在《三國演義》中，人才鼎盛，經文緯武，如諸葛亮、郭嘉、周瑜、司馬懿等，以文韜而見賞；又關羽、張遼、甘寧、呂布等，因武藝被看重。由於文官有文官身分，武臣有武臣氣概，在書中不同陣營裡，都難免產生頡頏與齟齬之情形，並以性別意識突顯文武辯證的張力。不過，「文」與「武」並非絕對對立：除了文武同心，以求克敵禦侮之外，文官處變不驚，方能充分發揮智謀；武臣臨危不亂，才可有效施展威猛。膽氣與才識是外交及沙場上的兩大羽翼，二者相輔相成，缺一不可，《三國演義》也據此寫出了文武雙全，融會貫通的理想人物。此外，小說中的文武關係也展現了隱喻的色調，在剛柔並陳的比較與批判之餘，更指向了天下治亂的歧異面貌。太平之中，文人得以發揮經濟之才，而在干戈四起的局勢下，則是武士建業之時機，這使得英雄的資格及面對世變時「積極入世」或「獨善其身」之態度，產生了更複雜的拉扯，值得玩味。

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the amount of outstanding talent is seemingly innumerable, including scholars such as Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮, Guo Jia 郭嘉, Zhou Yu 周瑜, and Sima Yi 司馬懿 as well as generals such as Guan Yu 關羽, Zhang Liao 張遼, Gan Ning 甘寧, and Lu Bu 呂布, both parties of which have been admired for their proficiency in wen 文 (civil) wu 武 (military or martial) affairs, respectively. Owing to the distinction between civil and military officials, contentions within and between the two camps are inevitable, and gender is often used by the novelists to imply the rigidity and weaknesses of as well as the tension between the two groups of officials. However, wen and wu are not in absolute opposition and the two ought to cooperate in an effort to defeat one’s enemies. In one regard, scholars need to exhibit courage to remain calm under adversity and in times of conflict; and in another, generals must possess wisdom to perform well in both diplomacy and war. In this way, bravery and insight are complementary and neither are indispensable. Moreover, the civil-military relationship discussed within the novel also illustrates a hint of metaphor; that is, by comparing and criticizing the masculine “hard” 剛 and feminine “soft” 柔 characteristics of officials, the novelists associate notions, such as wen and wu or bravery and insight, with the effects of peace or war on politics. Therefore, by analyzing these metaphors within Romance of the Three Kingdoms, we can better grasp the dialectical relationship between civil and military officials.