Transcripts and Thank-Yous
The show is now a little more accessible. Also, a shout-out to my earliest listeners.
Episode 004: Enter the Fat Man; AKA the Novel Really Starts
We are finally getting into the meat of the story, starting with ascension of Dong Zhuo, who’s like Santa Claus, just less jolly and more stabby.
We’ve had rebellions, palace intrigue, a deadly power struggle, and a bloodbath at the imperial residence. But all of that was just the warm-up act. We are finally getting into the meat of the story, starting with ascension of Dong Zhuo, who’s like Santa Claus, just less jolly and more stabby.
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- Transcript
- Key Characters
- There is no map this week, since all the action takes place in or just outside of the capital Luoyang.
Now on iTunes
The podcast is listed in iTunes now.
Episode 003: Oh C’mon! Kill Them Already!
He Jin makes his officers bang their heads against walls with his pathological inability to dispose of the eunuchs. Meanwhile, a bit character from episode 1, Dong Zhuo, drops by the capital with 200,000 of his best friends, just to say hi and see what’s up.
He Jin makes his officers bang their heads against walls with his pathological inability to dispose of the eunuchs. Meanwhile, a bit character from episode 1, Dong Zhuo, drops by the capital with 200,000 of his best friends, just to say hi and see what’s up.
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About the Opening Poem
The poem at the beginning of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (see episode 001) was not part of the…
Programming Note: Shorter Episodes
I have decided to scale back future episodes to between 25 and 30 minutes. The first two episodes were close…
Episode 002: Trials and Tribulations of Chinese Officialdom
Liu Bei discovers that landing a government job in the Han court takes connections, patience, and a lot of dead rebels. And that’s BEFORE the leeches start ransoming you for a bribe. Fortunately, Zhang Fei resolves the matter diplomatically.
Liu Bei discovers that landing a government job in the Han court takes connections, patience, and a lot of dead rebels. And that’s BEFORE the leeches start ransoming you for a bribe. Fortunately, Zhang Fei resolves the matter diplomatically.
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Episode 001: Bromance of the Three Warriors
The first episode finds the empire in turmoil and three men of valor vowing to do something about it.
Episode 000: Who Are You? What Are You Doing Here?
A quick overview of what I’ll attempt to do with this podcast.
A quick overview of what I’ll attempt to do with this podcast. You can also read this explanation instead.
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A few resources for those who want to delve more deeply into the novel and the historical era on which it is based (and yes, they contain spoilers):
- threekingdoms.com: Read an English translation of the novel online for free. Scroll past the Oprah picture at the top to see the table of contents. The site includes a lot of crowd-sourced annotations, some of which can be helpful.
- purepen.com/sgyy/: Read the original Chinese novel online for free.
- The China History Podcast: This excellent podcast series is a must-listen if you’re into podcasts and Chinese history and culture. There are episodes on the Three Kingdoms era, the Han dynasty that directly preceded it, and the Jin dynasty that followed.
- BBC podcast about the novel