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The Three Kingdoms Period

Overview

Cao Cao

The Eastern Han Empire (AD 25-220) ended when the empire was divided between three rival regional leaders named Cao Cao (155–220 CE) who controlled the area north of the Yangtze River, Liu Bei (161-223) who controlled an inland area including Sichuan in the southwest, and Sun Quan (182-252) who controlled the southeast. The north was called Cao Wei (曹魏), the southwest was called Shu Han (蜀漢), and the southeast was called Dong Wu (東吳) that means Eastern Wu. The Han Empire ended in natural disasters and rebellions that reduced the power of the dynastic court. There were also great conflicts in the dynastic court that ended in much killings and assassinations in the court as well. The Han Empire broke into three economic geographical regions that were separated by the natural boundaries of the Yangtze River and central mountains where the Three Gorges are. Through the natural disasters and warfare at the end of the empire and during the Three Kingdoms Period, the population of the region was reduced. At the end of the Three Kingdoms Period, the Jin Dynasty established control in Cao Wei and conquered Shu Han to form the Jin Empire (263-420); and then the Jin Dynasty conquered Dong Wu in the year 280.

There were natural disasters and uprisings of common people at the end of the Han era. The ancient idea about the “Mandate of Heaven” was that natural disasters generally mark the end of the rule of a dynastic clan that controls an empire in the region. These events proved to be true at the end of the Han Empire. There were natural disasters in the last decades of the empire. During the last decades of the Han Empire, the fighting between the regional rulers, the imperial court and the peasant armies and bands killed a lot of people. Many people migrated to search for safety. So many people died or moved and lost their land and property that the official censuses that were taken in the Three Kingdoms Period shows a marked dropped in registering households. There were an estimated 54 million people in the Han Empire according to a census in 156 AD, but only an estimated 16 million people according to a census in the Jin Empire in 280 AD. The Jin Empire contained the same territory as that of the Han Empire.

History

The War During Three Kingdom Period After Cao's defeat at the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208, China was divided into three spheres of influence. Caocao was a leading figure in his attempt to control the whole empire and helped to bring it down. He died in 220 AD. When he died, his son Cao Pi forced the last emperor of the Han Dynasty who was named Emperor Xian to give him his throne in 220. He was called Emperor Wen. He lived for only 6 years after this until the year 226. He set up his capital at Luoyang in Cao Wei.

In 221, Liu Bei in Shu Han named himself the Emperor of the Han Empire. In the same year, Sun Quan took the title of the King of Wu. Liu Bei declared war on Dong Wu. At the Battle of Yiling, Liu Bei was defeated by Sun Quan's army, and he was forced to retreat back to Shu Han where he died. After the death of Liu Bei, Liu Bei’s son Liu Shan took power in Shu Han. Zhuge Liang became the Prime Minister under Liu Bei. He was known as unusually intelligent and a great military strategist. They made peace with Sun Quan. This stabilized the political situation between them.

Both leaders then fought the people who lived south of them. Sun Quan conquered the Shanyue people to the south of him in 234. He then conscripted tens of thousands of them for his army. About the same time, Liu Shan fought the Nanmen. He also added Nanmen to his army.

In 227, Zhuge Liang sent an army against Cao Wei even though Wei had a much bigger population. According to census figures around this time, Shu Han had a population of only a million people. Wei probably had a population of about 3 or 4 million because a census of Wei that was taken in the year 260 gives a figure of 4.4 million people. The Cao Wei territory was also much bigger. His campaigns failed, and in 234, he led his last great northern offensive and died.

At the same time, Cao Wei kept attacking Dong Wu. But they could not break through Sun Quan’s river defenses that included a fortress called Ruxu. During Sun Quan’s long reign, Dong Wu prospered. A migration of northern people and the subjugation of the Shanyue people increased his population and their agricultural production. Big canals were dug that aided inland transportation, and trade with Shu Han helped both kingdoms to prosper. Dong Wu merchants traded with merchants in Linyi (northern Vietnam) and Funan (southern Vietnam).

Rise of the Jin Dynasty in Cao Wei and the Fall of Shu Han

After the 230s, the ruling Cao clan in Cao Wei was threatened by the Sima clan that held a lot of land. Sima Yi was a great general in Cao Wei. In 238, Sima Yi took over the capital of Luoyang. In 263, Wei launched a three-pronged attack against the Shu Han, and the Shu army was forced into a general retreat. In 263, Liu Shan surrendered. This marks the end of the Three Kingdoms Period.

Expansion of the Jin Empire

In Cao Wei, the Cao clan still claimed the dynastic throne. Sima Yan forced Cao Huan to abdicate. This established the Jin Dynasty in 265. In 269, the Jin Dynasty started construction of a navy to control the Yangtze River and ferry troops across to attack Dong Wu. This invasion came in 279 after ten years of preparation. In 280, Emperor Sun Hao of Dong Wu surrendered.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

The Statues This interesting and bloody stage of history was portrayed in popular literature later. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a semi-historical work said to be written by Luo Guan Zhong. It is historical fiction about the lives and struggles of the rulers and the wars at the end of the Han Dynasty and in the Three Kingdoms Period. The novel describes the machinations, court intrigues, and the shifting alliances of the three kingdoms. Special emphasis is laid on the antagonists Liu Bei and Cao Cao. There are accounts of ghastly deaths and of rulers dying after meeting avenging ghosts.

Actually, the authorship and the date the novel was originally written are debatable. Chinese traditionally say that the novel was written by Luo Guan Zhong at the end of the Yuan Dynasty period (1279-1368) that would be about 1368 or so. But some scholars say that the book contains material that indicates that the book was written in the middle or late Ming Dynasty era (1368-1644) or about two hundred years later. It could be that the earlier date is valid and that material or information was added by revisers. It is known that a major revision was published by Mao Lun and Mao Zonggang in 1522 during the Qing Dynasty era. They revised the structure and deleted a lot of material. So now there are two major versions: an older version that has about 900,000 words and the more popular 1522 version that has about 770,000 words.