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[Audio Book] The Sanguo Yanyi

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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 Li Su (2)

Thursday

Sep032009

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 9

Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 12:04AM

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 9:

Lu Bu Kills Dong Zhuo For Wang Yun;

Li Jue Attacks The Capital On Jia Xu's Advice.

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WARNING:........you know what? Screw it. No disclaimer this time...

Chapter 9 is a very, very important chapter. The reader has most likely, just like the rest of late-Han China, been waiting quite some time to see the big fat tyrant Dong Zhuo get his comeuppance. Well, my friends, the time has finally come. Things are coming to a head between Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu, his adopted Son and rival for the heart of the lovely maiden Diao Chan, whom you might remember was engaged to both of them in the previous chapter by her Guardian, the Minister of the Interior, Wang Yun.

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D.J. Raspe |

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 3

Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 7:17PM

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 3:

In Wenming Garden, Dong Zhuo Denounces Ding Yuan;

With Red Hare, Li Su Bribes Lu Bu.

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WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

In this, the third installment of the Three Kingdoms saga, the true twilight of the once-mighty Han Dynasty begins. In the past four hundred years, the Han has conquered perhaps the greatest Chinese land empire in antiquity, an empire stretching from Manchuria in the north, to the Gobi Desert in the northwest, all the way down to northern Vietnam in the south. Great generals and even greater scholars made the Han a Dynasty whose influence would last centuries upon centuries beyond its own considerably long lifespan. In comparison to the great empire of the West, Rome: The Han lasted 400 years, the Western Roman Empire lasted about 476 years or so, before being finally overrun by "barbarian" tribes. However, while the last TRUE enclave of "Roman" civilization, Byzantium, fell in 1453, (and it is debatable that Byzantium was even a "Roman" Empire after the end of the reign of Justinian in the 700's, since it had indeed become very much a Greek empire), I have it on very good authority that many of the people of China even today still refer to themselves as "The People of Han", some 1800 years after the fall of the Han.

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D.J. Raspe |