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The Sanguo Yanyi
  • Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Vol. 1
    Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Vol. 1
    by Lo Kuan-Chung, Robert E. Hegel, C. H. Brewitt-Taylor

    I am currently producing an audiobook adaptation of the Sanguo Yanyi (The Romance of the Three Kingdoms), one of the Four Classics of Chinese Literature.  

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    About the Sanguo Yanyi Audiobook

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    By the Romance of the Three Kingdoms on Amazon

    I have long been fascinated with the almost two millenia-old Chinese epic, the Sanguo Yanyi, or "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" as it has been called here in the west. The book, written by various authors contributing to it throughout the centuries, is truly one of the finest examples of epic storytelling in the history of the world. I tend to refer to it, sometimes, when I'm describing the story to people, as "The Chinese Illiad". The term might be a tad bit imprecise, since the Illiad only covers, what, ten years or so? Whereas, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms covers 90+ years of Chinese history. Some time back, I got a bug up my ass or something, and decided to go out and find audiobook versions of all my favorite books. I have been very successful for the most part, but there were some glaring omissions that I could not countenance. For one thing, I've not yet been able to score an audio copy of "The Aeneid" by Virgil. And from all the information I've thus far been able to gather, there is no audiobook adaptation of the Three Kingdoms saga. (Perhaps this might have something to do with the fact that the story is 120 chapters long!) To say that I was a bit indignant to discover that no one had ever made an audiobook version of one of the best-selling books of all time, one of the greatest STORIES of all time would be a bit of an understatement. I looked and looked and looked for months to see if I could track down an audio copy, and found none. So I decided that I would make one myself.

    By the way, I just want to say right here and now: I do not speak any of the Chinese dialects, so if I happen to mispronounce anything, my apologies, but I do the best I can. :p I realize that this is a project which will probably consume my entire lifetime. The book is, as I have said before, quite a long one. But I am resolved to finish this project, if it takes me forever, and when I'm done, the world will have this fine, fine story of loyalty, brotherhood, ambition, and betrayal in audiobook form! This version is adapted from the online version published by the good folks at Threekingdoms.com, featuring a musical score taken from the many Romance of the Three Kingdoms video games put out by Koei over the years. The music is courtesy of Kongming.net. If you're as much of a fan of the Three Kingdoms as I am, you'll have to check that one out! I have put a lot of work into this so far, and it's not going to stop, so I hope that each and every one of you enjoy this.

    Entries in Elder Lady Wu (2)

    Tuesday
    Apr092013

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 61

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 61:

    In The River, Zhao Zilong Recovers Liu Shan;

    With One Letter, Sun Quan Repulses Cao Cao. 

     

    Listen:

    Download Episode(Click this link. It will bring up a page with an audio player loaded with the file. Right click your mouse and "save as" to download episode.)

    WARNING: SPOILERS AND STUFF.

     

    Chapter 61. I can't really say I have much comment on this chapter, except that I find it awesome that Lady Wu (the Dowager Marchioness of the Southland and the mother of its ruler, Sun Quan) is like the only person in the entire novel that seems to voice the objection to these guys using women as mere pawns in their games of war and politics. You go, girl. Lady Wu, the east Asian world's first feminist?

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    Thursday
    Oct152009

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 29

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 29:

    The Little Conqueror Slays Yu Ji;

    The Green Eyed Boy Lays Hold On The South Land.



    Listen:

    Download Episode

    WARNING! THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

    Ahhhhh, Chapter 29. Roughly 15 years into the story, and a lot has happened. The 10 Eunuchs seized power, and were in turn overthrown by Cao Cao and Yuan Shao. In the confusion, Dong Zhuo took over the Capitol, and thus gained control of the child-Emperor Liu Xian. Dong Zhuo was overthrown, and Cao Cao and Yuan Shao built the two most powerful warlord states in the land. Meanwhile, Liu Bei's been wandering around, escaping bad situations with his skin, and little else, intact. One by one, the warlords of the Late-Han have fallen to their powerful peers, and as the first quarter of the novel draws near its conclusion, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are poised to battle it out for supremacy in the north, and Sun Ce has built a powerful and eminently defensible state in the Southeast...

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