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• Three Kingdoms 365

  [Day 128] Wolong

  Leaving the hall of Master Water Mirror (水鏡先生), Liu Bei (劉備) came down the mountain path at dawn. The dawn air entered his lungs, cold. Yesterday's dust upon his brow he had washed off in the yard of the thatched hall. But the two ep…

  Yeon Samheum, the Commentator · 2026/09/30 20:10

  
• Three Kingdoms 365

  [Day 127] A Zither Outside the Gate

  After crossing Tanxi (檀溪), Dilu (的盧) turned at once into a southwestern mountain path. For a long while, Liu Bei (劉備) could only catch his breath on the horse's back. The cold sweat upon his brow chilled in the autumn wind. The reins…

  Yeon Samheum, the Commentator · 2026/09/29 20:10

  
• Three Kingdoms 365

  [Day 126] The Horse That Crossed First

  In the autumn of the year the ten slips hung in a single line on Cao Cao's (曹操) wall at Xudu (許都), we turn our gaze south. On an autumn evening of that same year, the water of Tanxi (檀溪), west of Xiangyang (襄陽), shone black under t…

  Yeon Samheum, the Commentator · 2026/09/28 20:10

  
• Three Kingdoms 365

  [Day 125] Ten Sheets of a Last Letter

  Up through the seventh slip, it was foresight. From the eighth onward, it was resolve. In the late winter of Jian'an 11 (206 CE), Cao Cao's (曹操) column passed the last stretch of its northward road, a year after Ye (鄴城) had fallen. The…

  Yeon Samheum, the Commentator · 2026/09/27 20:10

  
• Three Kingdoms 365

  [Day 124] The Young Strategist

  On the dawn after the first of the ten slips reached Cao Cao's (曹操) desk, the second slip arrived. The second slip was shorter than the first. At its head, three characters stood. 遼東候 (Await Liaodong). Beneath them, six lines were wri…

  Yeon Samheum, the Commentator · 2026/09/26 20:10

  
• Three Kingdoms 365

  [Day 123] The Winter Going North

  A year after Yuan Tan (袁譚) had opened a door toward Cao Cao (曹操), the winter of Jian'an 9 (204 CE) arrived. Cao Cao's column was leaving Xudu (許都), climbing slowly north. The banners of the heralds went ahead. Behind them came Xu Chu…

  Yeon Samheum, the Commentator · 2026/09/25 20:10

  
• Three Kingdoms 365

  [Day 122] Spears of Two Sons

  After the evening at Ye (鄴城) had passed, the next spring came. In the third month of Jian'an 8 (203 CE), upon the plain of Pingyuan (平原) in the south of Jizhou (冀州), the spear-points of two camps pointed, for the first time, in two d…

  Yeon Samheum, the Commentator · 2026/09/24 20:10

  
• Three Kingdoms 365

  [Day 121] A City of Warring Brothers

  From the spring when Liu Bei (劉備) first heard in the Xinye (新野) market the sentence "there is a man in the south," we turn our gaze back north. And turning, we find a quarrel that had already been unfinished there for several years. In…

  Yeon Samheum, the Commentator · 2026/09/23 20:10

  
• Three Kingdoms 365

  [Day 120] A Word: There Is One Such Man (Book 4 *The Night of All Losses* Finale)

  It was an afternoon exactly a month after the gathering beyond the bamboo grove. Market day had come to the small market at Xinye (新野). After a long while, Liu Bei (劉備) went out alone. Zhang Fei (張飛) had gone hunting that morning; Gu…

  Yeon Samheum, the Commentator · 2026/09/22 20:10

  
• Three Kingdoms 365

  [Day 119] Beyond the Bamboo Grove

  Half a day south of Xiangyang (襄陽), a clear brook flowed, and beyond the brook lay a green grove of bamboo. Beyond the bamboo grove, upon a hill, stood a small thatched hall (草堂). The master of the hall was a quiet man. His name was no…

  Yeon Samheum, the Commentator · 2026/09/21 20:10