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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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    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 Xuchang (6)

    Monday
    Oct052009

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 26

    DateMonday, October 5, 2009 at 5:02AM

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 26:

    Yuan Shao Loses Another Leader;

    Guan Yu Abandons Rank And Wealth.



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    WARNING! HEH, THAT WORD COULD ALMOST BE A CHINESE WORD. WAR NING. I WONDER IF HE WAS GAN NING'S HOTHEADED COUSIN...

    Anyways, now that I've got my daily digression out of the way...it's Chapter 26, or as Yuan Shao might have called it, "HOLY SHIT! GUAN YU IS KILLING OFF ALL MY MOST POWERFUL GENERALS ONE BY ONE!"

    That's pretty much what's going down, up in the northern regions of the Han Empire. Cao Cao, if you remember, obtained Guan Yu's services at the beginning of last chapter, and now, finds himself coming within half a mile of...guess who...his sworn brother and sworn lord, Liu Bei.

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    Thursday
    Oct012009

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 25

    DateThursday, October 1, 2009 at 3:51PM

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 25:

    Besieged In Tushan, Guan Yu Makes Three Conditions;

    Relieved At Baima, Cao Cao Beholds A Marvel.



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    WARNING! THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

    In Chapter 25, the great Battle of Guan Du, one of the most titanic clashes between two rulers that China...and perhaps the world...has ever known, begins in earnest. And who would have been able to foresee the way the lineup has changed over the past few chapters.

    Liu Bei, having been crushed by Cao Cao in Xu Province, has fled to seek refuge with Yuan Shao, and Guan Yu, sworn brother of Liu Bei, now serves, at least for the time being, the man who did the crushing...

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    Tuesday
    Sep292009

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 24

    DateTuesday, September 29, 2009 at 12:51PM

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 24:

    Cao Cao Murders The Consort Dong;

    Liu Bei Flees To Yuan Shao.



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    WARNING! THE FOLLOWING IS PROBABLY NOT VERY FUNNY AND ALSO CONTAINS LANGUAGE NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN...

    So Chapter 24 is probably the shortest chapter thus far produced in the Sanguo Yanyi audiobook. Clocking in at just under 20 minutes, but just like people with a Napoleon Complex, it's short of stature, but compensates for its lack of length by being jam-packed full of action. However, since it's so short, instead of writing a commentary on it like I normally do, I think I'mma just rewrite the chapter in slightly different terms. :p

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    Monday
    Sep282009

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 23

    DateMonday, September 28, 2009 at 11:58AM

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 23:

    Mi Heng Slips His Garment And Rails At Traitors;

    Ji Ping Pledges To Kill The Prime Minister.



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    WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

    In previous chapters, we've seen Liu Bei join a conspiracy to assassinate Cao Cao, and then fly the coop known as Imperial Xuchang at the very first opportunity, cleverly taking control of part of Cao Cao's army in the process. Thus far, things don't seem to be going very well for Cao Cao.

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    Saturday
    Sep122009

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 20

    DateSaturday, September 12, 2009 at 2:03PM

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 20:

    Cao Cao Organizes A Hunting Expedition In Xutian;

    Dong Cheng Receives A Secret Command In The Palace.



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    WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. SERIOUSLY.

    Okay, so now it's Chapter 20. That means that we're 1/6th of the way through the novel. Yay!

    For several chapters, the story has focused on Xuzhou, and the events there. Now, Lu Bu, the mightiest warrior in the land, is dead, as is Chen Gong. (Moment of silence, everyone...) The power of Yuan Shu has been broken, and Liu Bei is pretty much subordinate to Cao Cao at this point...

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    Thursday
    Sep032009

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 14

    DateThursday, September 3, 2009 at 7:01PM

    The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 14:

    Cao Cao Moves The Court To Xuchang;

    Lu Bu Leads A Night Raid Against Xuzhou.



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    WARNING: MUCH LIKE A SACK OF ORANGES, SOME OF WHICH ARE ROTTEN, WE GOTS SOME SPOILERS ALL UP IN THIS BEEYATCH!

    You know, ^^^^ Those are getting a bit trickier to write every time.

    Anyways, we've made it to Chapter 14. Cao Cao is King Shit right now. Li Jue and Guo Si got over their beef with each other, got a room, then after they were done, they decided to chase down and...get this...KILL the Emperor. But Cao Cao had this little army that he had obtained from stomping the Yellow Turbans of Qing Province into the mud. (Did I ever mention that he also at the same time obtained a big, bristly mustached man-tiger, name of Xu Zhu [or Xu Chu. I'm not quite sure which.])

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