Series / Romance of the Three Kingdoms (1994)

As ancient adage states: The world under heaven long divided must unite, long united must divide.

The rolling Long River flows eastward, flowers wash away like past heroes.
Their rights and wrongs, victories and defeats, all fade into nothing.
Yet the verdant hills stand as they did before, beneath rosy sunsets.
White-haired fishermen and lumberjacks on the banks familiarized with the autumn moons and the spring breezes.
With a turbid bottle of wine, they merrily assemble.
The countless tales of past and present, all in their jests.

— The novel's opening poem, as sung by Yang Hongji, the show's opening Theme Tune.

The original television adaptation, and for an older generation, the definitive adaptation of Luo Guanzong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Ran on CCTV for 84 episodes from 1994 to 1995, and was the winner of China's inaugural Golden Eagle Award for Best TV Series in the latter year.

Unlike the 2010 adaptation, this series take great pains to follow the source material as close as possible, and even brings up on screen subtitles to emphasize the novel's most iconic quotes (such as Cao Cao's "I would rather betray the world than have the world betray me!"), most of which are copied line per line from either the novel or the official history of the era, the Records of the Three Kingdoms.

The series has had a few poorly-done subtitle releases on laserdisc and DVD, but starting in December of 2021, a group appropriately named the Gentlemen of the Han have taken it upon themselves to fansub the whole series.

Compare and contrast with 2008's Red Cliff and 2010's Three Kingdoms, covering the same events.

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Ask of Tropes and they shall appear!^note Based off of the old Chinese proverb of, "Ask of Cao Cao and he shall appear!"

• Adapted Out: The Yellow Turbans had three leaders, namely the Zhang Brothers of Julu commandery. Only the eldest, and the rebellion's supreme leader, Zhang Jue, appears in the series (and even then he only appears twice in a nonspeaking role in the first episode).
  • The other two Zhang brothers do appear in some alternative cuts or test screenings of the first episode.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Zhang Fei in his debut is a bit more anti-heroic. In his debut, he hides some meat he butchered down a well and places a giant millstone over it. He then claims that the meat will be given free... to anyone who can lift the stone. Guan Yu does so and in the process, gets into a fight with Zhang Fei before Liu Bei steps in and invites them for a drink.
• All-Loving Hero: Liu Bei, as to be more in line with the book.
• Artistic License – History:
  • As expected since it follows the book far closer than the 2010 version. It does, however, supposedly take a few lines from the official history of the Three Kingdoms era.
  • Most of the costumes in the series were based on Han Dynasty history, however the armor and helmets are designed after the more popularized Song Dynasty to Ming Dynasty armors than ones from the actual Han Dynasty.
• Doing In the Wizard: The magical parts of the original story, which weren't many to begin with, were cut from this adaptation. Notably Yu Ji is depicted closer to his historical counterpart without the sorcery. Moments where the novel implied Zhuge Liang had some skills in Taoist magic and divination were also removed or explained as being also part of Zhuge Liang's strategic foresight and/or understanding meteorology and geography.
• Evil Chancellor / Evil Sounds Deep: Dong Zhuo, and depending on how you view him, Cao Cao.
• Foreshadowing: Late in the show, Sima Yi is seen admiring a map of China. Guess whose family ends up uniting the divided realm in the end?
• George Lucas Altered Version: Downplayed. The later home video releases of the show have a new opening sequence, with the title rendered in CGI. During its original run, the title was traditionally animated; they also have annotated Chinese subtitles for when the show quotes the book's most famous lines.
• Large and in Charge: Dong Zhuo, though not to the Fat Bastard levels of most depictions. He does however stand a head taller than most of his lackeys and enemies.
• Old Soldier:
  • Say what you will about Dong Zhuo, but the man still rides into battle in full armor despite being in his sixties. Some of the minor characters who defy him fall into this as well, most notably Ding Yuan and Wang Yu.
  • Ditto for Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi, who are already getting along in years by the time they meet on the battlefield.
• Pop-Up Trivia: Most home video versions of the show include several burnt-in Chinese subtitles to underscore the novel's more famous lines as they're spoken.
• Shown Their Work: The 1994 series is still widely regarded for its (at the time) extensive and thought-out research covering not just the original novel, but also integrating elements from real history in writing, costuming, and set design.
  • The costuming mostly replicates the look of Han Dynasty clothing, such as with the official court robes and hats, with some items from other eras based on popular folk depictions.
  • The buildings and other set design and many of the props are reproductions of actual Han Dynasty architecture and artwork. The backlots made for this show were still being used in 2010 Three Kingdoms series, such as the Tongquetai set.
  • Characters often speak in Classical Chinese, and their behavior and etiquette follow how real historical people were recorded to have acted. To the point there are even entire new lines that are written in the language style of the original novel, or taken from actual historical texts.
  • Characters in the show frequently refer to actual historical incidents, such as Warring States or earlier Western Han Dynasty.
• Story Arc: The show is divided into five of them:
  • The first chronicles the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Dong Zhuo's reign, Lu Bu's rise and fall, and the Battle of Guandu.
  • The second chronicles the Battle of Red Cliff.
  • The third and fourth depict the rise of the Three Kingdoms.
  • The fifth chronicles the rise of the Sima family and the formation of the Jin dynasty.
• Unrequited Tragic Maiden: Diaochan, even more so than most interpretations of her. Unlike most adaptations where she and Lu Bu are Star-Crossed Lovers, it's fairly clear that she didn't fall for Lu Bu and as soon as he kills Dong Zhuo, she disappears from the story to a song lamenting her situation.
• Worthy Opponent: First demonstrated by Liu Bei and Cao Cao, then by Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi.