"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has successfully created a series of distinctive characters with its outstanding artistic talents, including the image of a wise and brave military advisor represented by Zhuge Liang, the uninhibited and reckless hero represented by Zhang Fei, the image of Liu Bei as a benevolent and benevolent monarch, and the image of Cao Cao as a cunning and treacherous traitor.
These images not only maintain commonality, but also have their own characteristics, making the characters of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" colorful and charming.
In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Guan Yu is well-known to readers for his distinctive image of loyal ministers. This analytical article delves into the reasons for the formation of this moralized character image, and lays a solid foundation for an in-depth understanding of other moral character images in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
Moralized characters actually refer to characters with Confucian ethical and moral connotations, and these characters are very rich. In addition to Guan Yu, there are also Renjun Liu Bei, Zhiduoxing Zhuge Liang, traitorous male Cao Cao, etc., the characters in the work of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" are more colorful, and the work itself is more profound.
Zhuge Liang is known as "Zhiduoxing" for his outstanding resourcefulness. His wisdom is not only reflected in his strategic planning and military tactics, but also in his insight into people and his accurate grasp of the current situation.
He was able to foresee future developments, develop effective strategies, and led the army to several victories. His wisdom has been widely praised by later generations and has become the image of a wise man in the hearts of generations.
His wisdom and resourcefulness influenced not only his time, but also the history of later generations.
Zhuge Liang is the intellectual responsibility of the whole work, and he is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people with the image of a virtuous appearance. He focused on conveying the moral quality of "loyalty", which was deeply appreciated and trusted by Liu Bei, and the two were also ministers and friends, and jointly practiced the life ideal of scholars, which was in line with Mencius's concept of "the king's teacher".
When Liu Bei was on his deathbed, Zhuge Liang adhered to his faith and did his best to assist Liu Chan, although Liu Chan was a faint monarch and had a lot of distrust in Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Liang was always loyal to his duties.
He went out of Qishan in all directions, killed Cao Zhen angrily, outwitted Sima Yi, and showed outstanding talent. However, Liu Chan listened to the slander and strictly ordered Zhuge Liang to return to the dynasty immediately, although Zhuge Liang had a lot of disagreement, but he did not violate the holy order and gave up his low-hanging fruit.
Before his death, Zhuge Liang still kept in mind Liu Bei's entrustment, made a good plan, exerted his residual power, and became a veteran of the two dynasties. He treated both monarchs with loyalty and dutifulness until his death.
When depicting the image of Liu Bei, his benevolent and righteous qualities are even more prominent. In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Liu Bei is portrayed as a courteous corporal, generous and benevolent monarch; In "Tales of the Three Kingdoms", he not only shows his benevolent side, but also shows his reckless heroic nature, which is one of the most complete works about Liu Bei's story.
For example, after Zhang Fei took office as Taishou, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei became kings in Taihang Mountain, thus giving birth to the famous Taoyuan Three Knots allusion. In addition, Liu Bei once proclaimed himself emperor in Tucheng, and after Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei were separated in Xuzhou, Zhang Fei proclaimed himself the lord of the wind in the ancient city, and Liu Bei also became the emperor after reuniting with Zhang Fei.
Liu Bei has a magnanimous personality, does not give up his own principles for political interests, cares about the people, loves the people like a son, embodies the concept of benevolence in Confucianism, and at the same time adheres to the belief of Kuang Fu Han family, corporal Lixian, and embodies the concept of re-virtuous.
And Cao Cao's image is a traitor, which is undeniable in historical records.
In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Cao Cao is the most representative moral negative image. The author skillfully shows Cao Cao's treacherous and brutal character, as well as the insidious character and jealousy of the characters embodied in the plots such as killing Yang Xiu, borrowing his head to show the public, and cutting his hair as the head.
In addition to Cao Cao, there are other moral negative images in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", such as Yuan Shu, Dong Zhuo and so on. In addition, we should also note that one of the causes of the moralized characters in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is the influence of the idea of "supporting Liu and opposing Cao".
Virtuous and virtuous"The concept is in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"."Support Liu and oppose Cao"The manifestation of ideology is not only manifested in political aspirations, but also in the pursuit of personality, reflecting the far-reaching influence of orthodoxy on people.
In the process of creating moralized characters, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" poured a lot of pen and ink into it"Support Liu and oppose Cao"portrays Liu Bei as a pioneer in the revival of the Han dynasty, while Cao Cao is seen as an enemy usurping the throne, stemming from the fact that Cao Cao was not of orthodox origin.
However,"Support Liu and oppose Cao"Thoughts cannot explain why "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" belittles Liu Chan, Liu Biao and other Han clan relatives, which is only part of the reason for shaping the image of moralized characters.
History books also had a certain influence on the shaping of moralized characters. Taking Zhuge Liang as an example, the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" emphasizes his loyalty, but his evaluation in terms of military talent is low, but as a loyal minister, Zhuge Liang's evaluation is very high.
Zhuge Liang had a close relationship with the monarch Liu Bei and was loyal to Liu Chan, the lord of the Han Dynasty. A large number of pages are depicted in the whole work"Loyalty"。
Ancient literati were good at portraying the demeanor of historical figures, especially well-known historical figures such as Zhuge Liang and Cao Cao. In the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties periods, in the works of Pei Qi, Wang Yin, Liu Yiqing and others, Zhuge Liang's military talent and celebrity demeanor were vividly depicted, with a mysterious color.
In the Tang Dynasty, Zhuge Liang's image became more perfect, Li Bai, Du Fu, Li Shangyin and other poets have praised Zhuge Liang's superior command and loyalty, among which Du Fu's "Shu Xiang" has become a swan song for the ages, telling the tragic story of Zhuge Liang's "death before leaving the school".
"The Tales of the Three Kingdoms" further deified the image of Zhuge Liang, believing that he was a god himself, concentrating on his studies since he was a child, reading a wide range of books, and being middle-aged able to pass through the heavens and the earth and ghosts, calling for wind and rain, and sprinkling beans into soldiers.
Such an image reflects Taoism and interest, making Zhuge Liang's image more rich and diverse. In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the author consciously abandoned the absurd storyline and created the image of Zhuge Liang's wisdom and loyalty, becoming a model of virtuous ministers.
Although it borrowed some of the storylines in "The Tales of the Three Kingdoms", it was more influenced by the cognition of literati and scholars and historical books in the shaping of Zhuge Liang's characters.
Cao Cao was a famous military strategist and politician in history, and his image is depicted differently in different works. The Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms treats Wei as orthodox and praises Cao Cao, while in the Spring and Autumn Period of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao becomes a thief who steals the country.
There are also inconsistencies in the people's evaluation of Cao Cao's image, but in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Cao Cao's eloquence and treacherous side are reflected. The moralized characters in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" reflect the influence of traditional Confucian ethics and morality on the connotation of characters.
This influence is not only related to the idea of "supporting Liu and opposing Cao", but also influenced by historical books. To a certain extent, the author's beneficial and weathered creative intentions also affected the formation of moralized characters.
Traditional Chinese culture adheres to the idea of "literature carries the Tao", which directly influenced the author's creative intention, and the creation of the Ming and Qing dynasties, especially the influence of science and Confucianism, made the Ming and Qing authors pay more attention to secularization and practicality.
Jiang Daqi, a famous scholar of the Ming Dynasty, once pointed out in the preface of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" that the task of moralization plays a role in persuading correctional education. Through reading, people can reflect on whether they are loyal or unfaithful, filial or unfilial, so as to improve their ability to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil.
This moralizing influence is fully reflected in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, making the work not only literary but also educational.
Zhang Shangde (Ming) once proposed the role of "weathering education" in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Li Xiang and Bo Gusheng all reflected the author's beneficial educational role in the creation of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in their analysis of the creation, especially in the shaping of literary images.
For example, Liu Bei, as a representative of the image of a benevolent monarch, has a moral core of benevolence and righteousness, and his character is magnanimous and benevolent. His actions such as releasing Xu Shu and returning to Cao reflected his benevolent character, and even under the great impetus of political interests, he still adhered to his principles and never did unkind and unjust things.
Liu Bei loves the people like a son, and even in the critical situation of defeating Jiangling, he can't bear to give up on the people. His governing philosophy focused on the lives of the common people and aimed to achieve a peaceful and contented life for the common people, which reflected the Confucian idea of benevolent government.
Liu Bei insisted on supporting the Han Dynasty, embodying the idea of loyalty. He showed respect and love for talents to Corporal Zhuge Liang Lixian, which is in line with the Confucian concept of Corporal Lixian.
Liu Bei sent troops to avenge Zhang Fei and Guan Yu for the sake of brotherhood, completely giving up the interests of the political group, reflecting the feelings of righteousness. At the same time, the relationship between him and Zhuge Liang is harmonious, reflecting the relationship between the monarch and the minister of Corporal Lixian, which reflects the rich moral connotation of the characters and also reflects the Confucian ethical and moral concepts.