In Fiction and Popular Culture
In Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhou Yu is depicted as a rival of Zhuge Liang. He was extremely jealous of Zhuge Liang's talent and he relentlessly attempted to outwit the latter but never succeeded. His role in the novel was also overshadowed by Zhuge Liang, especially in the events of the Battle of Red Cliffs. Furthermore, Zhou Yu's death was dramatized in the novel and altered to be caused intentionally by Zhuge Liang. Zhou Yu sustained an arrow wound during the earlier Battle of Jiangling, and his condition deteriorated as he was infuriated by Zhuge Liang, who foiled his plans three times. On the third time, he coughed blood and lamented, "If (Zhou) Yu has already been born, why is (Zhuge) Liang to be born?" (既生瑜, 何生亮?), before collapsing and dying.
In Chinese opera, Zhou Yu is cast as a xiaosheng (young man) or wusheng (military dress man), even when he appears together with Zhuge Liang, who was actually younger than he was. In Kun opera, Zhou Yu appears as a zhiweisheng, as in the scene The Swaying Reeds, in which he is captured and later released by Zhang Fei.
Read more about this topic: Zhou Yu
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