is not worth grieving over.”
“The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been.”
— famous opening lines of "Romance of The Three Kingdoms"
— Luo Guanzhong
Synopsis
Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Ten Attendants
Dong Zhuo's tyranny
Conflict among the various warlords and nobles
Sun Ce builds a dynasty in Jiangdong
Liu Bei's ambition
Battle of Red Cliffs
Liu Bei's takeover of Yi Province
Death of Guan Yu
Battle of Yiling
Zhuge Liang's campaigns
End of the Three Kingdoms
well-known episodes, often retold in print or on film, include “oath of brotherhood at the Peach Garden”, Liu Bei’s “three visits to the cottage (of Zhuge Liang)”,
book entry at Wikipedia
Wikipedia's list of "RTK" media adaptations
The Book
"Romance of The Three Kingdoms" is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature and the most famous historical novel in China. The book was first published circa 1320, and first printed in 1522. In the 1660s, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor in the Qing dynasty, Mao Lun and Mao Zonggang significantly edited the text producing a book with 800,000 words and nearly a thousand dramatic characters (mostly historical) in 120 chapters.
book entry at Wikipedia •
book fansite
¨ ¨
Fiction by Others
 | "Chinese Classics: The Legend of Three Kingdoms" [2011] by Luo Jie
Old-style Chinese text for students, with phonetic notations, notes on words, and background Yanbian People's Publng House 9½x6½ pb [1/2011] for $11.99 |
 | "The Three Kingdoms" [grades 3-4; 2013] 64-page adaptation for children by Christine Sun, Illustrated by Shirley Chiang Real Reads Chinese Classics 7½x5 pb [9/2013] for $6.95 |
Kindle Editions
Nordell Bookstores Group Kindle Hardware & Content Page
with FREE Kindle Apps for PC, Mac, iPhone/iPod, iPad, Android & BlackBerry
 | "The Romance of The Three Kingdoms" for Kindle [2013] by Luo Guanzhong, Translated by C.H. Brewitt-Taylor, Edited by Dr. Rafe de Crespigny Kindle Edition from tresreinos.ES [5/2013] for $4.88 |
 | "The Three Kingdoms: Teamwork, Strategy, and Wisdom" graphic novel for Kindle [2016] Illustrated by Huang Qingrong contains graphic abridged version derived from Luo Guanzhong's classic novel; 1120 pages in English Kindle Edition from Asiapac Compact Classics [10/2016] for $3.99 |
The Author
Luo Guanzhong / Lo Kuan-chung [XIVth Century] of China
browse Luo Guanzhong Store at Amazon
search books on 'Lo Kuan-chung' at Amazon
Luo Guanzhong credits at Internet Movie Database •
Luo Guanzhong entry at Wikipedia
Movies & Television
Luo Guanzhong credits at Internet Movie Database
Wikipedia's list of "RTK" media adaptations
· ·
"The Battle of Dingjunshan" [China 1905]
 | the first motion picture filmed in China by Chinese; a recording on 3 reels of a Beijing opera performance of the Battle of Mount Dingjun, which is based on the battle as described in "Romance of The Three Kingdoms"; the only print was destroyed in a fire in the 1940s Directed by Ren Jingfeng; cinematography by Zhonglun Liu; starring Tan Xinpei {this film is considered lost} VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available bare credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
"Shadow Magic" [Sony Pictures Classics April 2001]
 | Enchanting dramatic film about the making of 'The Battle of Dingjunshan', the 1905 now-lost first Chinese-made silent film {above} • Co-produced, co-written & directed by Ann Hu; starring Jared Harris, Yu Xia, Yufei Xing, Peiqi Liu, Liping Lü, Jingming Wang, Yusheng Li, Yukui Zhang, Chuang Cheng, Zhongwei Zheng, Qi Mu, Qingzhuo Fang, Bin Li
Sony Pictures Home Ent. widescreen color DVD [2002] out of prodn/used Sony Pictures Home Ent. widescreen color DVD [2002] out of prodn/used Sony Pictures Home Ent. widescreen color DVD [2002] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb • watch official trailer [11/2013 upload; 2:01] online at YouTube |
"Zuo Ci Xi Cao" silent feature film [Hong Kong March 1931]
aka "The Witty Sorcerer"; written & directed by and starring Beihai Li (Lai Pak-hoi) [1889-1950];
also starring Menghen Xu •
bare credits at IMDb •
movie entry at Wikipedia
"Mitsuteru Yokoyama's Sangokushi" animated TV series [TV Tokyo 1991-1992]
aka "Great Conquest: The Romance of Three Kingdoms"
 | 47 half-hour color animation TV episodes; there may also be a 3-part feature release in 1992
DVD/Blu-ray not available • incomplete credits at IMDb official movie homepage at distributor Enoki Films of Japan |
"The Romance of Three Kingdoms (San Guo Yan Yi)" TV series [CCTV 1995]
 | Filming took four years; broadcast as 84 episodes, all listed on IMDb as in 1995 •
Starring Guoqiang Tang, Yanjun Sun, Guoan Bao, Jing-fei Li, Shuming Lu, Yuzhou Hong, Xiao-dong Wu, Ji-wei Zhou, Shan Zhang, Li Cao, Fan Yang, Dai Cui, Xinhai Wang, Zhi-Hui Chen, Kai Jiang, Jian-ping Li, Lai Mang, Shaohua Xu, Zongwan Wei, Fuyin Xu, Guangbei Zhang, Bala Zhu-er; won 2 Feitian Television Awards, 2 China Golden Eagle Awards
Shenzhen SAST Ent. color video CD set [1995] 58 disks - out of prodn/used credits at IMDb • series entry at Wikipedia |
"Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of The Dragon" [China Film Group April 2008]
original title: "San Guo Zhi Jian Long Xie Jia"
 | Main character of Zhao Zilong replaces the three sworn brothers of the book; Zhao Zilong from Changshan enlists in Liu Bei's army; during a battle & retreat from Cao Cao's army, Liu Bei's family is captured; Liu Bei sends Zhao Zilong to rescue his family; he finds Liu Bei's infant son Liu Shan and straps the child to his back, then leads a battle against Cao Cao; Zhao Zilong returns to Changshan a hero, and falls in love with a girl performing in a shadow puppet show about his exploits. Zhao earns the nickname 'Invincible General' by never losing a battle; when Liu Bei becomes emperor of Shu Han, Zhao is named one of the Five Tiger Generals, alongside Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, and Huang Zhong. Following Liu Bei's death, the new emperor Liu Shan wages war against Wei. Zhuge Liang gives Zhao instructions, which include distracting Wei's main army. Zhao duels with Cao Ying and defeats her but lets her go; the two forces battle, but the Shu army is nearly wiped out when Wei uses gunpowder traps {anachronism from 1000 AD}; a tearful longtime footsoldier friend helps remove Zhao's armor and beats the war drum as Zhao leads his remaining forces into final battle • Co-written & directed by Daniel Lee Yan-Kong; co-written by Ho Leung Lau; action directors Sammo Kam-Bo Hung & Tak Yuen; english language director Bob Buchholz; cinematography by Tony Cheung; music by Henry Lai; starring Andy Lau, Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Maggie Q, Cunxin Pu, Andy On, Rongguang Yu, Hua Yueh, Lung Ti, Zhi-Hui Chen, Vanness Wu, Damian Lau, Haifeng Ding, Hongbo Jiang, Hongtao Wang, Menghe Wu Liji, Yujin Liang, Jing Bai, Erkang Zhao, Chunhua Ji, Timmy Hung, Yang Jian, Cheng Guohui, Zhang Mang, Zhiwei Zhang, Du Zhi Ming, Yuan Shilong, Deng Wei, Yongda Zhang, Hu Jingbo, Xiaoxiao Feng, Zhang Yujiao, Wang Yao, Qi Qi, Jian Yang, Chuang Juan, Dong Bo, Kou Jun, Guan Jiayue
Icon Home Ent. widescreen color Blu-ray [7/2009] out of prodn/used LionsGate widescreen color DVD [4/2010] for $7.87 Bonzai Media Corp. color DVD [5/2009] for $24.95 unbranded color DVD [undated] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia watch official trailers online at YouTube: 2008 trailer [8/2017 upload; 1:30] • trailer #2 [8/2013 upload; 2:24] |
Red Cliff (2008) Directed by John Woo /tt0425637/
Red Cliff II (2009) Chi bi: Jue zhan tian xia (original title) November 2009 (USA) /tt1326972/
 | China Triple Feature on DVD [2011] contains "Seven Swords" [China July 2005] co-written & directed by Tsui Hark, based on the novel by Yusheng Liang; "Three Kingdoms" [China April 2008] starring Andy Lau; and "Red Cliff" [China 2008] directed by John Woo, starring Tony Leung; DVD in English with optional French subtitles import color DVD set [2011] 3 disks for $13.38 |
"Romance of Three Kingdoms" animated TV series [China 2009-2010, Japan 2010-2011]
 | Japanese title "Saikyö Bushö-den Sangoku Engi"; 52 color animated episodes produced by Beijing Huihuang Animation Company of China and Future Planet of Japan; first broadcast on China Central Television; DVD is in Mandarin with no subtitles • credits not found at IMDb (2018)
China Intl. TV color DVD box set [2014] 10 disks for $39.99 |
"Three Kingdoms (San Guo)" TV series [Anhui China TV May 2010]
 | Ninety-five 45-minute episodes; viewers complained about inclusion of historical events not in the book and also unhistorical events • Series directed by Xixi Gao; series written by Sujin Zhu, based on the novel by Guanzhong Luo; starring Hewei Yu {as Liu Bei}, Yi Lu, Kai Kang, Jianbin Chen {as Cao Cao}, Rongguang Yu, Yuan Nie, Bo Zhang, Guang Yang, Dahong Ni, Jianxin Li, Cheng Chang, Changyi Jiang, Bin Yu, Xinjun Wang, Rui Yang, Wei-De Huang, Qing Huo, Tao Guo, Peter Ho, Guoguang Liu, Shiming Zheng, Jie Shen; won 3 Asia Rainbow TV Awards, Huading Award, 2 Seoul Intl. Drama Awards, Silver Award at Shanghai Television Festival, 5 China TV Drama Awards
Region 1 Blu-ray/DVD not available (2018) Multimedia Ent. on color DVD with English subtitles [2010] for $199.99 in PAL format only series credits at IMDb • official series website {in Chinese} • series entry at Wikipedia watch full series [9/2013 upload] online at YouTube: playlist with English subtitles has 95 parts watch full series [6/2017 upload] online at YouTube: playlist with English subtitles has 102 parts watch official trailer [11/2012 upload; 2:00] online at YouTube |
"Secret of The Three Kingdoms" TV series [Tencent China March 2018]
 | 54 episodes in Mandarin; after one of Emperor Ling's concubines gives birth to twins, she is murdered; one of the babies is banished and raised as a commoner; years later, Emperor Xian has become a puppet of Cao Cao; he learns of his twin brother and summons him to the palace . . . • Directed by Patrick Tat-Chi Yau & Cheng Wai-man; screenplay by Chang Jiang, based on the novel by Ma Boyong; starring Ma Tianyu {dual role}, Elvis Han, Regina Wan, Dong Jie, Sunny Wang, Dong Xuan, Tan Jianci, Tse Kwan-ho
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • not listed at IMDb • series entry at Wikipedia Chinese Edition novel [2012] by Ma Boyong Hunan Lit & Art Publng House Chinese-language edition 9¼x6½ pb [12/2017] for $21.75 |
"Legends of The Three Kingdoms: Love Illusion" TV movie [China Nov 2018]
 | Modern-dress fantasy action movie inspired by the popular Chinese card and online game 'Legends of The Three Kingdoms' • Directed by Kejing Lü; screenplay by Leihong Gao, based on an idea by Kejing Lü; starring Ekin Cheng, Henry Fong, Qing Jia, Jerry Lamb, Clara Lee, Zizhen Lu, Michael Tse, Zheng Wang, Wudao Ye, Rongguang Yu
VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • bare credits at IMDb "Legends of The Three Kingdoms II" MP-3 music album [2018] mostly instrumentals, mostly by Tsai Chih Chim Soft-World Kaohsiung MP-3 music album [4/2018] 28 tracks for $8.99 |
Stageplays, Other Media, Merchandise
Wikipedia's list of "RTK" media adaptations
Koei Tecmo Games [est. 1978] has so far produced thirteen video games based on the "Romance of The Three Kingdoms" story; they have been distributed since 1989 in Japan, Taiwan, China, South Korea, and North America. The Japanese versions have titles reflecting the historical text "Records of The Three Kingdoms" [Third Century], known as "Sangoku Shi".
Note that inclusion on IMDb and on Amazon is incomplete. Platforms have included Nintendo, PlayStation, and recently mobile apps for IoS and Android devices.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms_(video_game_series)
"Romance of The Three Kingdoms" video game [1989] for Nintendo /tt0416196/
http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Three-Kingdoms-nintendo-entertainment-system/dp/B00004SVY1/
"Romance of The Three Kingdoms II" video game [1991] /tt0438378/
"Romance of The Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny" video game [1993] for Nintendo Super NES /tt0201977/
http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Three-Kingdoms-III-Destiny-Nintendo/dp/B000035Y2P/
"Romance of The Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire" video game [1995] /tt0468541/
http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Three-Kingdoms-IV-Nintendo-Super/dp/B000035Y6S/ for Nintendo Super NES
http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Three-Kingdoms-4-Wall-Playstation/dp/B00002SV43/ for PlayStation
"Sangokushi V" video game [Japan Import] by Koei
http://www.amazon.com/Sangokushi-Romance-Kingdoms-Selection-Sony-PSP/dp/B000I6IO2W/
http://www.amazon.com/Sangokushi-Romance-Three-Kingdoms-Sony-PSP/dp/B0007VAW0U/
"Romance of The Three Kingdoms VI: Awakening of the Dragon" video game [1998] /tt0468542/
http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Three-Kingdoms-VI-Awakening-Dragon/dp/B00004R8W3/
"Sangokushi VI" [Japan Import] by Koei
http://www.amazon.com/Sangokushi-Romance-Three-Kingdoms-Sony-PSP/dp/B000I6FCBS/
http://www.amazon.com/Sangokushi-Romance-Three-Kingdoms-Sony-PSP/dp/B000B7EA4E/
"Romance of The Three Kingdoms VII" video game []
http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Three-Kingdoms-VII-Playstation-2/dp/B0000690ZY/
"Sangokushi VII" video game [Japan Import] by Koei
http://www.amazon.com/Sangokushi-Romance-Three-Kingdoms-Sony-PSP/dp/B000NI3YC0/
http://www.amazon.com/Sangokushi-Romance-Three-Kingdoms-Sony-PSP/dp/B000COFHBG/
"Romance of The Three Kingdoms VIII" video game [] for PlayStation 2
http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Three-Kingdoms-PS2-Playstation-2/dp/B00009B05V/
"Romance of The Three Kingdoms IX" video game [] by Koei for PlayStation 2
http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Three-Kingdoms-IX-Playstation-2/dp/B0001A86DW/
http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Three-Kingdoms-IX-Koei/dp/B01MRQ9QQI/
"San goku shi IX" video game [2004] /tt0438379/
"Romance of The Three Kingdoms X" video game [] for PlayStation 2
http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Three-Kingdoms-X-PlayStation-2/dp/B00082ZQWW/
"Romance of The Three Kingdoms XI" video game [] for PlayStation 2
http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Three-Kingdoms-XI-PlayStation-2/dp/B000MAFXRI/
"Romance of The Three Kingdoms XIII" video game [] by Tecmo Koei for PlayStation 4
http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Three-Kingdoms-XIII-PlayStation-4/dp/B01EORR4EY/
"New Romance of The Three Kingdoms" for iOS & Android devices [Nov 2018]
Koei Tecmo and BBGame (Hong Kong Black Beard Game, Ltd.) announced that the officially-licensed mobile game app is now available worldwide; the launch of the mobile adaptation
was accompanied by an action-packed live-action launch trailer; pre-registration for the game was a huge success with over 200,000 global players signing up for the grand launch.
Multiple apps are available for download at Apple iTunes and at Google Play (not Amazon).
"Three Kingdoms Redux Board Games"
http://www.amazon.com/Three-Kingdoms-Redux-Board-Games/dp/B06W9GBBCV/
 | "Three Kingdoms Chess Set With Board" [undated]
18-inch square cherry & burlwood board and 32 men (hand-painted resin, king is 3-5/8" tall); chess pieces stored in fitted foam box HPL chess set & board [undated] for $139.95 |
"San Guo Sha" Card Game [Ziko Games China 2008]
 |
Big hit in China (sales of 20 million yuan in 2009, 100 million yuan in 2010); has been followed by seven official expansion sets, an online version LTK Online, as well as a version for children LTK Q Version; versions in other langauges by fans have shown up on blogs and such, adding to international popularity
• for 2 to 10 players, ages 12 & up; box contains 153 playing Cards (10 Role cards, 25 Hero cards, 7 Wei, 8 Wu, 3 Neutral, 10 Life cards, 90 regular play cards) •
game entry at Wikipedia
Ziko Games card game in 8x6¼" box [2008] for $54.53 YokaGames Collectors' Edition Chinese card game in 7x10" box [8/00] for $43.99 + $3.99 s/h |
 |
"Romance of The Three Kingdoms" Guan Yu 12-inch Action Figure
Da Joint! action figure [2018] for $95.17 {sic} "Romance of The Three Kingdoms" Huang Zhong 12-inch Action Figure Da Joint! action figure [2018] for $79.95 {sic} "Romance of The Three Kingdoms" Ma Chao 12-inch Action Figure Da Joint! action figure [2018] for $133.84 {sic} "Romance of The Three Kingdoms" Zhang Fei 12-inch Action Figure Da Joint! action figure [2018] for $110.00 {sic} Da Joint! action figure [2018] overpriced "Romance of The Three Kingdoms" Zhao Yun 12-inch Action Figure Da Joint! action figure [2018] for $82.86 {sic} Da Joint! action figure [2018] for $192.40 {sic} |
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