Which one was closer to true history, Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Records of the Three Kingdoms?
The Three Kingdoms and Romance of the Three Kingdoms are both representative works of ancient Chinese historical novels, but the background of the two novels is different. " The History of the Three Kingdoms " was a historical novel written by Chen Shou after the fall of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. It mainly narrated the war and political struggles between Shu Han, Wu and Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. The novel mainly described the history and culture of Shu Han in detail, which had high literary and historical value. Romance of the Three Kingdoms was a historical novel written by the Ming Dynasty novelist Luo Guanzhong. It mainly narrated the history from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms period. With the Three Kingdoms period as the background, it described the war, political struggle and love stories between the historical figures of the Three Kingdoms period, showing the social style and human characteristics of the Three Kingdoms period. From a historical point of view, the Three Kingdoms was closer to real history than the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Some of the historical events and characters in the Records of the Three Kingdoms were real, such as Zhuge Liang's dispatch, Guan Yu's drowning of the seven armies, etc., while the Romance of the Three Kingdoms had some fictional plots and characters, such as Lu Bu and Zhao Yun. However, there were also some fictional historical events and characters in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The authenticity of these events and characters could not be guaranteed. The Three Kingdoms and Romance of the Three Kingdoms were both representative works of ancient Chinese historical novels. Although the Three Kingdoms was closer to real history than the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the authenticity and accuracy of the two novels needed to be treated with caution.