Search
Powered By
Powered by Squarespace

Much thanks to Squarespace!

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.  

Email us! Email us Now!
This form does not yet contain any fields.
    Links
    Online
    Comments
    Blogroll

    About the Sanguo Yanyi Audiobook

    RSS Feed - iTunes - Archive

    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 The Southland (11)

    Thursday
    Nov282013

    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. 

     

    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:

    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? ;)

    Click to read more ...

    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?

    Click to read more ...

    Monday
    Jun252012

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 57

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 57:

    Sleeping Dragon Mourns In Chaisang;

    Young Phoenix Intervenes At Leiyang.

     

    Listen:

    WARNING: D.J. RASPE IS PRONE TO BOUTS OF BLEAK DEPRESSION AND HE DISAPPEARS SOMETIMES, AND WHEN HE DOES, HIS CONTENT SLOWS TO A STANDSTILL. BUT HE USUALLY COMES BACK EVENTUALLY...LET THE SHOW GO ON. OH YEAH, AND SOMETHING ABOUT SPOILERS TOO...

    So, it's been about a year since the last episode, and you're probably good and ready for a new episode, huh? Well, all right then. Let's get down to it. It is to be recalled that, at a previous point in the story, I mentioned how those who read this story tend to take sides. Some people are Cao Cao fans. Some are Liu Bei fans. Some are Zhuge Liang Fans, and some like Zhou Yu...this chapter, Chapter 57, is for the Cao Cao fans, it would seem.

    Click to read more ...

    Tuesday
    Mar082011

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 55

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 55:

    Liu Bei Rouses The Spirit Of Lady Sun;

    Zhuge Liang A Second Time Angers Zhou Yu.

     

    Listen:

    WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YA. :p

    Chapter 55 is the second chapter in a two part subplot involving Liu Bei and his sojourn in the Southland.  You may recall that in the previous chapter, the Southland, in the person of Lu Fan, went to Liu Bei to propose that Liu Bei marry Lady Sun Shang Xiang, or Sun Ren, as she's called in the novel.  Shang Xiang, you might also remember, is daughter to Sun Jian, and sister to both Sun Ce and the current ruler of the Southland, Sun Quan.  On the surface, this was put forth by the Southland as a method of cementing a strong alliance between the Houses of Sun and Liu, but the real plot, and one that Zhuge Liang saw through completely, was to attempt to lure Liu Bei to the Southland and alienate Liu Bei from his ministers.  Because Zhuge Liang saw through all of this, his tactics led to the bogus marriage becoming a real one, and Liu Bei did indeed get his wife, and whether they had wanted it or not, the Southland was indeed stuck with a bit of an unpleasant situation on their hands...an further strengthened alliance with an ally they didn't really want.  What Zhou Yu and Sun Quan wanted was the Jing Province, and now they were allied by marriage with the man who had "stolen" it from them...

    Click to read more ...

    Thursday
    Dec232010

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 53

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 53:

    Guan Yu Releases Huang Zhong;

    Sun Quan Fights With Zhang Liao.

     

    Listen:

    WARNING: THE HUMAN SPECIES IS WILLFULLY, EVEN GLEEFULLY, JUMPING OFF A VERY HIGH CLIFF. WITH THAT GOING ON, WHO REALLY CARES ABOUT SPOILERS?

    And so we come to Chapter 53, which is actually quite an eventful chapter.  But before I get into it, I just want to take a minute to thank each and every one of you for your patience.  It's been a while since I've posted a chapter, due to attacks which destroyed my last PC and put everything on hold for quite a while, and I'm grateful if you're still here to read this.  Thank you.  Your continued support means a lot to me. 

    That said, Chapter 53 is, as I said, an eventful Chapter.  It ties up several of the post-Chi Bi loose ends, and many of the great heroes of the period seem to play a significant role in this chapter, from all three Kingdoms.  The chapter begins with the conclusion of Liu Bei's conquest of Jing Nan (southern Jing).  You might remember in the last chapter, Gui Yang and Ling Ling fell to Liu Bei's forces, under Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun (Zilong).  This time, it's Zhang Fei's turn, and Guan Yu, also, helps in the subjugation of the region.  These battles in the Jing Province, following so close on the tail of the great victory of the southern coalition forces at Chi Bi, are very important, and here's why.  Prior to Chi Bi, as you have read, Liu Bei was pretty much on the verge of being totally crushed once and for all by his onetime friend, and perennial enemy, Cao Cao.  Taking advantage of the power-vacuum following Chi Bi, though, Liu Bei's conquest of the Jing Province at last gives him a wealthy, and relatively secure, province to serve as a base of operations.  For the first time in the story (and mind you, we're at just under the halfway point here), Liu Bei finally seems to be able to establish somewhat of a secure footing for himself, his army, and his people.  It is this which allows the Three-Kingdoms model envisioned by Zhuge Liang to come to pass.

    Click to read more ...

    Friday
    Feb262010

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 47

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 47:

    Kan Ze Presents A Treacherous Letter;

    Pang Tong Suggests Chaining the Ships.



    Listen:

    Download Episode

    WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY LIKELY CONTAINS SPOILERS. BUT I'M SURE YOU KNEW THAT BY NOW. IF NOT, PAY MORE ATTENTION! :p

    With Chapter 47, the ploys of Zhou Yu, acted upon by various Wu officers, are presented to Cao Cao. Ever wonder why a Shu-Han loyalist like myself holds someone like Zhou Yu, who has tried time and time again (according to the novel) to slay Liu Bei and especially Zhuge Liang, in such high honor and respect? The man was brilliant, both in history and in literature. If he were alive today, and living in America, serving some upstart revolutionary army instead of serving the Sun Family of the Sanguo Period, I have little doubt that the Federal Republic and all its armies would be crushed. I think Zhou Yu really was that damn good at his job. He was the Erwin Rommel of his day, a loyal and brilliant officer whose subordinates loved him because he not only was one of the greatest talents of the day, but also because he was chivalrous, conducting himself with honor and integrity.

    Click to read more ...