Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms era refers to a historical period in China that lasted from 220~280 AD. It ended the Han Dynasty and separated the land into civil conflict. Out of the warring regional lords, three of them eventually gained enough power to claim themselves as the emperors of the land.


 * The kingdom of Shu Han, led by the Liu family (Liu Bei's branch)
 * The kingdom of Cao Wei, led by the Cao family
 * The kingdom of Eastern Wu, led by the Sun family

Technically, neither of them ruled any sort of kingdom since their lands were actually individual empires. However, the term "kingdoms" has been popularized in several translations. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the concept was devised by Zhuge Liang on Liu Bei's third visit but this is not the case in history. Historical records suggest that Zhou Yu devised the concept of two kingdoms.

Beginning
Arguably, the beginning of each country's military affairs began when the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out in 184. The weakened Han empire was being suppressed by the rebels until He Jin organized an army to oppose them. Even when the rebellion was dispelled, the Han Dynasty continued to be plagued by natural disasters and ill timed tragedies within the court. He Jin supposedly wanted to sustain the dynasty when Emperor Ling passed away. His heirs were still too young so He Jin appointed Liu Biao to substitute as ruler. With Yuan Shao's support, he planned to remove the scheming eunuchs from capital but was assassinated before his plans could come to fruit.

Yuan Shao and a handful of men dully murdered the eunuchs afterwards but their actions triggered Dong Zhuo to approach the capital. His capable military leadership drove them into a civil conflict. Wanting to reestablish the Han's power, he manipulated the succession to have the ruler be one of Emperor Ling's young sons, the future Emperor Xian. Asked by the emperor to rule in his stead, Dong Zhuo obeyed yet lacked the political etiquette and tact to sustain the land for long. His rude manners and brutality instigated several revolts against him lead by Yuan Shao and Sun Jian. The emperor and Dong Zhuo escaped to Chang'an though the warlord wasn't killed until his subordinates, Wang Yun and Lu Bu, mutinied against him in 192.

When the coalition against Dong Zhuo disagreed about who they wanted to rule for the emperor, their members disbanded. Most of the members vied for their own claims for independence and power, separating the land into several districts lead by regional lords. Among such generals was the fearsome Lu Bu who was considered a liable threat to the land's future. Emperor Xian spent a year searching for someone who would support him until Cao Cao finally agreed to help him. Acting under the Han, Cao Cao continued his conquest to Tao Qian, who was supported by Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan. He was foiled by Lu Bu attacking the Yan province and forced a retreat. In 195, Lu Bu was defeated and fled to Liu Bei for safety.

Meanwhile, in the south, Sun Ce succeeded his father and served for a time under Yuan Shu. His quick and successful conquests earned him a grand reputation with his lord. Yuan Shu, confident in his subordinates, declared himself as emperor in 197. Sun Ce did not agree with the decision and negotiated with Cao Cao to usurp Yuan Shu. With Liu Bei and Lu Bu, the coalition surrounded Yuan Shu and forced him to flee. After this conflict, Lu Bu betrays his benefactor and forms an army with Yuan Shu's remaining forces. Liu Bei fled to Cao Cao for safety and they both allied together to siege Lu Bu's base, Xia Pi. Due to betrayal amongst his officers, Lu Bu was defeated and executed.

Rise to Power
In 200, Dong Cheng, an officer of the Imperial Court, received a secret edict from the Emperor to assassinate Cao Cao. He collaborated with Liu Bei on this effort, but Cao Cao soon found out about the plot and had the conspirators executed. Only Liu Bei survived and fled to Yuan Shao in the north. After settling the nearby provinces and internal affairs with the court, Cao Cao turned his attention north. Yuan Shao, who came from higher nobility than Cao Cao, amassed a large army and camped along the northern bank of the Yellow river. In the same year, Sun Ce was fatally wounded and names Sun Quan as his successor.

Following months of planning, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao met in force at Guandu. Overcoming Yuan's superior numbers, Cao Cao decisively defeated him by setting fire to his supplies, and in doing so crippled the northern army. Liu Bei fled to Liu Biao of Jing province and many of Yuan Shao's forces were destroyed. In 202, Cao Cao took advantage of Yuan Shao's death and the resulting division among his sons to advance north of the Yellow River. He captured Ye in 204 and occupied the provinces of Ji, Bing, Qing and You. By the end of 207, Cao Cao had achieved undisputed dominance of the North China Plain.

In 208, Cao Cao marched south with his army hoping to quickly unify the empire. He was able to capture a sizable fleet at Jiangling when Liu Biao's son, Liu Cong, surrendered to him. Even against the huge army, Sun Quan continued to resist. His advisor, Lu Su, secured an alliance with Liu Bei and Sun Ce's sworn brother, Zhou Yu, was placed in command of Sun Quan's navy, along with a veteran officer of the Sun family, Cheng Pu. Their combined armies of 50,000 met Cao Cao's fleet and 200,000-strong force at Red Cliffs that winter. After an initial skirmish, an attack beginning with a plan to set fire to Cao Cao's fleet was set in motion to lead to the decisive defeat of Cao Cao, forcing him to retreat in disarray back to the north. The allied victory at Red Cliffs ensured the survival of Liu Bei and Sun Quan, and provided the basis for the states of Shu and Wu.

After his return to the north, Cao Cao contented himself with absorbing the northwestern regions in 211 and consolidating his power. He progressively increased his titles and power, eventually becoming the Prince of Wei in 217, a title bestowed upon him by the puppet Han emperor that he controlled.

Liu Bei, having defeated the weak Jing warlords Han Xuan, Jin Xuan, Zhao Fan, and Liu Du, entered Yi province and later in 214 displaced Liu Zhang as ruler, leaving his commander Guan Yu in charge of Jing province. Sun Quan, who had in the intervening years being engaged with defenses against Cao Cao in the southeast at Hefei, now turned his attention to Jing province and the Middle Yangzi. Tensions between the allies were increasingly visible. In 219, after Liu Bei successfully seized Hanzhong from Cao Cao and as Guan Yu was engaged in the siege of Fan, Sun Quan's commander-in-chief Lu Meng secretly seized Jing province, and his forces captured and slew Guan Yu.

Three Emperors
In the first month of 220, Cao Cao died and in the tenth month Emperor Xian abdicated his throne to Cao Pi. Many sources assume that the heir forced the emperor to forsake his reign thus ending the Han Dynasty. He named his state Wei and made himself emperor at Luoyang.

Liu Bei named himself Emperor of Han a year later to restore the fallen Han dynasty. In the same year, Wei bestowed on Sun Quan the title of King of Wu. In 223, Shu Han troops declared war on Wu and met the Wu armies at the Battle of Yiling. At Yiling, Liu Bei was disastrously defeated by Sun Quan's commander Lu Xun and forced to retreat back to Shu, where he died soon afterward. He was succeeded by his son, Liu Shan.

After the death of Liu Bei, Shu and Wu resumed friendly relations at the expense of Wei, thus stabilizing the tripartite configuration. In 222, Sun Quan renounced his recognition of Cao Pi's regime and, in 229, he declared himself emperor at Wuchang.