The Ultimate Three Kingdoms

Name: The Ultimate Three Kingdoms
ISBN: 9787517701552

Fan JunChina Development Press2014

4.0

Series: The Ultimate Three Kingdoms
ISBN: 9787517701552

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Summary

The Ultimate Three Kingdoms is a series of historical essays on the Three Kingdoms by author Fan Jun, rereading the narrative and characters of Romance of the Three Kingdoms from a modern perspective. Rather than laying out historical facts chronologically, the book seizes on the choices made by Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Dong Zhuo, Lü Bu, Yuan Shao, Sun Quan, Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu, and others in key situations, probing the desires, fears, endurance, and self-limitations behind them. The author proposes that a person's greatest enemy is often oneself, and that so-called heroes are simply those who strive to break their own limitations, or even to stand at the opposite pole from them. The prose uses short sentences and short paragraphs with a brisk rhythm and the crisp feel of internet writing, compared by readers to the light touch of Those Things About the Ming Dynasty. The series has three volumes: the first edition's three volumes were Troubles Under Heaven (Liaoning Education Press, 2009), Maneuvering Across the Land, and Dust Settled (Huawen Publishing House, 2009–2010); in 2014 China Development Press released a revised three-volume edition, retitled The Common Elite Emerge Together, Troubled Winds, and Glory and Melancholy, covering from the rise of warlords and the confrontation at Guandu through the tripartite division to the unification by Jin. This entry corresponds to the series as a whole; each volume can be read independently.

Editor's review

市面上的三国读物大致两类：一类考据严谨，一类借古说今，而《最三国》属于后者的“心理派”。范军几乎不谈地形粮道，只谈人心——曹操的孤独与多疑、刘备的仁义与无力、吕布的骄横与宿命。他喜欢用极短的段落抛出一句判断，像说书人拍下醒木，读者往往一愣，然后会心。这种写法牺牲了部分史学厚度，却换来了难得的代入感：你会觉得那些一千八百年前的人，正在用和你一样的软弱与骄傲做选择。三卷读完，从群雄逐鹿到三分归晋，人物的心理脉络一路延伸，读起来相当顺畅。适合读不进去正史、却对人性话题有兴趣的读者，也适合已熟悉《三国演义》的人换一种眼光再读一遍。

Who it's for

A good fit for

读过《三国演义》，想换个角度重看人物的读者
喜欢《明朝那些事儿》式轻松历史笔法的读者
对人物性格、权谋心理分析感兴趣的人
希望用碎片时间读点历史随笔的上班族

Not a good fit for

需要严谨史实考据与史料出处的专业研究者
期待系统讲述三国历史脉络的入门读者
偏好长篇连贯叙事、不喜短段落碎评的人

Reading tips

建议按《草莽精英共出道》到《风波恶》《光荣与惆怅》的顺序读，人物心理线索会更连贯。
读前略翻一遍《三国演义》相应回目，对照书中点评，收获更大。
把书中的性格论断当作可讨论的观点而非结论，边读边与自己的判断对照。
不必一次读完，每章独立成篇，适合每日一两篇慢慢消化。

About the publisher

China Development Press China · Founded in 1989

Public information on China Development Press is limited. Judging from the books in our catalog, its publishing areas cover education, social sciences, finance and economics, culture, history, and biography. Representative titles include the series Selected Master's Theses in Sociology from Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Renmin University of China (2018, 2019, and 2020), as well as Looking Back and Beyond: Exploring the Theory and Practice of Community Education; The Light of High-Tech: The Splendid Transformation of a National High-Tech Zone over Thirty Years; Minor Surgery: Dissecting the Spiritual World of Lu Xun and Xu Guangping; Hidden Fragrance: The Paradox and Obscurity of History; and Youthful Spirit and Dreams: Striving Is a Belief. Relevant authors include Chu Huijuan, Lu Huilin, Jin Jun, Li Ding, Peng Renzhe, and Duanmu Cixiang, as well as institutions such as the Working Committee of the Communist Party of China of the Chengdu High-Tech Industrial Development Zone and the Chengdu High-Tech Industrial Development Zone Management Committee.

FAQ

《最三国》是小说还是历史书？

它是历史随笔，不是小说，也不是严格的正史著作。作者以《三国演义》的叙事为底本，用现代视角解读人物性格与处境，重点在心理分析和人性评点，而非史实考证。

这套书一共几卷？

共三卷。首版三卷为《天下有事》《纵横捭阖》《尘埃落定》（2009—2010）；2014年中国发展出版社出版修订版，卷名改为《草莽精英共出道》《风波恶》《光荣与惆怅》。

没读过《三国演义》能看吗？

可以读懂，但会损失不少趣味。书中涉及大量人物与事件，熟悉原著的话更容易体会作者的点评妙处；不熟悉的读者可先看电视剧或原著梗概再读。

和易中天《品三国》有什么不同？

《品三国》偏向讲史与制度、局势分析；《最三国》更聚焦个体心理与性格，文风也更短促、情绪化，宣传语甚至称其“比《品三国》更血性”，但学术严谨度不及前者。

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About the author

Fan Jun Author · China · 1969

Fan Jun, born in 1969 and a native of Lishui, Zhejiang, writes under the pen name Lao Qiang. He is a member of the China Writers Association, a council member of the Zhejiang Provincial Essay Society and a visiting professor at Lishui University, and he previously served as executive editor-in-chief of the Beijing-based Satellite TV Weekly. He has long been engaged in historical and humanistic writing and has published more than twenty works, including Sitting on the Dragon Throne, The Twenty-Third Year of Guangxu, The Taste of History and The Three-Person Group, and has also ventured into film and television scriptwriting. The works by him held in the library span social sciences, culture, biography, language and documentary literature, ranging from annual observations of China’s publishing industry and a compilation of Zhou Zhenfu’s editorial and publishing practice to introductory writing on traditional kites and on Matteo Ricci and the Forbidden City, reflecting a range of writing that crosses historical narrative, industry reports and cultural popularization.