Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ending with the reunification of the land in 280 by the Western Jin. The novel is based primarily on the Records of the Three Kingdoms, written by Chen Shou in the 3rd century.
Guan Yu, courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on most of his early exploits. Guan Yu played a significant role in the events leading up to the end of the Han dynasty and the establishment of Liu Bei's state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. While he is remembered for his loyalty towards Liu Bei, he is also known for repaying Cao Cao's kindness by slaying Yan Liang, a general under Cao Cao's rival Yuan Shao, at the Battle of Boma. After Liu Bei gained control of Yi Province in 214, Guan Yu remained in Jing Province to govern and defend the area for about seven years. In 219, while he was away fighting Cao Cao's forces at the Battle of Fancheng, Liu Bei's ally Sun Quan broke the Sun–Liu alliance and sent his general Lü Meng to conquer Liu Bei's territories in Jing Province. By the time Guan Yu found out about the loss of Jing Province after his defeat at Fancheng, it was too late. He was subsequently captured in an ambush by Sun Quan's forces and executed.
Jin, originally known as Tang (唐), was a major state during the middle part of the Zhou dynasty, based near the centre of what was then China, on the lands attributed to the legendary Xia dynasty: the southern part of modern Shanxi. Although it grew in power during the Spring and Autumn period, its aristocratic structure saw it break apart when the duke lost power to his nobles. In 403 BC, the Zhou court recognized Jin's three successor states: Han, Zhao, and Wei. The Partition of Jin marks the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of the Warring States period.
Sima is a Chinese family name. It is one of the rare two-character Chinese family names; most Chinese family names consist of only a single character. It is an occupational surname, literally meaning "control" (sī) "horses" (mǎ), or "horse officer". The family name originated from one of the offices of the Zhou dynasty.
Guan Ping was a military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.
Yue Jin, courtesy name Wenqian, was a military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was noted as much for his short stature as for his valour and ferocity on the battlefield. Yue Jin participated in most of Cao Cao's early military exploits, and gained multiple successes in the campaigns against Lü Bu, Liu Bei, remnants of the Yellow Turban rebels, and Yuan Shao and his associates. He was particularly praised as a capable vanguard, but his most famed accomplishment came with his supporting role in the defence of Hefei against Sun Quan's forces at the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford of 214–215.
Guan Zhong was a Chinese philosopher and politician. He served as chancellor and was a reformer of the State of Qi during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. His given name was Yiwu. Zhong was his courtesy name. He is mainly remembered for his reforms as chancellor under Duke Huan of Qi, as well as his friendship with his colleague Bao Shuya, though his reputation remained controversial among the Confucians, as detailed in the Philosophy and appraisal section.
Quán is the Pinyin romanization of the Chinese family names 權/权 and 全, as well as a customary spelling of 關. All written forms of the name are rare enough that they do not appear in the list of the 100 most common Chinese surnames.
Jī was the ancestral name of the Zhou dynasty which ruled China between the 11th and 3rd centuries BC. Thirty-nine members of the family ruled China during this period while many others ruled as local lords, lords who eventually gained great autonomy during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Ji is a relatively uncommon surname in modern China, largely because its bearers often adopted the names of their states and fiefs as new surnames.
King Wen of Zhou was the posthumous title given to Ji Chang, the patriarch of the Zhou state during the final years of Shang dynasty in ancient China. Ji Chang himself died before the end of the Zhou-Shang War, and his second son Ji Fa completed the conquest of Shang following the Battle of Muye, and posthumously honored him as the founder of the Zhou dynasty. Many of the hymns of the Classic of Poetry are praises to the legacy of King Wen. Some consider him the first epic hero of Chinese history.
Fàn is a Chinese family name. It is also one of the most common surnames in Vietnam, where it is written as Pham, and occurs in Korea as Beom. It is the 46th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem in Chinese.
Qín (秦) is a common Chinese surname. "Qin" is the hanyu pinyin romanization of the surname for Mandarin, the common dialect of China; other romanizations of the surname include Chin and Jin in Mandarin, Ceon and Cheun in Cantonese, and Tần in Vietnamese. People with this surname are most commonly found in Henan, Shaanxi, Shandong, Sichuan, Hubei and Hebei. It is the 18th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem.
Lü is the pinyin and Wade–Giles romanisation of a Chinese surname, most commonly 吕 and 呂.
Gong is the pinyin romanization of several distinct Chinese surnames, including 宫, 龔, 共, 公, 鞏, 功, 貢, and 弓. It may also be an alternative transcription of the surname Kong, or the Jyutping romanization of the Chinese surname Jiang.
Qi is the romanization of several Chinese family names, including 祁 (Qí), 齊/齐 (Qí), 戚 (Qī), 乞 (Qí), 奇 (Qí), 亓 (Qí) and 綦 (Qí).
Guan is a Chinese surname. Guan is 394th in the Hundred Family Surnames.
Lady Guan, referred to as Guan Yinping in folktales, was a Chinese noble woman from the state of Shu Han during the late-Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. She was the daughter of Guan Yu, a prominent general under Liu Bei, the founder of Shu Han state.
Guan Shu Xian was the first and only ruler of the Chinese state of Guan and was a younger of brother of King Wu of Zhou. He was the third son of King Wen of Zhou, and one of the Three Guards responsible for overseeing the eastern lands of the newly-founded Zhou dynasty. Three years into the first reign, King Wu died of an illness and left his underage son, Song, as king. Thus Dan, the Duke of Zhou - who was the fourth son of King Wen - fearing that the kingdom might fall apart under an inexperienced king, took over government affairs as regent. This angered Guanshu Xian and the other two guards, who felt the Duke of Zhou had usurped the throne, and thus they joined Zi Wugeng, the son of the last king of Shang and nominal ruler of Yin, the old Shang capital, and began a rebellion against the regent. This was known as the Rebellion of the Three Guards. Following three years of war, the rebellion was crushed and Guanshu Xian, considered its main leader, was executed and the state of Guan was extinguished.
Wèi is a Chinese surname. It means ‘defend, guard’ and is written Wai in Cantonese. The character 衞 is traditionally preferred although 衛 is now more prevalent, with 卫 being the simplified form in Mainland China. In 2013 it was found to be the 214th most common surname, shared by 480,000 people or 0.036% of the population, with the province with the most being Shanxi.
