Records of the Three Kingdoms

The Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms (Chinese三国 志/三国 志, Pinyin Sanguo Zhi ) provide an official recording of historical events in China during the Three Kingdoms period Represent here include the period 189-280, so start in the final stages of the Han Dynasty when the kingdom authority began to crumble with the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the struggles of rival warlord led to the emergence of three kingdoms: Wei, Shu Han and Wu. Author of the Chronicles is Chen Shou, who. Towards the end of the 3rd century wrote. Due to the relative timeliness are the chronicles of a unique source for this eventful epoch dar.

The Chronicles belong to the canon of the 24 dynastic histories of which they form the fourth plant, where it is to be counted with the records of the historian, the History of the Han Dynasty and the history of the late Han Dynasty to the early four historiographies of China. The Chronicles consist of 65 volumes with a total of about 360,000 words and are divided into three books: The Book of Wei (魏志, Wei Zhi ) comprises 30 volumes, the book Shu (蜀 志, Shǔ Zhi ) 15 and the Book of Wu (吴志, Wú Zhi ) 20 Each volume has the shape of a biography of an important figure of this period; the length of the band is dependent on the significance of the person described.

Chen Shou, originally in the service of Shu Han, was commissioned to draw up the historical work after the fall of the Jin Dynasty. He relied on existing partly chronicles for the kingdoms of Wei and Wu, Shu based largely on the other hand, the chronicles of Chen Shou self -researched data. Since the Jin dynasty their own legitimacy ableiteten ( the Mandate of Heaven ) by the rulers of the Wei Empire, these appear in the chronicles of the Kaisertitulatur, while the Shu ruler are represented as princes and the Wu ruler only with their name, are described without rulers title.

The Chronicles later experienced a series of edits. So added in the 5th century Pei Songzhi add comments; He closed his additions from the year 429. He corrected him on the basis of the present documents some errors which were Chen Shou undermined and gave the work in which some narrative sections unconnected stood side by side, a more closed form.

It is the time of the Three Kingdoms was soon overgrown in the tradition such by numerous legends, embellishments and heroic stories that the historical core of the events behind it partly was barely recognizable. Best known for The Story of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong of an authored, popular novel of the 14th century, which has the later image of this era had a decisive influence. In contrast, the chronicles stand out with their sobriety with which they string together the facts, which gives them a certain resemblance to the medieval chronicles of Europe. For the knowledge of the event history, the chronicles are therefore a prime source, but they reveal little about social and economic backgrounds or political institutions. The exact degree of poetic license, as practiced by all the historians of the time, can be in the chronicles almost certainly determine. As with European historians of antiquity and the Middle Ages can be found about even with Chen Shou generals who, keep heroic speeches also right in the battle, their historicity or even text in this form is hardly verifiable. In addition, the author has obviously need to take consideration to the wishes of his clients, and was also influenced by his origins in the realm of Shu Han. Overall, the plant shall be regarded as reasonably reliable and offers a good insight into the era.

References

• The Three Kingdoms period
• Chinese historical work
• Literature ( 3rd century )