The Halberd at Red Cliff is a cultural study of the construction of the imaginary of Jian'an (196–220) and the Three Kingdoms (220–280). The book is divided into three major parts: “The Plague,” “The Bronze Bird,” and “The Red Cliff.” The introduction discusses the structure of the book, introduces key terms such as Jian'an and the Three Kingdoms, and states the book's purpose: This book is an attempt to tell that story in Chinese cultural history, a story that is as important to its literary tradition as it is dear to the heart of all those who know it. It is concerned with both the writings of the period and the writings about the period. It shows that the imagination about the period influenced the preservation of its writings, which were edited and anthologized in such a way as to instantiate the cultural image. (4)Chapter 1, “Plague and Poetry: Rethinking Jian'an,” focuses on the historical and legendary images of Jian'an.1 Historically speaking, the Jian'an period lasted less than three decades, and yet these legendary decades have been considered a crucial era in the development of Chinese poetry. This chapter discusses three episodes which demonstrate the link between the major plague of 217 with the cultural construction and formation of the so-called Seven Masters of Jian'an (Jian'an qizi 建安七子). The first was Cao Pi's 曹丕 (187–226) commemoration of five of the seven masters who died during the plague and compilation of their literary writings. Cao Pi wrote “Letter to Wu Zhi” (Yu Wu Zhi shu 與吳質書) and “Discourse on Literature” (Lunwen 論文) to discuss Jian'an qizi and his emotions over the loss of his friends. The second was Xie Lingyun's 謝靈運 (385–433) imitation of Cao Pi, “In Imitation of the Wei Crown Prince's Gathering at Ye” (“Ni Wei taizi Ye zhong ji” 擬魏太子鄴中集). Tian argues that “the poems are a carefully structured, complex set, strategically evoking writings by the historical poets to realize Xie Lingyun's vision of the literary Jian'an (57–58).” Through imitation poems Xie further promoted the literary community of Jian'an qizi, which in turn influenced the third moment of cultural construction: the selection of their poems into the Wen xuan 文選 (Selections of Refined Literature). Xiao Tong and other editors of the Wen xuan included writings by Jian'an writers and Xie Lingyun's imitation poems. The Liang dynasty (502–557) literati, such as Xiao Tong 蕭統 (501–531), Liu Xiaochuo 劉孝綽 (481–539), and Xiao Gang 蕭綱 (503–551), also composed poems to express their nostalgia and melancholy for the Jian'an qizi. The cultural construction of Jian'an qizi was therefore established in the early medieval period (220–589).Chapter 2, “Circling the Tree Thrice: Lord, Vassal Community,” is the longest chapter in this book.2 It goes into greater detail about the poetry, rhapsodies, and letters exchanged among Jian'an writers and scholars and explores the community of lord and vassals. Poems and rhapsodies were often composed on social occasions and were therefore public texts. Letters, by way of contrast, cross the public-private division because they might be written to an individual but could also be preserved in a public document, such as a historical account, a piece in an anthology, or a collection of a writer's corpus. Through writing in these different genres, the writers developed a literati community, where they sought and found their own cultural identity and the recognition of elites. The lord-vassal community was often placed on display during feasts, as the “feast is a powerful social institution that brings people together, forms a community, and reinforces the values of fellowship and civility” (89). Feasts bonded and strengthened the lord-vassal, ruler-subject, or host-retainer relationship and allowed the community to work through various difficulties. The Jian'an writers contemplated food and eating from the philosophical perspective of “fullness” and “emptiness” (104). The host or lord provided sumptuous meals and the guests or vassals, in turn, offered their advice on civil and military matters. This chapter argues against the traditional acceptance of Jian'an qizi as a literary group (wenxue jituan 文學集團). Instead it emphasizes the sociopolitical nature of the community of often mutually dependent lord and vassal, or host and retainer.After examining the cultural construction of the Jian'an period, chapter 3, “The Southern Perspective: ‘Fan Writing,’” breaks away from the traditional Wei (220–265) and Shu (221–265) perspectives and instead explores the Three Kingdoms period mainly through discussing how Lu Ji 陸機 (261–303) and Lu Yun 陸雲 (262–303) integrated their southern perspectives with their northern experiences. As the traditional understanding of the period has been based on the Cao-Wei perspective, this chapter seeks to “rethink the cultural dynamics of the Three Kingdoms, namely, the way in which the textually prolific Wu provides an alternative, external perspective on the Wei and Shu” (162). Lu Ji and Lu Yun represent those who moved from south to north during this period. Through travelling and living in different places, their southern perspectives were enriched by and contrasted with their northern experience. Lu Ji carried on the cultural heritage of both Wei and Wu (222–280), diversifying his pentasyllabic poetry with new motifs, themes, and tropes. His synthesis influenced later literati's rethinking of Jian'an and Three Kingdoms events and figures.The second part of chapter 3 uses the bird feather fan as an example of the cultural exchanges between the North and South.3 When the southern feather fan arrived in the North, it became a popular accessory. Lu Ji and Lu Yun had an open mind toward and balanced perspective on both cultures. Lu Ji's fantastic commemorations of the Three Kingdoms period and his skill at cultural synthesis laid a foundation for his later positive reception: “Indeed, his own literary fame to a large extent was indebted to his serious commitment to Wei's musical and literary legacy” (166). Music linked Lu Ji with Cao Cao 曹操 (155–220). Lu's “Imitations of Old Poems” (Nigu shi 擬古詩) reflects southern appropriation and transformation of northern musical traditions. Lu Yun, for his part, wrote on Ye and the Wei palace and used the Wu objects to illustrate what he saw in Ye. Both Lu Ji and Lu Yun came to terms with life in the North through their experiences of and nostalgia for the South.Chapter 4, “Terrace and Title: Imagining a Lost City,” focuses on the city of Ye, its historical significance, and its poetic representation and reception. As Tian summarizes: To the Southern Dynasties poets, Ye had little to do with the physical city occupied by rulers like Shi Hu. Instead, to them Ye was bound up with cultural memory and frozen in time; it was a city of poetic words and pathos, associated with the legacy of the Caos, the Jian'an Masters, and the brothers Lu Ji and Lu Yun. Their idea of Ye was based on a deeply entrenched faith in their own position in history as the upholders of Han legacy; they defended the city by trying to delineate its fundamental image within social and cultural imaginaries. (212)The three Caos and two Lus wrote poems to contemplate the city of Ye4 and the landmark of the Bronze Bird Terrace in particular, mediating these locations through textual memory, various intertexts, and personal experience and imagination. The Bronze Bird Terrace writings provide a magnificent overview of the city and its natural environment.The second half of chapter 4 examines the reception of Bronze Bird Terrace by Tang poets such as Li Baiyao 李百藥 (564–648), Wang Bo 王勃 (ca. 650–ca. 676), and Zhang Yue 張說 (667–730), who used “the pathos of Bronze Bird” (229) to represent the pathos they felt for contemporary performers. Another trend in the reception of Bronze Bird Terrace was that some poets, such as Li He 李賀 (790–816) and Li Xianyong 李咸用 (ca. fl. 860–874), criticized Cao Cao for his strong sensual desires and his personal attachments. Satirizing Cao's insincerity, immorality, and duplicity became a prominent theme in poems on the Bronze Bird Terrace. The Jian'an poems themselves fell from grace when Tang literati, such as Li Yong 李邕 (678–747) and Liu Shang 劉商 (fl. 766–779), turned against early medieval poetry. Their commitment to critically engaging with or even opposing the significance of the past culture can be understood as part of the “precedent-overturning poetry” (fan'an shi 翻案詩) tradition. As time moved on, the flourishing literati culture of the Song dynasty (960–1279) saw a vogue for bronze bird inkstones, supposedly made of the tile or materials of the Bronze Bird Terrace. Owning a bronze bird inkstone demonstrated one's connoisseurship and affinity for history. The significance of the inkstone lies in its economic worth, cultural value, and the social status it conveyed, all of which reflected a vibrant and growing literati culture. The inkstones prompted later generations of literati to compose poems about Cao Wei, the city of Ye, and Bronze Bird Terrace.After the discussion of the poetic depiction and reception of the city of Ye and Bronze Bird Terrace, chapter 5, “Restoring the Broken Halberd,” focuses on the poetic and narrative reception of Red Cliff, another popular Three Kingdoms topic. Works of art from later historical periods that focus on the battle range from Du Mu's 杜牧 (803–ca. 852) “Red Cliff” to John Woo's film Red Cliff. Red Cliff has been addressed by such scholarly works as Chih-tsing Hsia's discussion of its depiction in Sanguo yanyi 三國演義 (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), the chapter “A Splendor and a Fading: The Mechanism of Necessity” from Stephen Owen's book Remembrance, and Robert Hegel's English translation and interpretation of writings on the topic.5 This chapter builds on these studies by asking, “How did Red Cliff become inscribed on the Chinese literary map and in the Chinese cultural imagination? How did the story of the Battle of Red Cliff gradually come into being, its picture initially a simple sketch outlined in terse historical narratives but eventually replenished, reorganized, and retouched in a full epic portrayal marked with some intensely lyrical moments? What might one learn from unpacking the legend that is “Red Cliff?” (284). To answer these questions, this chapter examines two important trends with respect to Three Kingdom lore. The first is the contradictory poetic reception of Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮 (181–234), who was presented positively as a talented commander and exemplary hero and negatively as a blindly loyal official.6 The second phenomenon is the rising interest in the South, with poems dedicated to the rulers of Wu and such major officials of the state as Lu Su 鲁肅 (172–217) and Zhou Yu 周瑜 (175–210). Du Mu and Su Shi's 蘇軾 (1037–1101) poetic reflections and the complex narratives of the Sanguo yanyi have become the most significant and popular literary representations of the battle of Red Cliff. The novel altered the account from the dynastic history which served as its source, Sanguo zhi 三國志 (History of the Three Kingdoms), altering character depictions and plot to emphasize the motif of deception 瞒. In modern times, John Woo's film Red Cliff, successful in both East Asia and America, demonstrates the continuing appeal of the Red Cliff lore. While stories about Red Cliff often focus on important heroes and major officials, Woo paid more attention to the southern perspective, gave more weight to female characters, such as Sun Shangxiang 孫尚香 (Sun Quan's 孫權 [182–252] younger sister) and the younger Qiao sister 小喬 (Zhou Yu's wife) and added the character of Sun Shucai 孫叔財, a common Wu soldier.The book concludes with an epilogue, “The Return of the Repressed,” which discusses the current appeal of the Three Kingdoms lore. Modern pop culture's engagement with the lore emphasizes the female characters. Elite women such as Empress Dowager Bian 卞皇后 (161–230), Empress Guo 郭太后 (184–235), and Sun Shangxiang played important roles during this period, but historical accounts and literary writings downplayed their importance. In addition, the Three Kingdoms lore has been enriched and updated in new formats: video games, fan fiction, and music videos. Fan fiction appearing in internet forums, BBS, and blogs—including the transgressive slash fiction of “danmei tongren” 耽美同人—has become an essential part of the contemporary Chinese internet culture on the Three Kingdoms.7There are three appendixes to the book. Appendix A provides an annotated English translation of Cao Cao's “Short Song.” Appendix B, “Red Cliff Poems,” offers annotated English translation of poems on the Red Cliff written by Cui Tu 崔塗 (fl. 888), Xin Qiji 辛棄疾 (1140–1207), Bai Yuchan 白玉蟾 (b. 1194), and Fang Yikui 方一夔 (1253–1314). While the first two appendixes focus on translations of poems on the Three Kingdoms, appendix C provides a translation of a Yuan dynasty play titled “A Duel of Wits across the River between Two Army Counselors” 兩軍師隔江鬥智.To sum up, The Halberd at Red Cliff is a welcome addition to premodern Chinese literary and cultural studies. It deals with literary, historical, and philosophical perspectives on the cultural construction of Jian'an and the Three Kingdoms—and such important constituent elements as Jian'an qizi, fan writing, Bronze Bird Terrace, and Red Cliff. Tian has translated and annotated many important primary sources. The writing style is lucid, and what jargon the author uses is clearly explained. This book can be used in courses on Chinese literature or culture at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. It is well organized, discusses compelling topics, and has laid a solid foundation for future studies on medieval Chinese literature and culture.This review article is supported by a Start-up Research Grant (SRG2019-00197-FAH) from the University of Macau.