Representation of the History of the Kingdom of Wei in "San Guo Zhi" and "Zizhi Tongjian"

The Three Kingdoms (220-280 AD) period is a transitional time between ancient and medieval Chinese history. A comprehensive study of the state of Wei, which marks the beginning of the time frame of this era, is necessary to create a more complete picture of China's historical development during this crucial period of social, economic, and political transformations. The research aims to compare the historical portrayal of the Three Kingdoms period as depicted in the imperial history ‘The Records of the Three Kingdoms’ (San Guo Zhi) with the depiction of the same era in the historical chronicle ‘Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance’ (Zizhi Tongjian). The main goal of this comparison is to identify main similarities and differences between those two depictions, as well as to supplement existing data on the history of the period under study. As by the present time the history of the Three Kingdoms has been mainly considered based on Zizhi Tongjian (a source written later than San Guo Zhi), the research pays great attention to the peculiarities of describing the political process in the state of Wei in the text of the chapters 2-4 of San Guo Zhi, and provides a translation of these chapters dedicated to the rulers of Wei. The main research methods include comparative analysis, as well as such source-study methods as textual and lexicogrammatical analysis. Keywords: San Guo Zhi, Zizhi Tongjian, The Three Kingdoms, The Wei Kingdom, Cao Pi, Cao Rui