Shu

Shu
Shu was ruled by Liu Bei, who along with his sworn brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei spent most of his life in exile wandering from lord to lord to escape Cao Cao, until finally seizing the lands of Shu from his cousin Liu Zhang to establish his kingdom. Shu's main area of dominion was the mountainous eastern province, Yi. Residing in Yi, was it's capital of Cheng Du. Shu was also comprised of Hanzhong, and Jing province. Jing was subsequently conquered by Wu in 219 A.D. In 263 A.D after years of war between Shu and Wei, the Kingdom of Shu Han fell.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms and History
In the historical novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the kingdom of Shu experienced many troubles, and many triumphs. Before gaining land of his own, Liu Bei had joined the other influential figures against Zhang Jiao and the Yellow Turbans, and also against Dong Zhuo. During that time, Liu Bei gained many followers, including his future oath brothers, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. To gain a strategist, Liu Bei visited the hermit Zhuge Liang three times. On the third visit, Zhuge Liang agreed to help Liu Bei on his conquest. With the advice of his new ally, Liu Bei gained lands from relatives, and took his own.

Around the year 208, at the naval Battle of Chi Bi, Zhuge Liang had allied with Wu to attack a common adversary, Wei. Zhou Yu, Wu's strategist, devised a master plan with Shu to burn Wei's ships down. While Shu strategist Pang Tong was placed into Wei, in order to persuade the enemy, Zhou Yu tortured a Wu veteran, Huang Gai, making it seem like the latter would turn against his force. Wei believed this trick, and welcomed Huang Gai into their army. Pang Tong had made the Wei army chain their ships together, and when the time was right, Huang Gai and his following unit lit one Wei boat on fire. Zhuge Liang had prayed at an altar for winds to spread the fire, and because of Pang Tong's chain strategy, the Wei fleet had burned to the sea.

In 219, Lu Meng, a strategist for Wu, had gained the land of Jing. Guan Yu, who had been attacking near there at the time, was captured by the alliance of Wu and Wei, and was executed. This enraged Liu Bei, who, in the novel, had sworn along with Zhang Fei and Guan Yu to die on the same day. Ignoring advice from others, Liu Bei went for the attack on Wu, and was met with no success.

In the year 220, Cao Pi seized the Imperial Throne, and declared that it was the Wei Dynasty. In response, Liu Bei proclaimed himself the new Han Emperor. A few years after, however, after many battles, including the loss at the Battle at Yiling, Liu Bei died of illness. The Shu kingdom's rule was succeeded by Liu Chan, Liu Bei's son. Zhuge Liang had made several invasions to the north, including the Nanman Campaign, but it was a failure. On the sixth attempt, Zhuge Liang, Prime Minister of Shu, passed away of illness.

Zhuge Liang was succeeded by many, but the last successor was Jiang Wei. He tried to continue the former strategist's plans to invade the north, but each time, he was left with fewer men and supplies. In 263, Wei campaigned against Shu one last time, and succeeded. Jiang Wei tried to rebel, but was killed. Liu Chan, however, gave up and retired, after being named the Duke of Comfort. Many nobles and commoners alike were displaced, and fled.

The cause of Shu's fall has been debated often over the years. Some attribute it to Jiang Wei's foolishness, and some attribute it to Shu's poor lands, which were mountainous and rugged. However, Shu made many contributions to it's areas in the modern world.

Allies

 * Meng Huo (The last half of the whole series)
 * Wu (before Guan Yu's capture and death at the Battle of Fan Castle)
 * Han

Enemies

 * Wei
 * Wu (after Guan Yu's capture and death at the Battle of Fan Castle)

Generals of Shu
Ruler: Liu Bei
 * Guan Yu
 * Zhang Fei
 * Zhao Yun
 * Zhuge Liang
 * Pang Tong
 * Huang Zhong (after betraying Han Xuan)
 * Wei Yan
 * Ma Chao (after betraying Zhang Lu)
 * Yue Ying
 * Jiang Wei (after betraying Wei)
 * Guan Ping
 * Xing Cai
 * Zhou Cang (after betraying Zhang Jiao)
 * Liao Hua (after betraying Zhang Jiao)
 * Liu Pi (after betraying Zhang Jiao)
 * Liu Chan
 * Liu Feng
 * Fu Shiren
 * Mi Fang
 * Mi Zhu
 * Yan Yan
 * Guan Xing
 * Zhang Bao
 * Li Fu (until Meng Da rebelled but got himself killed)
 * Meng Da
 * Shen Dan (until Meng Da rebelled but got himself killed)
 * Shen Yi (until Meng Da rebelled but got himself kiled)
 * Xiahou Ba (after betraying Wei)
 * Wang Ping (after betraying Wei)
 * Fa Zheng
 * Liu Zhang (after various of his comrades died)
 * Liu Du (after his comrade Xing Daorong died)
 * Liu Xian
 * Gong Zhi (after betraying Jin Xuan)

Shu Video
This is a video that has character images, and a display. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8aIPVUXTkY