This issue is one of the most controversial and divergent issues in this seminar. In addition to the five viewpoints put forward in the past, such as orthodoxy, loyalty, supporting Liu and opposing Cao, reflecting the rise and fall of the Three Kingdoms and eulogizing feudal talents, the new viewpoints mainly include tragedy, benevolence, agricultural desire and separation. Moreover, even a few old formulations in the past, some people have made new explanations and injected new content.
(1) tragedy theory.
This is a very striking sentence in this seminar. The commentator believes that Cao Cao and Liu Bei, including the groups they represent, not only occupy a very prominent position, but also remain in sharp opposition in a large number of artistic images created in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Cao Cao was portrayed as an immortal traitor, a concentrated representative of the self-interest of the exploiting class and a symbol of greed and power desire. He almost summed up the whole set of ruling means and all essential characteristics of the exploiting class. The close combination of cruelty, cunning and great talent, and the high unity of "traitor" and "hero" are his most remarkable signs. This image is the entity of evil virtue, a personalized social existence and a direct reflection of the writer's historical environment. On the contrary, the essential feature of Liu Bei's image is the pursuit of ideal morality. He fantasized about implementing "benevolent government" and establishing an ideal society in the world. The fierce confrontation between the reality of feudal society represented by Cao Cao and the ideal symbol of feudal society represented by Liu Bei constitutes the most basic contradiction in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Unfortunately, the reality of China feudal society represented by Cao Cao finally defeated the ideal pursuit of China feudal society represented by Liu Bei. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms reveals a harsh fact for people: the power that dominates the current situation and feudal political life is not justice, but evil; Not morality, but blackmail; Fresh and shameless cruel reality, the law of the jungle overcomes the ideal concepts of filial piety, courtesy, loyalty and faith; Tyranny raped benevolent government, and animal nature replaced human nature; The ethical concept of loyalty to the monarch and filial piety to the father had to give way to the bourgeois principle of intrigue. This is not only the historical reality of the Three Kingdoms period, but also the historical reality of the whole feudal society. Therefore, the tragedy of the Shu-Han Group in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a historical tragedy of the birth of our nation in the tragic era, which has become the inspiration of national history and established an immortal position in the history of China literature.
(2) Benevolence.
The commentator believes that the Romance of the Three Kingdoms has a very distinct political tendency, which is mainly manifested in "respecting Liu and restraining Cao". Many commentators used this as the theme of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms before, which makes sense. However, this strong tendency of the work does not mean that this is its theme. Through the appearance of "respecting Liu and restraining Cao", what we see is the praise and yearning for benevolent government and the criticism and lashing of tyranny. The "respect" and "support" for Liu Shu in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms reflect the enthusiastic support of the people struggling in the cruel reality of the feudal system for benevolent government; The "repression" and "opposition" against Cao Wei reflected the people's deep hatred for tyranny. This is not only the theme throughout the book, but also the concrete embodiment of the democratic and progressive ideological tendency in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
(3) The theory of farmers' wishes.
The commentator believes that we can't and shouldn't analyze the theme of The Romance of Three Kingdoms without the history of its formation. Although The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is mainly based on Chen Shou's The Three Kingdoms and Pei Songzhi's Notes on Books, that is to say, it is mainly based on official history, but as a literary work, it is more influenced by storytelling, Yuan Zaju and a large number of folk stories and legends circulating since the Song and Yuan Dynasties. The tendency of "respecting Liu and restraining Cao" was gradually formed in such a long-term spread and evolution process.
In addition, many comrades believe that it is difficult to summarize the theme of such a literary masterpiece as The Romance of the Three Kingdoms in a few words. All kinds of statements put forward at present should be said to be "reasonable and reasonable", but it seems difficult for people to accept them unanimously. The important thing is to carefully analyze the similarities of these formulations, find out their internal relations, and compare their substantive differences, instead of jumping to conclusions. At the same time, the theme of Romance of the Three Kingdoms is also inseparable from the study of the version. Different versions often lead to different degrees of differences in theme ideas, which can not be ignored.