Records of The Three Kingdoms - Historical Record

Historical Record

The romantic and historical traditions for the period of Three Kingdoms have been so confused in the centuries that the Records of the Three Kingdoms is often regarded as an invaluable resource. Its information, although contained errors itself, is nevertheless much more accurate than the embellishments of later writers. Many of the political, economic and military figures from the period of Three Kingdoms are included in the work as well as those who contributed to the fields of culture, arts and science. In its nature the work is indeed a chronicle, much like those of early Medieval Europe written much later. The text is bland and little more than a collection of historical facts. A typical extract:

In 219, the Former Lord became King of Hanzhong, and made Guan Yu General of the Vanguard. In the same year, Guan Yu attacked Cao Ren at Fan with his followers. Lord Cao sent Yu Jin to aid Cao Ren. In the autumn, great rains caused the Han River to flood, Yu Jin and the seven armies were lost.

From this we can establish reasonably accurately the flow of events and how history unfolded but almost nothing about society or elements of institutions or policies.

The amount of creative imagination used in ancient Chinese historical narratives - of 'fictionalising', is impossible to estimate precisely. Han Dynasty historian Sima Qian employed this device in his work and it can be assumed that Chen Shou also did this in his text. It is highly unlikely that various remarks which leaders or soldiers are supposed to have made in the heat of battle could have been taken down stenographically and thus many of them may be false.

Chen Shou, a former subject of Shu, favored his state over Wu in the work, but this preference was subordinate to the Jin Dynasty's viewpoint, which saw Wei as the legitimate successor to the Han Dynasty. He referred to the Wei emperors as emperors, the Shu emperors as lords, and the Wu emperors by name or as "rulers", and never referred to the Wu wives as empresses, instead referring to them as ladies.

The book is also important to the research of Japanese history (where it is known as Sangokushi (三国志?)), for its volume on the Wa people is the first historical document to make explicit mention of Japan. It describes the ancient country of Yamataikoku and its queen Himiko.