Ravages of Time - Russian review I translated

 Source: https://aoimevelho.blogspot.com/2016/06/ravages-of-time_22.html

The modern adaptation of the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”: manhua The Ravages of Time (火鳳燎原, Fiery Phoenix Scorching the Plains)

The Ravages of Time is a historical-fantasy manhua by Chen Mou. Story focuses on the fall of the Han Empire at the end of the second century, the start of the Three Kingdoms and following uniting of China under the Sima family. Manhua started the serialization in 2001 and so far. Now it is 58 volumes (463 chapters).

Sadly, Ravages of Time is not really famous outside of China: It definitely deserves more attention! I found out about it randomly, thanks to one of the historical forums. To be honest, for a long time I was not really sure about giving it a try: Firstly, number of chapters is scary and the fact, that it is not yet finished (and, considering the present material, won’t stop for least 10 years). Secondly, fear of unknown – that was the first time I have encountered a manhua (A Chinese manga).

Well, now I can say it without any exaggeration, that this is one of the greatest manga/manhuas/graphic novels, that I have ever read!

The Ravages of Time is somewhat adapting the story of the famous novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” of Luo Guanzhong. This is one the four classic novels from the traditional Chinese literature, which has had as tremendous influence on the culture of China and its neighboring countries as the plays of Shakespeare in English or “War and Peace” in Russia. But The Ravages of Time is by no means a retelling of RoTK: Chen Mou is using the real history, the folklore and his own imagination – as soon as everything fits, just to make the plot even more engaging.

In one of the interviews the author said, that he is also partly taking the inspiration from the game Dynasty Warriors (Shin Sangoku Musou), and truly – His heroes are throwing the opposing armies in no less fashion, than the characters of said action-series.

In the earlier chapters of manga (considering that the word “manga” is easier to use in Russian, I will be using it(I think we should replace word “manga” with “manhua”)) there are some fantastical elements, but later it shifts into more realistic approach, tone of narration gets more serious. (If we will use the Japanese terminology, then it can be said, that it goes from Shonen genre to Seinen) that reflects the change in the main characters, going from the teenage, bravely jumping in the face of the adventure, to the more restrained and careful adulthood.

Main historical events (such as the results of the battles, deaths of the characters) are not touched, but at the same time, less important details are changed or quite dramatized. The plot is centered around the battles, the war doctrines and intellectual antagonism (That are so convoluted, that Death Note is nervously smoking on the side). The whole story is full of “chekhov’s guns”: such as, when some corpse in the well is vaguely mentioned and, after several chapters, that corpse pops up as the key detail. Because of this re-reading The Ravages of Time is as interesting as if you were reading it for the first time.

It is full of reflection on ethics, loyalty, traditional morality, truthfulness of historical records and generously flavored quotes of Confucious, Men-tzi, Sun-tzi and even some poems of Cao Cao.

I like the artwork: It is not like most of the Japanese works known to me, very realistic and, at the same time, you can feel the author’s style. Perhaps, Chen Mou is one of the few that can give a reliable view to the scenes such as this on:

I was not disappointed by the younger designs of the characters, after the first look from the RoTK novel. What I never expected – that this manga would force me to sympathize with Dong Zhou, mourn death of Yuan Shao, respect Liu Bei, And anyway – with all the huge amount of the characters, Chen Mou manages to make almost all of them interesting and in their own ways talented.

Main characters – are Sima Yi and Liaoyuan Huo, leader of the handicapped squad of the assassins that belong to the Sima clan. As the event unfold, both find themselves involved in conflicts that are ravaging the empire, and often serve in roles of catalysts of the famous historic events.

Other plot relevant characters – the so-called Eighth Geniuses: students of the hermit Sima Hui by the nickname Water Mirror. These are the gifted youngsters, which were being trained to become the military advisers since the childhood: It is said, that even the most run-down ruler, with one of them in his submission, could manage to conquer the world. Because of that the eighth geniuses are hiding their faces. They will put off the mask and reveal their own names only after they choose their lord.

All of the geniuses have the common goal – to unite the empire and return peace to the people. But – paradox, that was noticed even by the characters of the manga, - in this his noble quest, they cause almost more suffering and misery than the most bloody and brutal tyrants. All of them have their own vision of which path towards the goal they will choose, which master will be overjoyed by their support. As a result, former classmates turn out to be enemies, and their talents are merely fanning the flames of civil war.

By choosing, which of the opposing sides to serve, each one of the eighth has their own guidance of reasons, and the author gives a high amount of focus to flesh-out their motives and ethical positions. What’s better in chaotic times – walk by the path of morality in exchange of effectiveness or choose the most radical, but efficient methods, to end the chaos as soon as possible? And how lasting would be the peace, which was bought with the deception and genocide?

Another central theme would be – the falsehood and the subjectivity of the historical records. Thought of history being fabricated by the winners – whether it will be for the sake of strengthening political positions or to manipulate the opinion of the masses - is being repeated more than once. There are no terrible Emperors – there are only negligent advisers, which hinder the Emperor’s rulership. The one losing the war, post-factum, will always turn into some mediocre villain, who deserved to lose, but the winner – according to the chronicles – was gifted to win by the heaven, thanks to his virtues and moral superiority.

Let’s start with the things, that I did not really like much:

1. In the novel “RoTK”, in accordance with the tastes of the audience for whom it was being written, the author was heavily exaggerated the influence of the advisers to the detriment of warlords and generals. Chen Mou is not only doing the same, but elevates the role of advisers to an unimaginable degree. But of course, after all, the plot is being structured around the intellectual warfare, acted out by the eight geniuses, Sima Yi and other “actors”. To witness all of this is incredibly amusing, but even so it is a shame, when, as a result, other outstanding personalities of the era are being pushed aside (IMHO, Cao Cao especially suffers of that).

2. Of course, Sima Yi and Liaoyuan Huo – are the main characters, but they are being put in too much spotlight, if not in each of them. Seems like not even one event of said era can be played out without one of them at least.

3. A bit of “mary sue-ness” of the characters. Well, Liaoyuan Huo’s capabilities of taking out the whole armies can be excuse, considering, that the manga still relies on the novel, in which he was also doing the analogical deeds and, in addition, he is not the only one doing such feats: in the manga, there are minimum 5 or 10 similar warriors, representing the one-man armies in the best traditions of Dynasty Warriors. I even swallowed, almost choking idea of the handicapped squad of assassins. At the end of the day, the narrative has no pretense of being fully realistic.

But Sima Yi was pretty annoying even on the first look: Seems like practically any conflict repeatedly gets resolved by the sudden facts of him trolling everyone, and it again was just exactly as planned! Considering how the manga is focused on those “battle of intellectuals”, this flaw is rather hard to forgive: even if Sima Yi is the main character, the author is too much in his favour.

Remaining flaw is rather closely connected to this one – plans with the great amount of layers being carried out supernaturally smoothly. To be fair, they are so amusingly played out, that it is really hard to label it as a flaw.

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I disagree with the statements made here, though - RoT does have its notable flaws (I will talk about them in my own review), but these are not one of them. Both warlords and soldiers are shown to be capable of tactical/strategical improvisation and they are quite good at analyzing both situations and nature of people. Advisers’ just are the ones who’s farsightedness best the othets

There is nothing wrong in using main characters in every arc. And it is not like other characters are not getting as much spotlight. In Guandu, for example, Guo Jia even used Sima Yi’s “popularity” to use him as a bait and etc.

Sima Yi is far from being a tool. He does not always win. He gets used as a tool. He has hidden nature that even he is denying unconscious. Him being smart is explained through his family of sneaky merchants, interest in the Art of War since childhood and private tutors. He is selfish, despite having the functional relationships. He has emotions. He gets abused whenever he is revealed, because he is the best only when no one is aware of his existence and etc.

Plans do not always go smoothly – strategists are just good at improvisation and even then they tend to be forced to back off, tarnish their reputation and what not.
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Things that I really liked:

Chen Mou is not being based solely on ‘RoTK”, but also on the real historical records, and because of this many historical figures, forgotten or pushed aside by the source novel, are getting their portion of attention, for example, Gao Shun, undefeated warlord of Lu Bu and Cao Chun commander of Tiger and Leopard cavalry. And the presence of Xun You (who usually is mistaken for Xun Yu or simply forgotten) is also pleasing- one of the most underrated figures of the Three Kingdoms era. According to history, he was actually older than his uncle (Common occurrence in big families). He did try to kill Dong Zhou, but the conspiracy was uncovered. After being imprisoned he escaped the death sentence because of Dong Zhou’s death and then, on recommendation of Xun Yu, he joined to Cao Cao and held the position of a chief military adviser, which tends to be forgotten in the “RoTK” and similar stories. He was very secretive and was discussing the plans only with Cao Cao alone, so that no one would know what they were talking about. In fact, two of the Xun were sharing the responsibilities in governance: Xun Yu was leading the internal politics, and at the same time, Xun You - foreign policy and military affairs. Cao Cao said about them: “While [Xun Yu] was doing good deeds, he was not letting himself to reast. While [Xun You] was pursuing evil, he was not halting half-way through”. I would have liked, of course, if this duality of them was present in the Ravages of Time and Xun You played a more remarkable role, but what can you do – you can’t get it all at once. At least, Xun You is here in the first place, which is already plus, and in the second place – he is breathtakingly adorable.

For once, at least somewhere, Zhang Fei, most successful general of Liu bei, is not portrayed as stupid and permanently drunk clown! According to some information, historical Zhang Fei was not only talented warlord, but he was also writing poems, engaged in calligraphy and in general was very far from his folklore image. Well, not too far - he really treated his subordinates cruelly, which subsequently served as the reason for his death. And the abduction of a 12–13-year-old niece (some writings say, to her daughter) of Xiahou Yuan and forcibly marrying her also doesn’t color him well (as now, in China at that time, 12–13 years were by no means considered an appropriate age for starting a married life, not not to mention abduction and violence). Nevertheless, his portrait in popular culture is some kind of mockery of a real historical face.

Despite not being in love, this is the first Three Kingdoms story ever that at least made me to respect Liu Bei. Historical Liu Bei – is a pretty interesting figure: talented commander, clever politician, rising literally "from rags to riches" in those troubled times, charismatic leader, who won the hearts of everyone, wherever he was thrown by the fate. Man-tumbler - seven times down, eight - rose.

Alas, his image in popular culture always aroused in feelings of aversion and boredom in me. But this manga Liu Bei is not sentimental fool with eyes on a wet spot, but the trickster hero, endowed with a very strong empathy and the gift to read people's souls, capable of original decisions and bold actions. You understand, while reading, why people followed him

The Ravages of Time is not in a hurry: releasing since 2001, and now, in the 463th chapter, the events have just exceeded the battle at Chibi. In one of the interview Chen Mou made a joke, that his grandson will have to finish the manga in his stead.