A Narrative History of the Three Kingdoms

This is an on-going project attempting to construct a Sān Guó Tōngshǐ 三國通史, a Narrative History (通史) of the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history in the model of the Zīzhì Tōngjiàn 資治通鑒 of Sīmǎ Guāng et al. What sets this apart from the Zīzhì Tōngjiàn is that, while Zīzhì Tōngjiàn covers a period of nearly 1400 years, from 403 BC to 959 AD, Sān Guó Tōngshǐ is planned to cover a period of only about 100 years, roughly 184 AD to 280 AD. By focusing on this shorter period, it is hoped to be able to go into more detail than the Zīzhì Tōngjiàn’s account of that same period, as well as address a few minor known errors in the Zīzhì Tōngjiàn.

The construction of the first draft of the project will run from 220 AD to 280 AD then loop back around. This is because the 184 - 220 AD era is expected to be more complicated and difficult, and it would be better to approach that material with the help of the experience from working on the 220 - 280 AD era.

A warning that the project will likely be technical and not necessarily aimed for casual audiences: see the available English translations of parts of the Zīzhì Tōngjiàn to see what the technical material will likely resemble. However, if this project is successful, it is hoped that the project can one day be condensed into a Xīn Sān Guó Yǎnyì 新三國演義 “New Romance of Three Kingdoms” designed for more casual novel-reading audiences.