On Yamato Culture Via Eiji Yoshikawa's Reshaping And Preservation Of The Romance Of The Three Kingdoms

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms was introduced to Japan by Wenshan's translated version in Edo Period which gained widespread attention and favorable reviews.Subsequently,a wide variety of versions issued one after another.With the development of times,the stories in the three kingdoms were interpreted and circulated in different ways such as movies,games,kabuki and so on,while The Records of Three Kingdoms written by Eiji Yoshikawa is the most well-received one.It is the most authoritative one in Japan.The comparative research finds that Eiji Yoshikawa does not inherit the idea of praising Liu Bei and degrading Cao Cao from Luo Guanzhong.In The Records of Three Kingdoms,Cao Cao is a hero as well as a poet with the air of a king who is not punctilious and licentious in conduct,which is entirely contrary to Chinese people's impression on Cao Cao who achieves high position by unscrupulous scheming.Eiji Yoshikawa builds different characters based on the demand and taste of mass of Japanese people from a Japanese perspective.This kind of character difference not only occurs to Cao Cao but also to Liu Bei.Eiji Yoshikawa depicts Cao Cao and Liu Bei's appearance through two colors “red”and “white” which bear a lot of meaning to Japanese people.He presents readers a brand-new image of Cao Cao through adding many dialogues and facial expressions.These differences between Eiji Yoshikawa and Luo Guanzhong are not only owing to different personal opinions but also reflect the cultural difference between the two countries.To Chinese people who have experienced a lot of dynasties,the bloodline of the king is legitimate,while to Japanese people who has always adhere to the system of Japanese emperor,the wars between lords have no impact on the status of Japanese emperor.Therefore,Japanese have a very vague concept of an ambitious scoundrel.Different histories contribute to these two author's different concepts,which is reflected in their different interpretations of the same character.Apart from characters' image,Chinese and Japanese have different ideas about wars as well.Chinese pay more attention to the difficulties of unification and aspiration for peace,while Japanese focus more on how hegemony came into being and how to win the war through trying to cheat or outwit the other.Which is also linked to the culture and history of the two countries.