Romance of the Three Kingdoms

In Our Time: Culture

BBC

History

4.6 • 978 Ratings

🗓️ 27 June 2013

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, widely regarded as one of the greatest works of Chinese literature. Written 600 years ago, it is an historical novel that tells the story of a tumultuous period in Chinese history, the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Partly historical and partly legend, it recounts the fighting and scheming of the feudal lords and the three states which came to power as the Han Dynasty collapsed. The influence of Romance of the Three Kingdoms in East Asia has been likened to that of Homer in the West, and this warfare epic remains popular in China today.

With:

Frances Wood Former Lead Curator of Chinese Collections at the British Library

Craig Clunas Professor of the History of Art at the University of Oxford

Margaret Hillenbrand University Lecturer in Modern Chinese Literature at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Wadham College

Producer: Victoria Brignell.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You don't need us to tell you there's a general election coming.
0:04.6	So what does it mean for you?
0:06.4	Every day on newscast we dissect the big talking points,
0:10.1	the ones that you want to know more about.
0:12.3	With our book of contacts, we talk directly to the people you want to hear from.
0:16.8	And with help from some of the best BBC journalists,
0:19.4	we'll untangle the stories that matter to you.
0:23.0	Join me, Laura Kunsberg, Adam Fleming, Chris Mason and Patty O'Connell for our daily
0:28.3	podcast.
0:29.3	Newscast, listen on BBC Sounds. Thank you for downloading this episode of In Our Time.
0:35.0	For more details about in our time and for our terms of use please go to BBC.
0:40.0	co.uk.
0:41.0	slash Radio 4.
0:42.0	I hope you enjoy the program.
0:44.0	Hello the Empire long divided must unite long united must divide thus it has ever
0:50.3	been these are the opening words of romance of the three kingdoms, one of the four
0:55.1	great classical novels of Chinese literature. Written in the 14th century, it narrates events
1:00.6	that happened more than a thousand years before when the Hand
1:03.1	Dynasty collapsed and three separate competing states emerged in China.
1:07.0	Full of vivid descriptions of battles and sharp military tactics, it's a complex epic
1:12.3	featuring hundreds of characters and stories
1:14.4	that are familiar even to Chinese people who have not read the book. The status of
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.