The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 66

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 66:

Armed With Sword, Guan Yu Goes To A Feast Alone;

For The State, Empress Fu Offers Her Life. 

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WARNING:

THERE'S SPOILERS HERE YET TO BE READ.
READING THEM MIGHT JUST DO IN YOUR HEAD.
BUT IF YOU READ ON, 
MANY QUESTIONS  BEGONE, 
AND YOU'LL SLEEP EASIER IN YOUR BED. 

So it's Chapter 66 now (I'm sure the superstitious out there among you are probably like "Whoa! What an inauspicious number that is. Something bad's going to happen in this chapter, I know it!")

And you know what? They're right. They do know it. Because something bad does happen in this chapter. What happens?  Ohhhhh, the suspense...is it getting to you yet? ;)

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The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 56

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 56:

Cao Cao Feasts in the Bronze Bird Tower;

Zhuge Liang Provokes Zhou Yu a Third Time.

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 WARNING: THE SANGUO YANYI ITSELF CONTAINS SPOILERS...ABOUT OUR OWN FUTURE. LEARN IT. BE PREPARED. UGLINESS IS COMING...

Chapter 56 of the Sanguo Yanyi sees a continuance of the almost tragically comical striving of Zhou Yu against Zhuge Liang, two of the great minds of the late Han. Seriously, these two are almost like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.  Zhou Yu, obviously, is Daffy, since, as you might have noticed in previous chapters, things just don't seem to go well for him when he tries to scheme against Zhuge Liang. This is like "Duck season! Rabbit season! Duck season! Rabbit season! Rabbit season! Duck season! Fire!" 

BANG!!!! 

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The Sanguo Yanyi – Chapter 46

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 46:

Using Strategy, Zhuge Liang Borrows Arrows;

Joining A Ruse, Huang Gai Accepts Punishment.

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WARNING: THESE PRE-COMMENTARY DISCLAIMERS ARE GOING TO LOOK A LOT COOLER ON THE NEW SITE I'M BUILDING :D (Later note:  As you can see, they do indeed look better here. )

Chapter 46 sees a continuation of the web of ploys and schemes which so characterizes the Battle of Chi Bi. In the last chapter, Zhou Yu used Jiang Gan (who had been sent over to try to sway Zhou Yu over to Wei, and more importantly, away from Wu) as an unwitting weapon against Cao Cao, which resulted in Cao Cao being tricked into executing his two most capable, if despicable, naval Commanders, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun.

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The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 43

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 43:

Zhuge Liang Disputes With The Southern Scholars;

Lu Su Denounces The Majority Opinion.

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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.

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