Judging from Li Shangyin's poem "Pride of Children", the story of the Three Kingdoms has been circulated among the people at the latest in the late Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the story of the Three Kingdoms became more popular through artists' performances and rap. According to the Tokyo Dream Record, an expert Huo Sijian said "three points" in the Northern Song Dynasty. According to "Dongpo Zhi Lin", Wang Peng once said: "The children of the native land are poor and forbearing, and their families are tired and bitter, so they need money to sit in one place and listen to the old saying. Speaking of the story of the Three Kingdoms, when I heard that Liu Xuande was defeated, I frowned frequently and some people cried. " It is worth noting that in the Song Dynasty, the folk stories about the Three Kingdoms have shown an obvious tendency of "respecting Liu and despising Cao". The stories of the Three Kingdoms in the Song and Yuan Dynasties were put on the stage in large numbers. Song Shi? Fan Chun's Biography of the Book of Rites and Jiang Baishi's Slogan of Watching Lights in the Southern Song Dynasty recorded the performances of the Three Kingdoms operas. At least 30 kinds of Three Kingdoms operas were performed in the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, such as Three Wars: Lu Bu, Battle of Red Cliffs, and Crossing the River with wits. In these plays, the tendency of "respecting Liu and belittling Cao" continues to be shown. The story of the Three Kingdoms has been circulating for so long that the story of the Three Kingdoms may have existed for a long time, but the earliest and only Story of the Three Kingdoms published by Xin 'an from the end of Yuan Dynasty to the end of Zhi Dynasty is the Story of the Three Kingdoms. This book is the final version of the story of the Three Kingdoms in folklore. It is divided into upper, middle and lower volumes, and each volume is divided into upper and lower columns, with pictures in the upper column and text in the lower column. Judging from the content and structure of Pinghua, it is roughly the size of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Not only is there a clear tendency to support Liu against Cao, but Liu, Guan, Zhang and others are full of savage and heroic breath. Zhang Fei's image is the most active and lively, and Zhuge Liang's ingenious design is also very prominent. Most of the contents in the book are different from the stories and legends attached by the government, such as Sima Zhong's escape from prison, Zhang Fei's beating Duan Gui, the murder of Dingzhou Taishou, Liu Guan and Zhang Taihang Mountain. The plot is very bizarre. Moreover, the description is sloppy, the words are obscure, and there are many fallacies in names and places. It seems to be the work of folk artists, not polished by literati. As can be seen from the above records and surviving works, from the end of the Tang Dynasty to the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the popular stories of the Three Kingdoms became more and more abundant. It provided sufficient conditions for the creation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

On the basis of folklore, scripts and operas created by folk artists, Luo Guanzhong wrote this far-reaching and popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms by using Chen Shou's The History of the Three Kingdoms and the official historical materials annotated by Pei Songzhi, combined with his rich life experience.

Background of Romance of the Three Kingdoms

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms was written in the early Ming Dynasty, and the author Luo Guanzhong was famous at that time. Novels before the Ming Dynasty were either very orthodox or not very acceptable as literary works. However, the embryonic form of the novel is very early, especially the legend of Tang Dynasty has the greatest influence. By the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, storytelling had appeared, which was of course a folk literary form, and it was not enough to affect the orthodox position of poetry. However, every kind of literature and art always has its heyday, that is to say, when it matures and finds a foundation suitable for its own existence, it will show its dazzling side. It can be said that the richness of novels is closely related to the popularity of storytelling. Especially in the Three Kingdoms period, heroes came forth in large numbers, and storytellers liked this and that. First, there are few historical records in the Three Kingdoms period, and there are many differences between the Records of the Three Kingdoms and Wei Lue. Second, it can attract more listeners. There are many storytellers, and the storytellers themselves must occupy a certain position. In contrast, Liu Bei is more suitable to be portrayed as a positive figure, because he is a descendant of the royal family and has the ability to choose people. Since then, it has also had a great influence. Among the people, some vague legends of the Three Kingdoms have gradually tended to a more tendentious outline. This is the original blueprint basis of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.