Episode 024: How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways
Cao Cao’s awesomeness draws much fawning from his adviser Guo Jia, while the people of Xu Province express their love for Liu Bei through cannibalism.
Cao Cao’s awesomeness draws much fawning from his adviser Guo Jia, while the people of Xu Province express their love for Liu Bei through cannibalism.
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Well today is my speech day, your podcast helped a lot in my making it, thank you.
Hope the speech went well, Noah. Thanks!
Yikes! That cannibalism episode is so gross. What the hell were they thinking. Also, I don’t remember it from the TV show (the 2010 one), they must have left it out… right…? I think I would have remembered that one. Or would I… Haha this story is so chock full of carnage maybe I forgot it 😀
Neither the 1994 or the 2010 TV show included the cannibalism thing. Women really get a raw deal in this novel when you think about it. Interestingly (and disturbingly), cannibalism was actually a thing during this era, as there were some pretty severe famines.
Hi! I’m years late coming to this podcast but really enjoying it. Just wondering – the cannibalism thing… is this about the problems of showing hospitality to great leaders during famine? Would honouring the guests require meat at short notice? You mentioned widespread famine in previous episodes… is this cannibalism a product of that? And the fact that Liu An and his family is rewarded in gold afterwards – it shows that Caocao was understanding of the situation… so I guess it made sense to him! A tragedy of Liu An trying to live up to unrealistic social expectations placed in the poor? It made me think of the Great Leap Forward and even the way people go to extraordinary measures to look after the ‘Leaders’ even here in China today.
Brutal that the fusion tables are gone. It’s tough to follow along, and I’m a long-time Destiny of an Emperor, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Dynasty Warriors player. 😭