マニアなヒロトの三国志
Hiroto will be your guide. This is a reading site that unpacks the stratagems, people, and battles of the Three Kingdoms against the text of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Enjoy each episode in both comic panels and text.
This site is the reading companion to the YouTube channel “マニアなヒロトの三国志.” Each article is based on a video script and lets you read a whole episode in comic panels (panel images) and text. The distinction between the Romance and the historical Records is clearly stated in each article's “Sources and Basis.”
Stratagems
From Chapters 14 and 16 of Romance of the Three KingdomsDriving the Tiger to Swallow the Wolf — The Man Who Had a Town Taken without FightingBy Cao Cao's counsel, Liu Bei and Lü Bu were set against each other, and Xu Province was thrown into disorder without a fight. We read Xun You's two-stage contrivance, and the halberd shot at the camp gate that finally stopped it, exactly as in the text of the Romance.
From Chapter 95 of Romance of the Three KingdomsThe Empty Fort Strategy — The Open Gate That Stopped an ArmyZhuge Liang opened wide the gates of a town with no troops in it, played the lute, and turned back a great army. We read this stratagem — the Empty Fort Strategy — from the loss of Jieting to the crisis at Xicheng, following the flow of Chapter 95 of the Romance.
From Chapter 46 of Romance of the Three KingdomsBorrowing Arrows with Straw Boats — The Man Who Borrowed Arrows on a Foggy RiverZhuge Liang, pressed to produce 100,000 arrows in three days, “borrowed” arrows from Cao Cao's army with boats of straw figures. We read this stratagem following the text of Chapter 46 of the Romance.
From Chapter 84 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Zhuge Liang in Records of the Three KingdomsThe Eight Arrays — The Man Who Stopped an Army with an Arrangement of Stones AloneA stone formation left behind on the road of a fleeing army stopped the pursuing Lu Xun. We read Zhuge Liang's Eight Arrays from Chapter 84 of the Romance and the account in the historical record.
From Chapters 45 to 49 and Chapter 59 of Romance of the Three KingdomsForged Letters — Information Warfare in the Three Kingdoms, Where the One Who Believes LosesA letter feigning surrender, a forged letter of defection, information brought in by a spy. The Three Kingdoms was moved again and again by forged letters. We read the war of documents exchanged around Red Cliffs.
From Chapters 41 and 42 of Romance of the Three KingdomsZhang Fei Stands at Changban Bridge — The Voice and the Calculation That Stopped an Army Single-HandedAt the foot of Changban Bridge, Zhang Fei stopped Cao's army by glaring at it, entirely alone. We read the calculation behind the great shout from both the Romance and the historical record.
From Chapters 42, 63, and 70 of Romance of the Three KingdomsZhang Fei Was Not Only a Loud Voice — The Reading at Work behind the VoiceThe stratagem that captured Yan Yan alive, and the contest of readings with Zhang He at Dangqu. Zhang Fei's battles were made not of a loud voice alone, but of the power to read his opponent.
From Chapter 103 of Romance of the Three KingdomsSima Yi and the Women's Clothes — The Man Tested by a GiftZhuge Liang, pressing Sima Yi to come out and fight, sent him a set of women's clothes. We read the calculation of the man who received the insult and laughed, from the scene in Chapter 103 of the Romance.
From Chapter 43 of Romance of the Three KingdomsThe War of Words before Red Cliffs — The Man Who Broke the Case for Surrender with WordsIn a Wu court colored entirely by surrender, Zhuge Liang refuted the debaters one by one in a war of words. Before the Battle of Red Cliffs, there was first a battle of words.
Lives
From Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Guan Yu in Records of the Three KingdomsThe Life of Guan Yu — The Rise and Fall of the Man Who Kept Faith to the EndFrom the Peach Garden Oath to the flooding of Fancheng, and to his end at Maicheng. We trace Guan Yu's life, drawing on both the Romance and the historical record.
From Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 7 to Chapter 97, and the Biography of Zhao Yun in the official history Records of the Three KingdomsThe Life of Zhao Yun — The Man Who Never Broke to the EndFrom the rescue at Changban to Jigu in his later years. This article follows the life of Zhao Yun, the most steady of the Five Tiger Generals.
From the Biography of Jia Xu in the official history Records of the Three Kingdoms, and Romance of the Three KingdomsThe Life of Jia Xu — Not Winning, but Not Letting It EndFrom Dong Zhuo's remnants to a senior minister of Cao Wei. This article follows the life of Jia Xu, the strategist who lived through a chaotic age, centered on the Biography of Jia Xu in the official history.
From Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Dian Wei in the official history Records of the Three KingdomsThe Life of Dian Wei — The Man Who Remained Cao Cao's ShieldDian Wei, who swung twin iron halberds and died at Wancheng letting his lord escape. This is the life of the man Cao Cao called "Elai of old."
From Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 73 to Chapter 77The Death of Guan Yu — Where Did the Road to Maicheng Divide?A sudden turn from victory at Fancheng: struck from behind by Lü Meng, on to Maicheng. This article follows, in the text of the Romance, the course of the fall that led to Guan Yu's death.
From Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 103 and Chapter 104Kongming at Wuzhang Plains — The Dead Kongming Puts the Living Zhongda to FlightZhuge Liang fell ill and died at Wuzhang Plains. Even after his death, the Shu army withdrew without falling into disorder. This article reads the scenes of his final Northern Expedition and the retreat.
Rankings
From Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the official history Records of the Three KingdomsThree Kingdoms Weapons Ranking — The Tools That Changed the BattlefieldRepeating crossbows, stone-throwing machines, the wooden ox and flowing horse. The weapons and tools that changed the shape of the battlefield, ranked by the size of their influence on the fighting.
From Romance of the Three KingdomsThree Kingdoms Most Moving Stories Ranking — Partings and Final Moments That Remain in the HeartThe entrustment of the orphan at Baidicheng, Jiang Wei's end, Xu Shu's parting. This article reads, with rankings, the partings and final moments in the Romance that remain in the heart.
From Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 42 to Chapter 50Red Cliffs Contribution Ranking — Who Moved Victory and Defeat?The war of words, the Stratagem of Self-Injury, the Chained Ships Stratagem, the southeast wind. Who influenced the victory and defeat at Red Cliffs the most? This article ranks them according to the text of the Romance.
