' Records of the Three Kingdoms in plain speech'), published sometime between 13. The earliest written work to combine these stories was a pinghua, Sanguozhi Pinghua ( simplified Chinese: 三国志平话 traditional Chinese: 三國志平話 pinyin: Sānguózhì Pínghuà lit.
By the Song dynasty (10th–13th centuries), there were several records of professional oral storytellers who specialized in the Three Kingdoms hero cycles. Stories from the heroes of the Three Kingdoms was the basis of entertainment dating back to the Sui and Tang dynasty (6th–10th centuries). Herbert Giles stated that among the Chinese themselves, this is regarded as the greatest of all their novels. It is arguably the most widely read historical novel in late imperial and modern China. The novel is among the most beloved works of literature in East Asia, and its literary influence in the region has been compared to that of the works of Shakespeare on English literature. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is acclaimed as one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature it has a total of 800,000 words and nearly a thousand dramatic characters (mostly historical) in 120 chapters. The novel deals with the plots, personal and military battles, intrigues, and struggles of these states to achieve dominance for almost 100 years. While the novel follows hundreds of characters, the focus is mainly on the three power blocs that emerged from the remnants of the Han dynasty, and would eventually form the three states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu.
The story – part historical and part fictional – romanticises and dramatises the lives of feudal lords and their retainers, who tried to replace the dwindling Han dynasty or restore it.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters