The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 43
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 3:08PM The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 43:
Zhuge Liang Disputes With The Southern Scholars;
Lu Su Denounces The Majority Opinion.
Listen:
WARNING: THE TIMES, THEY ARE A-CHANGIN'. (WELL, NOT REALLY...THEY NEVER REALLY DO. EVER. BUT SOMETIMES I GUESS IT'S NICE TO BE AN OPTIMIST LIKE BOB DYLAN...)
The true significance of Chapter 43 may be lost on some, I suppose. That is to say that in a novel where the martial valor of many of its heroes overshadows just about everything else, it might be a bit easier to overlook the importance of the parts where there's not really any fighting going on. This, of course, would provide a one-sided experience to the story, unfortunately. What would the obstinacy of Achilles have meant if the reader had not previously read that he and Agamemnon had previously had a quarrel in the command tent about the captured Trojan maiden Briseis? Sometimes, it's the battles fought behind the scenes, with words rather than swords, that take on true significance. This chapter's commentary is about the art of the debate in Ancient China, its applications, and how the situation put forth in this chapter compares with the events of our own day.
