Introduction
As someone who has read a wide array of comic books from across the globe — including American superheroes, Japanese manga, Korean manhwa and Franco-Belgian bandes dessinées — I can confidently say that The Ravages of Time (《火鳳燎原》) is unlike anything I’ve encountered before. Despite my limited background in Chinese history — particularly the Han Dynasty or the Warring States period — and only having experienced Romance of the Three Kingdoms through Koei Tecmo’s Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi games, John Woo’s epic film Red Cliff, a few episodes of the 2010 Chinese drama, and the manga Kingdom — this manhua became my first deep, serious dive into the Three Kingdoms world. It is also only the third manhua I have read, and yet, despite being ongoing, it may already rank among my favorite comics of all time.
In fact, I dare say it rivals — and in some respects even surpasses — titans of the seinen manga world like Berserk, Vagabond, and Vinland Saga. This isn’t hyperbole. It’s the result of the manhua’s uncompromising complexity, narrative richness, and artistic ambition. Let’s begin.
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The Creator – Chan Mou (陳某)
The man behind The Ravages of Time is Chan Mou — a pen name meaning “Mister Chan” — a title both modest and deliberately indistinct. Before turning to manhua, Chan Mou worked in commercial advertising as a graphic designer, with experience in top-level campaign design for TV and print media. Despite his commercial success, he found the industry creatively stifling and eventually shifted his energies toward storytelling.
In interviews and the first volume of Ravages, he expressed dissatisfaction with mainstream comics, which he found lacking in depth and intellectual engagement. Inspired by his love of sci-fi, cartoons, and the visual arts, he created his debut independent comic Unhuman before eventually developing The Ravages of Time. His storytelling philosophy reflects a blend of Chinese fable, historical inquiry, and political critique.
Chan Mou has famously said, “True history does not exist. It is written by those who conquer,” a viewpoint deeply rooted in Chinese historiographical skepticism. This echoes the Confucian and later Legalist view that history is shaped by power rather than truth — a theme that permeates the manhua.
Today, The Ravages of Time is serialized in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan, and published in Mainland China, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and Singapore — a rare achievement for a Hong Kong manhua.
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The Manhua – Ravages of Time (《火鳳燎原》)
Based loosely on the 14th-century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國演義), Chan Mou reimagines familiar characters such as Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Zhuge Liang from the perspective of two fictional protagonists: Feng and Liaoyuan Huo. These names form the Chinese title of the manhua, which roughly translates to “The Fire Phoenix Rages Across the Plains.”
Central to the story is Sima Yi, depicted here not simply as a historical tactician but as a young mastermind at the helm of the powerful merchant Sima clan. Backed by a secretive force of elite assassins known as the “Handicapped Warriors” (殘兵), Sima Yi maneuvers from the shadows, leveraging both economic and political power — a clear metaphor for the unseen hands of influence in any age.
What sets Ravages apart is its willingness to blend creative license with historical framework, much like how Shakespeare altered British history to suit dramatic purposes. The result is not a distortion but an elevation — a philosophical reinterpretation rather than a mere retelling. While key events like major battles remain recognizable, character motives, relationships, and psychological dimensions are masterfully reconstructed.
The only critique I can muster — and even this is a minor one — is that the beginning may be overwhelming to newcomers unfamiliar with the Three Kingdoms. The pace is brisk and dense with political intrigue, but for those who persist, the reward is immeasurable.
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The Characters
The character work is profound. No one is wholly good or evil; everyone is navigating survival in an era of upheaval. The line between loyalty and betrayal, idealism and pragmatism, is blurred. Even secondary characters receive meaningful arcs and moments of brilliance. These are morally ambiguous figures that compel introspection — echoing the Daoist view that order and chaos, light and dark, are in constant flux.
There is no standout favorite for me — every character is memorable. Some inspire awe, others provoke moral discomfort. But all of them feel deeply human.
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The Art
To say the art is “phenomenal” feels like an understatement. The paneling, the draftsmanship, the sheer intricacy — all of it reaches near-transcendental levels. Characters are rendered with distinctive, often unconventional designs: Zhang Fei wears opera-like face paint; Zhao Yun is an emotionless assassin; Liu Bei resembles a serene messiah figure. This is not just creative flair — it is a visual expression of character psychology.
Landscapes, naval battles, siege engines, and ancient cities are illustrated with almost sacred reverence. At times, the art evokes the sweeping cinematography of Zhang Yimou or Ang Lee. You could frame certain pages and hang them in a gallery.
Combat is brutal, unglamorous, and grounded. The fluidity of action, combined with rhythm and pacing, makes every clash feel meaningful and grounded — not unlike a masterclass in wuxia storytelling.
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Themes and Philosophy
Ravages is dense with recurring themes that are both historical and philosophical in nature:
Military Doctrine & Strategy: Each arc integrates real military thought, often treating doctrines as volume-wide themes. It’s reminiscent of Sun Tzu’s Art of War or the ancient text Six Secret Teachings.
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Morale__: Sima Hui’s fictional Discourse on Morale outlines how leaders can maintain cohesion through rhetoric — a striking reflection of Legalist statecraft.
Assassination and Deception: In the tradition of Zhan Guo Ce (Strategies of the Warring States), the use of spies, body doubles, and feints are normalized. Death itself becomes a tool of influence.
Ethics and Governance: The manhua repeatedly asks — is it better to end war through cruel means or preserve righteousness at the cost of prolonged suffering? This mirrors the Confucian-Mohist debate on utilitarianism vs. moral virtue.
History as Narrative: "History is written by the victors" is not a modern cynicism but a historical reality. Chan Mou confronts this directly, with characters like Liu Bei and Zhang Fei openly acknowledging their likely misrepresentation in future records.
A quote from a cultured individual whom I know summarizes this sentiment perfectly:
“History is like a little girl dressed up by others.” — Z.H., circa 2025
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Historical Accuracy
There’s no doubt Ravages of Time is historical fiction — and not a documentary. But that's the point. Like Braveheart or 300, this manhua takes inspiration from recorded events and infuses them with emotional and dramatic realism. In Chinese, there's a saying:
"以史为鉴，可以知兴替" — "Use history as a mirror, and you will understand the rise and fall [of states]."
But Ravages dares to ask: what if the mirror is already distorted?
Historical purists might critique inaccuracies, but fiction's purpose is not to reproduce history — it is to interpret it. In this regard, Chan Mou excels.
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Ravages of Time vs. Kingdom
It’s worth setting aside a dedicated section to compare two works that, on the surface, share a common thread: Kingdom, a Japanese manga, and The Ravages of Time, a Chinese manhua. Both are set during formative periods in ancient Chinese history and use the backdrop of war and political unrest to tell their stories. However, that’s where the similarities end. These two works approach storytelling, historical interpretation, and narrative purpose in vastly different ways.
Kingdom
Kingdom, created by Yasuhisa Hara in 2006, is set during the Warring States period and follows the rise of Xin, a war orphan who aspires to become a “Great General of the Heavens.” The manga chronicles Xin’s journey as he aids King Ying Zheng (later Qin Shi Huang) in his campaign to unify China. The premise holds enormous potential: it’s an era full of strategic genius, brutal warfare, and complex politics.
Unfortunately, Kingdom handles this rich historical canvas in a manner that feels superficial and stylized rather than grounded or reflective. Hara writes as though he is a casual enthusiast of Chinese history — someone more interested in its aesthetics than its substance. The manga dresses itself in the garb of a mature seinen, but its narrative foundation is pure shonen: loud, action-heavy, and emotionally simplistic. Strategy is largely absent or oversimplified, with rare exceptions — such as the clever use of poison in Chapter 737 — which only underscore how little the manga otherwise engages with the tactical depth its setting offers.
Instead of delving into military theory or the moral ambiguity of war, Kingdom focuses almost entirely on extended battle sequences, many of which drag on for dozens of chapters with minimal strategic evolution. The designs of its characters, often exaggerated to the point of parody, do little to evoke the historical realism the subject deserves. At times, reading Kingdom feels less like exploring the Warring States and more like flipping through a long-running, unofficial Dynasty Warriors fan comic — but without the interactivity or even the fun. You don’t come away from it with a better understanding of the era, just a stylized spectacle.
The Ravages of Time
By contrast, The Ravages of Time is superior in nearly every respect. Written and illustrated by Chan Mou, a native of Hong Kong, the manhua is a deeply intellectual, multifaceted retelling of the Three Kingdoms period. While it takes artistic liberties, it does so with respect and understanding of its historical and philosophical roots. Chan Mou is not interested in merely retelling the Romance of the Three Kingdoms — he is reinterpreting it through a modern, psychological, and political lens.
The depth of the manhua lies in its integration of Chinese philosophy, from the writings of Confucius and Mencius to Sun Tzu’s Art of War, which becomes central to the later arcs. Characters write their own military treatises, factions play multi-dimensional mind games, and readers are constantly challenged to re-evaluate their understanding of loyalty, heroism, and morality. Ravages doesn’t glorify war — it dissects it.
What sets it apart is not only its tactical brilliance, but its educational value. Through its narrative, readers learn about the Han Dynasty's political structures, social hierarchies, the role of eunuchs, the concept of “Handicapped Warriors,” and the ways ideology and power intersect. The artwork supports this tone: realistic, expressive, and often striking in its compositional symmetry, yet never afraid to push the aesthetic when necessary.
In short, The Ravages of Time is more than a historical comic — it is political literature. It respects the intelligence of its audience and enriches their understanding with every chapter. It invites reflection, not just reaction.
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Final Thoughts
Reading The Ravages of Time is not simply an entertainment experience — it is an initiation. It draws you into a labyrinth of motives, principles, betrayals, and ideologies. It asks you to question what history means, whether justice can exist in a system ruled by pragmatism, and whether greatness is a myth built atop countless graves.
At its core, the manhua embodies a deeply Chinese view of history: not as linear progress, but as cyclical turbulence, where power shifts but human nature stays constant. Dynasties rise and fall. Heroes are lionized or demonized. Truth is subjective. And yet, even in this chaos, there are moments of transcendent loyalty, impossible beauty, and genuine sacrifice.
Chan Mou doesn’t just retell the Three Kingdoms — he rewrites the DNA of the epic, transforming it into something that is at once foreign and eerily familiar. It may not be for everyone — especially those who crave easy catharsis or clearly defined morality — but for those willing to enter its world, The Ravages of Time is not merely a manhua. It is a mirror, a challenge, and perhaps even a scripture for the politically haunted.
As the saying goes:
“乱世出英雄” — “In troubled times, heroes are born.”
But Ravages makes us wonder:
What if troubled times only create survivors?
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