Why did China have only heroes in the Three Kingdoms period for five thousand years?

First of all, the first point is the great propaganda function of the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. We may not have a deep understanding of today's life, but before the novel came out, the deeds of several most famous people were only circulated among the people. For example, among the four beauties, the story of Dixin, Liu Jieyi, Guan Yu, Cao Cao, Battle of Red Cliffs, Zhuge Liang and so on. In fact, these deeds are not necessarily wider and deeper than those of celebrities in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the late Qin Dynasty or the Spring and Autumn Period. But a Romance of the Three Kingdoms has written (or even invented) the whole picture of the Three Kingdoms. Don't underestimate the role of this book as one of the "four classic novels". After all, it is the most famous China book in Japan and South Korea. What really makes us remember this history is that those characters are not fake, but 95% of them are lifelike because of this novel. If it weren't for this novel, the characters in the Three Kingdoms period were actually very vague images. I have read through the first four histories, Zuo Zhuan, the Warring States Policy and so on. And the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is almost memorized. It can be clearly felt that if it is only historical materials, the vivid description of characters in the History of the Three Kingdoms is actually far less than that in Historical Records and Hanshu. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms has a great self-awareness in both the plot and the characters, and even turns black and white. In the eyes of the world, many of these "lifelike" images can actually be said to be non-existent. There is a saying that compared with the famous figures in the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period and the late Qin Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms period is equivalent to primary school students versus college students. This statement is somewhat exaggerated, but from the official point of view, except for a few people such as Cao Cao, Sun Ce, Sun Quan, Liu Bei, Zhou Yu, Yu Xun, Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi, most people really don't have the same level as the celebrities of the previous generation. Romantic exaggeration plays a great role in the impression of later generations. Zhuge Liang, for example, should actually be regarded as a pure political talent, whose level is not as good as that of Xiao He. Guan Yu's ability to run the army, not to mention Tian Lei and Wang Jian, is far inferior to Lian Po and Zhao She. Needless to say, Zhao Yun is a Zhu Hai-style figure at best. Guo Jia, Cheng Yu, etc. It may not be half the level of Fan Zeng. ...

Secondly, the particularity of the situation. At that time, it was the end of the Han Dynasty, another long-term rule of China, which was far from the previous generation in terms of total population. At the same time, the number of local forces is unprecedented, such as the weekend, the root of power is the vassal state of the dynasty; At the end of Qin dynasty, Xiang Yu's strength stood out, and then Liu Bang gradually rose; At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, apart from Liu Xiu, only a few legions such as Xiao Wei, Gongsun Shu and the Red Eyebrow Army in the early period could be called the overlord. Moreover, many of these three leading figures in troubled times have a very obvious historical background, which is their qualifications. For example, on weekends, it is almost impossible to do anything without the personal biographies of the princes. For example, Shi Tian and Sanjin of Qi were also big officials for a long time. For various reasons, they were able to have a country. At the end of the Qin dynasty, Xiang's name was beaten under the banner, which played a great role in winning the hearts of the people. Liu bang didn't have capital until he was named Shu Han. Not to mention Liu Xiu. But by the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, no matter who he was, he basically relied on his own strength in all aspects to get rich and become powerful somewhere. Yuan Shao easily gained Hebei by relying on senior family officials for generations. Cao Cao fled to Qingzhou and formed his own basic strength without much effort. Sun Shi only borrowed 5,000 soldiers and swept across Jiangdong, making great contributions. Ada believed in fortune-telling, and thought Yizhou had the spirit of an emperor, so he went directly from Youzhou to Han Shu ... It can be said that he just took out anyone without decent qualifications, which was almost impossible to achieve before. This chaotic and unknown era has given countless ordinary people countless opportunities.

Again, it will take a long time. In the broad sense of the Three Kingdoms period, in fact, the initial local separatist regime started from 184 and lasted for almost a hundred years until the reunification of the State of Jin. Needless to say, the dispute at the end of Qin dynasty was very short, like the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in later generations, which lasted for more than 50 years. Although the weekend has been troubled for a long time, the first population base is very small and the second ordinary people are limited.

Therefore, we should look at things more objectively and calmly and have a more comprehensive understanding of historical materials in order to infer a situation closer to the facts. When you read through the official history of the previous generation, you should also be deeply touched. The novel itself is not responsible for academic research, and its purpose is to attract readers to the maximum extent. Therefore, if the purpose is to explore historical facts, we should try to skim off those obviously fictional or emotional components.