Have you noticed that every Three Kingdoms drama wraps up as soon as Shu Han falls? Nobody ever films the campaign to conquer Wu!
The 1994 version skipped it, and so did the 2010 version. The other adaptations don’t even mention it. Why is that?
Luo Guanzhong, too—your book was already so long, and you wrapped up the conquest of Wu in just one passage. Couldn’t you have written a couple more? Did you run out of ink, or suddenly get sleepy and decide to call it a night? The truth is, there really isn’t much to film about the conquest of Wu.
The fall of Shu Han was tragic and heroic; the fall of Cao Wei was frustrating and undignified. But what about Eastern Wu? It had neither Zhuge Liang’s determination in making six campaigns to Mount Qi, nor Jiang Wei’s tragic nine expeditions into the Central Plains—and there was no earth-shattering final battle, either.
“Wang Jun’s warships sailed down from Yizhou; the royal aura of Jinling faded away.” Turn one page, and the Three Kingdoms are over.
One commenter said: Even Chen Shou, the author of Records of the Three Kingdoms, didn’t care for Eastern Wu—let alone the novel, film, or TV adaptations of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. When Records of the Three Kingdoms introduces Cao Cao and Liu Bei, it gives detailed, specific accounts right from the start. But when it gets to Sun Quan of Eastern Wu, it just says, “Sun Quan, courtesy name Zhongmou.” And that’s it.
Why is Eastern Wu so unpopular? Is it simply because of the trick of “crossing the river in white clothes,” which led to the death of Guan Yu, the much-revered Lord Guan? $ETH
The 1994 version skipped it, and so did the 2010 version. The other adaptations don’t even mention it. Why is that?
Luo Guanzhong, too—your book was already so long, and you wrapped up the conquest of Wu in just one passage. Couldn’t you have written a couple more? Did you run out of ink, or suddenly get sleepy and decide to call it a night? The truth is, there really isn’t much to film about the conquest of Wu.
The fall of Shu Han was tragic and heroic; the fall of Cao Wei was frustrating and undignified. But what about Eastern Wu? It had neither Zhuge Liang’s determination in making six campaigns to Mount Qi, nor Jiang Wei’s tragic nine expeditions into the Central Plains—and there was no earth-shattering final battle, either.
“Wang Jun’s warships sailed down from Yizhou; the royal aura of Jinling faded away.” Turn one page, and the Three Kingdoms are over.
One commenter said: Even Chen Shou, the author of Records of the Three Kingdoms, didn’t care for Eastern Wu—let alone the novel, film, or TV adaptations of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. When Records of the Three Kingdoms introduces Cao Cao and Liu Bei, it gives detailed, specific accounts right from the start. But when it gets to Sun Quan of Eastern Wu, it just says, “Sun Quan, courtesy name Zhongmou.” And that’s it.
Why is Eastern Wu so unpopular? Is it simply because of the trick of “crossing the river in white clothes,” which led to the death of Guan Yu, the much-revered Lord Guan? $ETH