FULL History of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Part 5: Downfall

3 years ago
15

Liu Bei seeks revenge for the death of his brother Guan Yu, against Wu while an opportunistic Wei waits for the opportunity to strike. Whose downfall will it be?

Hey guys this is part 5 of this 6 part series on my re-telling of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms story. You might be asking, why should care about this old Chinese story?
In order to further broaden your knowledge of the depth of Chinese history in culture, you must be well acquainted with the it's foundational history and culture of the Three Kingdoms era and the more theatrical Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel; although I don't recommend you read the book (it sucks in English); I suggest watching this series instead.

In this part, we examine the psychological/spiritual consequences of Liu Bei perverting his moral compass - the once core aspect of our failed hero - in order to achieve his highest goal and what it does to his character. Remember the saying "you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain?". I see a correlation between the character arch of Liu Bei and Harvey Dent (aka Two Face) in the Dark Knight. Cao Cao (the Joker in this case), is seen by Liu Bei as the representation of chaos and by any measure necessary must be stopped. But in his quest to stop 'the chaos', he himself only ends up succumbing to it - ultimately redefining his character. And when a loved one is caught up in the drama and is killed (Harvey Dents girlfriend, Rachel and Liu Beis sworn brother, Guan Yu), the process of the destruction of their integrity becomes completed as they themselves become no different to the agents of evil they were originally fighting against.

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