Background to the Three Kingdoms
(Period 07, AD 220-280)

Historical Overview

The period of the Three Kingdoms (Sānguó 三国) following the breakup of the Hàn 汉 dynasty (period 06) involved a civil war that generated more tales of military derring-do than any other time in Chinese history. This page is intended to provide background to some of the main characters and events to help you appreciate the popular stories that are set in this period.

The last years of the Hàn dynasty saw a weakening in the power of civil authorities, and their gradual displacement by the military. The situation had already deteriorated when the last emperor of Hàn, known to history by the title Xiàndì 献帝 (or Mĭndì 愍帝) (monarch 06d-14) ascended to the throne at the age of 8, after the murder of his older brother while both of them were fleeing a warlord named DŎNG Zhuō 董卓, who was sacking the capital (Luóyáng 洛阳).

The child emperor had little power (and was said by some to be an idiot), and indeed the country had already effectively fallen into three separate "kingdoms," each of which had plenty of internal turmoil of its own.

Wèi 魏. The northernmost kingdom was named Wèi 魏 and was controlled by a warlord named CÁO Cāo 曹操, whose father had been the adopted son of a palace eunuch. CÁO Cāo was a brilliant tactician and excellent scholar but clearly an opportunist who understood that the Hàn dynasty was ending and that this was a chance to establish a new imperial line. CÁO was part of the group of Hàn loyalists who succeeded in killing the Warlord DŎNG Zhuō, and he became the protector of the emperor, whom he married to his daughter.

CÁO had two sons, as clever, competent, and unscrupulous as himself. When CÁO Cāo died in 220, his son CÁO Pī 曹丕 forced the boy emperor Xiàndì to abdicate and declared himself emperor (reign 07b-1), naming his dynasty Wèi (with the capital remaining at Luòyáng 洛阳 in Hénán 河南, the former Hàn dynasty capital). He called himself the "literary emperor" (Wéndì 文帝). Because Wèi was dominated by the Cáo family, it is sometimes called the Cáowèi 曹魏 dynasty.

Wú 吴. To the south (with the ever-shifting dividing line usually lying somewhat north of the Yangzi river) lay the "kingdom" of Wú 吴, the territory of another warlord, a respected Hàn general by the name of SŪN Quán 孙权, who, in view of the collapse of the Hàn royal line and the ambitions of the Wèi state to the north, eventually, like CÁO Pī in the north, declared that he himself was the emperor, establishing the Wú dynasty (with its capital near the Wèi border at Jiànyè 建业, modern Nánjīng 南京, in Jiāngsū 江苏). He took the pretentious reign title "Great Emperor," or Dàdì 大帝 (reign 07d-1). (It is sometimes called the Sūnwú 孙吴 dynasty because of its domination by the Sūn family.)

Shŭ 蜀. To the west of Wú, in the area that is today Guìzhōu 贵州 and Sìchuān 四川, lay the "kingdom" of Shŭ 蜀, where a vigorous vagabond by the name of LIÚ Bèi 刘备 declared that, since he shared the surname Liú 刘 with the ruling house of the fallen Hàn dynasty, he was its legitimate successor. Indeed, he eventually declared himself emperor of Shŭ (with his capital at Chéngdū 成都 in Sìchuān 四川), and took the reign name Zhāoliè 昭烈 (reign 07c-1). (Historians today sometimes refer to Shŭ as Shŭhàn 蜀汉 for that reason.) However his hold on Shŭ took some time to come together, and many of the stories from the period relate to his difficulty in gaining full control of this state. He never did succeed in restoring the Hàn dynasty by conquering all of China.

In the end, Wèi succeeded in conquering Shŭ in AD 263, but the throne of Wèi was usurped a scant two years later by one of its generals, a certain SĪMĂ Yán 司马炎, who declared that the combined state was his own dynasty, the Jìn 晋 (period 08a). Less than twenty years later, in 280, this new state of Jìn conquered Wú, briefly reuniting China before the Jìn itself crumbled before marauders from lands to the north.

The period of greatest interest to Chinese storytellers is the very beginning, the years around AD 200, when the Hàn still attracted loyalty, and the forces among three emergent states seemed roughly balanced, but constantly shifting.

In particular, storytellers remember two great battles, and a handful of heroic figures. Here are the battles and the principal players:

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Picturesque Battles

1. The Battle of Guāndū (Guāndū zhi Zhàn 官渡之战) involved an assault by CÁO Cāo of Wèi upon General YUÁN Shào 袁绍, near the town of Guāndù. Although Yuán had five times the troop strength of Cáo, he ultimately lost the battle because of indecisiveness and arrogant self-confidence, and the battle proved a turning point in Cáo's fortunes as he strengthened the expansionist state of Wèi. Storytellers stress the character flaws that led to military disaster from what should have been military success.
2. The Battle of Red Cliff (Chíbì zhi Zhàn 赤壁之战, near Xiàkŏu 夏口 in Húbĕi 湖北) involved Cáo's forces moving south into Wú, which was forced into an alliance with Shŭ partly in order to gain access to the services of Shŭ's master strategist ZHŪGĔ Liàng 诸葛亮. Brilliant strategy on the part of the southern allies eventually routed CÁO Cāo and destroyed much of his army. But Shŭ's unwillingness to leave Wú caused serious friction between the allies afterward, weakening both of them. Most stories focus on the brilliant military strategy.

Picturesque People

1. Hàn 汉 (period 06d)
1. DŎNG Zhuō 董卓 (d192) A promising Hàn general with intimate knowledge of the ways of border tribes. When conspiring eunuchs carried off the heir apparent, Dŏng managed to restore him to the throne, only to depose him later and install a foolish princeling (reign 06d-14), whom he entirely dominated. Dŏng's appalling abuses of power led to his eventual assassination and guaranteed him a place among the villains of history.
2. YUÁN Shào 袁绍 (d202) A powerful general and rival of CÁO Cāo, and a veteran of the final campaign against DŎNG Zhuō 董卓. It is said that in youth he was a handsome and affable friend of one of CÁO Cāo's sons, and was active with the Cáo family against the scheming eunuchs and warlords undercutting the falling Hàn dynasty. But YUÁN Shào eventually turned against the Cáo family. He is remembered in history for his increasingly indecisive and suspicious character, and the squabbling he encouraged among his sons over who would succeed him. He died of illness and the sons were exterminated by CÁO Cāo. In stories about this period, YUÁN Shào is sometimes allied with LIÚ Bèi less because of his conviction of Liú's cause being just than because he hated CÁO Cāo.
2. State of Wèi 魏国 (period 07b, AD 220-265)
1. CÁO Cāo 曹操 (b155 d220) Initially the urbane and brilliant Hàn dynasty courtier and general, later the unscrupulous dictator of Wèi 魏. He rose to prominence in the battles of the government against the Yellow Turban Rebels (Huángjīn Jūn 黄巾军), then became a vigorous reformer and campaigner against the warlords and others weakening the Hàn government. His competence and unscrupulousness led to his becoming virtual dictator of the collapsing Hàn state. Folklore typically represents CÁO Cāo as something of a villain, although political correctness in China today is kinder to him.
2. CÁO Pī 曹丕 (b187 d226) Son and successor of CÁO Cāo. He declared himself emperor (reign 07b1) of a new "Wèi Dynasty" in 220, provoking similar declarations by the dictators of Shŭ in 221 and Wú in 222.
3. State of Shŭ 蜀国 (period 07c, AD 221-263)
1. LIÚ Bèi 刘备 (b161 d223) A claimant to the Hàn throne on the basis of sharing the surname LIÚ with the Hàn emperors. He eventually emerged as the dictator of the state of Shŭ, and declared himself emperor in 221. He is especially famous because of his sworn brotherhood with GUĀN Yŭ and ZHĀNG Fēi. (For the text of this famous oath, click here.)
2. GUĀN Yŭ 关羽 (d219) A formidable fighter and the sworn brother of LIÚ Bèi and ZHĀNG Fēi. GUĀN was later deified as the god of war, but was also always strongly associated with loyalty and righteousness. CÁO Cāo made strong efforts to win him to the Wèi side, even granting him a royal title, but, having once sworn his loyalty to LIÚ Bèi, he remained loyal to Shŭ.
3. ZHĀNG Fēi 张飞 (d221) A formidable fighter and the sworn brother of LIÚ Bèi and GUĀN Yŭ. It is largely his association with them that makes him a visible character in these events, although it is said of him that on one occasion he stood on a bridge and held off the whole of CÁO Cāo's army for a time. He was eventually assassinated by two of his own officers.
4. ZHŪGĔ Liàng 诸葛亮 (b181 d234) The most brilliant military strategist of his era, whose reputation was so great that even today his name is used as a term for a person exhibiting an impressive combination of integrity and cunning. He was reluctant to join battle, but after repeated entreaties was eventually persuaded to ally himself with LIÚ Bèi of Shŭ.
State of Wú 吴国 (period 07d, AD 222-280)
1. SŪN Quán 孙权 (b182 d252) A general who became the dictator of the state of Wú, where he declared himself emperor in 222. Since Wú was weaker than Wèi, which continually threatened it, he was forced into an uneasy alliance with Shŭ, which he suspected of wanting to conquer Wú. Most of his suspicions were fully justified, although in the end that was not what happened.
2. ZHŌU Yú 周瑜 (b175 d210) A general from Wú who worked with the strategists of Shŭ when Shŭ and Wú were allied. He is best remembered for the defeat inflicted on CÁO Cāo at Red Cliff, but also for his good looks and his excellent musical abilities. He aspired to attack Shŭ and bring it under the sway of Wú, then attack Wèi and reunite China under SŪN's reign (or possibly his own), but he died before he was able to carry out the plan.

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