Typically SGYY's fictional tendencies are to exaggerate character traits/reputations, rather than make them up completely. Zhou Yu is an odd exception to this - there seems to be nothing of the historical Zhou Yu in the scheming, jealous, petty character he is portrayed as after the Battle of Chibi in the novel. I'm struggling to figure out why exactly later authors wanted to destroy his good name.
Assuming a pro-Shu preference in later storytellers, does slandering Zhou Yu's reputation really bolster that of Zhuge Liang? Lu Xun did far more damage to Shu and yet the novel and later stories never attack him.
Zhou Yu's attempt to unite the entire south is one of the more interesting "what if" three kingdoms scenarios. I imagine he probably would've succeeded, simply because when a courageous and brilliant man like Zhou Yu puts a weak man like Liu Zhang under pressure, the weak man is bound to crack. How would Liu Bei have responded to that campaign? Zhou Yu's conquest of Shu would've put Liu Bei in an exceedingly difficult strategic position, essentially surrounded on all sides. Would war have broken out between Liu and Sun while Zhou Yu was away in the west?
Typically SGYY's fictional tendencies are to exaggerate character traits/reputations, rather than make them up completely. Zhou Yu is an odd exception to this - there seems to be nothing of the historical Zhou Yu in the scheming, jealous, petty character he is portrayed as after the Battle of Chibi in the novel. I'm struggling to figure out why exactly later authors wanted to destroy his good name.
Assuming a pro-Shu preference in later storytellers, does slandering Zhou Yu's reputation really bolster that of Zhuge Liang? Lu Xun did far more damage to Shu and yet the novel and later stories never attack him.
Zhou Yu's attempt to unite the entire south is one of the more interesting "what if" three kingdoms scenarios. I imagine he probably would've succeeded, simply because when a courageous and brilliant man like Zhou Yu puts a weak man like Liu Zhang under pressure, the weak man is bound to crack. How would Liu Bei have responded to that campaign? Zhou Yu's conquest of Shu would've put Liu Bei in an exceedingly difficult strategic position, essentially surrounded on all sides. Would war have broken out between Liu and Sun while Zhou Yu was away in the west?