Review by Anne Carlisle on Goodreads, October 15, 2012
What makes The Battle of Chibi by Hock G. Tjoa such a worthwhile read is a feeling of global impact. Here is a mythos/history of ancient China worth absorbing. The world view of the most populous nation on earth and one that retains much of its ancient heritage should interest us, yet Western readers know little of its evolution. In this fascinating novel, which is part history, part fiction, part drama, and part poetry, Hock G. Tjoa ably takes on the mantle of translator and literary interpreter for a battle along a river that determined four hundred years of ancient Chinese history.
What makes The Battle of Chibi by Hock G. Tjoa such a worthwhile read is a feeling of global impact. Here is a mythos/history of ancient China worth absorbing. The world view of the most populous nation on earth and one that retains much of its ancient heritage should interest us, yet Western readers know little of its evolution. In this fascinating novel, which is part history, part fiction, part drama, and part poetry, Hock G. Tjoa ably takes on the mantle of translator and literary interpreter for a battle along a river that determined four hundred years of ancient Chinese history.
Tjoa does an excellent job at
meeting his goal of providing the original in a more "readable and lively language as well as
internal consistency." It's a worthwhile though not an easy
read. As a boy in the book says, "I
cannot remember all the names."
At the outset, the author
provides useful background. The
historical events were originally recounted in a classic Ming novel , Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written in
1400 by Luo Guanzhong. In turn the Romance was a compilation of work by writers living in the third and fourth
centuries AD. (The Arthurian legend immediately comes to
mind.) Luo's version is in four volumes of 120
scenes/chapters, the first 80 of which is
about the decline of the Han Dynasty and the rise of three kingdoms, a period of transition from 184 to 280 AD.
Tjoa characterizes the divergence as one "between imperial unity and
fragmentation."
The selections chosen from the Romance center on the Battle of Chibi
(Red Cliffs), dated 208AD, which Tjoa points out was "the tipping
point" between the Han and Three Kingdoms periods. One of the three realms, the Shu, was led by Han loyalist Liu Bei. A second, the Wei, was led by Cao Cao the Usurper. Cao's plan was to become the new unifier of
China, but his ambitions disqualified him in the eyes of the other two leaders.
A third realm, the Wu led by Sun Quan,
lay on the fringe of what was called All under Heaven, a name, says Tjoa, that
equates to a Greco-Roman term, "the whole known civiilized world."
An interesting pattern emerges in
the novel's three-part structure. To my
eye, a dialectic of thesis, antithesis,
and synthesis unifies the diversity of
the structural components as well as underlining
the clash of cultures. The dynasty's
decline is vividly characterized by its eunuchs, warlords, and rebels. I became engaged in the story of the new
order through the vivid, careful characterization; the spare, dramatically
staged dialogue; and the pleasing literary elements. The title of Chapter 8 ("Like Fish Seeking
Water") is one example of how
metaphor and poetry are used to illustrate what is going on. Here's another: "Screens,
decorated with feathers,/Divide the space inside/Bamboo fences and fragrant
flowers/Define the space outside."
A new eye on the world emerges
from the divisiveness, and though the
country is no longer unified , neither
is it so insularly focused. At the end
of the day, Tjoa's work is historical romance
in the most classic sense of the term.
It would certainly lend itself to screen adaptation.
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