Post by goragrad on Mar 17, 2019 15:52:44 GMT
Paul, closest I have been to the book are some movies - 'Red Cliffs' and others - and the old computer games.
Been wanting to watch the TV series (95 episodes!) but haven't found it streaming yet and haven't wanted to spring for the dvd set INetflix is doing several of the other Chinese series). Although based on watching the 'Kings War' series (historical drama covering the end of the Qin and founding of the Han) I wouldn't expect armor and equipment to be too faithfully reproduced. Qin armor wasn't bad, but the Chu and Han armors were based more on later artwork and the primary missile weapon was the bow rather than the crossbow. Historical timeline and major events were followed reasonably well though. Some interesting banners as well.
At any rate, back to the Three Kingdoms, I was looking at the map for the period -
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/Three_Kingdoms.png/800px-Three_Kingdoms.png
and based on its location, I would guess that Wei would be the likeliest of the three to have the 'war wagon' as they were developed as a tactic against the Xsiongnu and Wei borders the steppes. Shu borders the Qiang who were mountain farmers rather than horse nomads.
Of course, nothing prevents my Shu (or your Wu) from borrowing the idea.
On a similar note, in looking at the map I think it unlikely the Wei would field southern tribesmen.
As to the novel there are translations available on Amazon and elsewhere. There is also a google cache of an old website called 'Three Kingdoms' that has a translation of the novel chapter by chapter. The links in the cache to the intro etc. dead, but the chapters appear to be there (I clicked on several and they worked).
www.threekingdoms.com/
Been wanting to watch the TV series (95 episodes!) but haven't found it streaming yet and haven't wanted to spring for the dvd set INetflix is doing several of the other Chinese series). Although based on watching the 'Kings War' series (historical drama covering the end of the Qin and founding of the Han) I wouldn't expect armor and equipment to be too faithfully reproduced. Qin armor wasn't bad, but the Chu and Han armors were based more on later artwork and the primary missile weapon was the bow rather than the crossbow. Historical timeline and major events were followed reasonably well though. Some interesting banners as well.
At any rate, back to the Three Kingdoms, I was looking at the map for the period -
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/Three_Kingdoms.png/800px-Three_Kingdoms.png
and based on its location, I would guess that Wei would be the likeliest of the three to have the 'war wagon' as they were developed as a tactic against the Xsiongnu and Wei borders the steppes. Shu borders the Qiang who were mountain farmers rather than horse nomads.
Of course, nothing prevents my Shu (or your Wu) from borrowing the idea.
On a similar note, in looking at the map I think it unlikely the Wei would field southern tribesmen.
As to the novel there are translations available on Amazon and elsewhere. There is also a google cache of an old website called 'Three Kingdoms' that has a translation of the novel chapter by chapter. The links in the cache to the intro etc. dead, but the chapters appear to be there (I clicked on several and they worked).
www.threekingdoms.com/