Romance of the Three Kingdoms 三國演義

We're tackling a classic. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the kind of book that is so good that I think I read that Mao Tse Tung claimed it as a favorite. It describes the turmoil in China at the Han Dynasty 漢朝 (around 200 AD) as different factions struggled for power and new loyalties were formed.

Especially since this type of literature is ancient Chinese, I'll take this in 3 stages. First, I'll read it in English. I already did that last year after we came back from Taiwan. I remember starting to read it in a Hawaiian BBQ store near the car repair shop the day after we returned. My car died on the side of the street but I got it started long enough (while my family was still sleeping in the afternoon -jetlag) to drive it to the repair shop.

After finishing reading it in English, we are now starting to watch this 36 episode drama you can see in the photo. It is really quite well made with commentary at the end of each disc.

In tonight's episode, which I read as the car battery was tossed on the cement, an elderly man asks this beautiful woman he has been raising to sacrifice herself to eliminate this leader who is threatening the Han dynasty. She is promised to both that man 義父 and to his general/godson who then procede to fight over her. The elderly man then incites the godson to rage over what is happening and to assasinate the leader, thus eliminating the threat to the Han Dynasty. It is typical of the turns and twists in the plots of this tale.

After we finish this drama series, I then hope to find a dog-eared Chinese-language copy of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and read through it. This 2nd photo has nothing to do with all of this but with someone who is sleeping in MY PLACE on the bed with his stuffed dog, but he's too cute to move.