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Chapter 61 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms – Cao Cao marches south again; Sun Quan plots to seize Jingzhou – weaves together two parallel narratives that reveal the fragile balance of power in the post–Red Cliffs era.
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Following the pivotal Battle of Red Cliffs (208 CE), the alliance between Sun Quan and Liu Bei had successfully repelled Cao Cao’s southern advance. However, victory left a complex territorial puzzle. While Cao Cao retained control of northern Jing Province, the southern portion – especially the critical commandery of Nan Commandery (Nanjun) centered on…
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Chapter 57 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms captures a pivotal moment of political realignment and personal transformation across the fractured landscape of post-Red Cliffs China. With Zhou Yu gone, the fragile Sun-Liu alliance teeters – but Zhuge Liang’s diplomatic brilliance steadies it. Meanwhile, Pang Tong, spurned by Sun Quan for his unimpressive appearance,…
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The popular saying – “Liu Bei borrowed Jing Province and never returned” – is deeply entrenched in Chinese folklore, largely due to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Yet historical records tell a far more nuanced story. In fact, the very notion of “borrowing Jingzhou” is something of a misleading construct, if not a…
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Chapter 51 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms exposes the fragile nature of wartime alliances through a tale of military valor undone by political cunning. Fresh from the triumph at Red Cliffs, Zhou Yu engages Cao Ren in a fierce struggle for Nan Commandery (Nan Jun), only to see his hard-won gains snatched away…