Quán Sānguó Wén 全三國文
Complete Prose Writings of the Three Kingdoms Period compiled by 嚴可均 嚴可均 (編)
About the work
This file contains the Quán Sānguó wén 全三國文 section of 嚴可均’s Quán shànggǔ sāndài Qín Hàn Sānguó Liùcháo wén 全上古三代秦漢三國六朝文 (KR4h0176), covering 76 juàn of prose attributed to writers of the Three Kingdoms period (220–280): the states of Wèi 魏, Shǔ-Hàn 蜀漢, and Wú 吳. The section opens with the writings of Wèi Wǔdì 魏武帝, the posthumous imperial title of Cáo Cāo 曹操 (155–220), and proceeds through the Wèi, Shǔ, and Wú authors. Primary sources cited throughout include the Sānguó zhì 三國志 (and its Péi Sōngzhī 裴松之 commentary), the Wén xuǎn 文選 commentary, the Hòu-Hàn shū 後漢書, and Tang-dynasty encyclopedias. Editorial cross-references note where passages have been relocated to other dynasty sections (e.g., one note reads “今改編入《全梁文》”).
The Three Kingdoms period was one of the most creatively fertile in Chinese literary history. Among the authors represented in the Quán Sānguó wén are: Cáo Cāo 曹操 (memorials, letters, proclamations, edicts), Cáo Pī 曹丕 (Emperor Wén of Wei; letters, the famous Lùn wén 論文 essay), Cáo Zhí 曹植 (poetry prefaces and prose essays), Kǒng Róng 孔融, Zhě Géliàng 諸葛亮 (memorials including the Chūshī biǎo 出師表), Chén Shòu 陳壽 (prefaces), and the Wu kingdom writers Lǚ Méng 呂蒙, Lù Kàng 陸抗 et al. The section also includes Buddhist text prefaces by Zhī Qiān 支謙 (active ca. 222–252), among the earliest Chinese Buddhist translators.
For the structure of the broader anthology, see KR4h0176. The adjacent dynastic sections are KR4h0176 (Later Han, which this continues) and KR4h0179 (Jin).
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
The Quán Sānguó wén gathers all surviving prose from the Three Kingdoms period (220–280), the era following the fall of the Eastern Han. Yán Kějūn 嚴可均 drew primarily on Péi Sōngzhī’s 裴松之 (372–451) commentary to the Sānguó zhì — itself an extraordinary repository of preserved pre-Tang texts — as well as the Wén xuǎn commentary, Tang encyclopedias, and Buddhist canon. The 76 juàn cover not only the politically and militarily significant Wei, Shu, and Wu regimes but also the cultural and intellectual life of a fragmented era: philosophical debates, literary correspondence, political memorials, and early Buddhist translation prefaces. Cáo Cāo’s memorials and proclamations are particularly well represented; the file includes multiple memorial-sequences traceable to the Wèi Wǔ gù shì 魏武故事 and related sources quoted in the Sānguó zhì commentary. For full compilation history and scholarly significance of the parent anthology, see KR4h0176.
Translations and research
- Wilkinson, Endymion. Chinese History: A New Manual. §30.3.2.
- Qián Zhōngshū 錢鐘書. Guǎnzhuībiān 管錐編. Vols. 3–4. Zhōnghuá, 1979.