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The Three Kingdoms (220 AD - 265 AD)

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  • The Three Kingdoms (220 AD - 265 AD)

    The Three Kingdoms was a short and bloody period of Chinese history. Although relatively short, this historical period has been greatly romanticized in Chinese culture. Stories have been told and passed on through the centuries in many ways, some in the forms of operas, folk stories, and novels and in more recent times, films and TV episodes.


    This period starts in 220 AD in strict terms, but most scholars and researchers say to give a more accurate account it is better to start from the time of the Yellow Turbans in 188 AD, which will give a more detailed introduction.


    After series of Child Han Emperors taking the throne in succession, the Han Empire was not ruled by a single emperor for a long time but by the Emperor’s elder relatives entwined with court eunuchs who greedily would not let go of there power when the Emperors had come of age. With many leading officials not happy, dissatisfaction soon reached its peak. Two waves of Court Officials open protests under two separate ruling of Emperors Huan and Ling were dealt with court eunuchs persuading the Emperor to have them all executed. Soon after in 184AD after much chaos had spread through China, Zhang Jue, the leader of the Dao Supreme Harmony Daoist movement along with his two brothers Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao, led a rebellion Known as the Yellow Turban Rebellion against the Han government under the rule of the puppet Emperor Ling.


    The Yellow Turban rebellion quickly gained strength with the accumulation of 36 bases scattered throughout China and a following of several hundred thousand strong. There motto was “The Han Emperor is already dead, Lord Zhang Jue shall take his stead, the year cycle is at its head, into fortune shall all be lead” . Emperor Ling sent Generals Huangfu Song, Lu Zhi, and Zhu Jun with there armies and the Yellow Turbans were ultimately defeated with there surviving followers dispersed throughout China hiding in mountainous regions. With surviving Bandits all across China frequently rebelling and raiding, the Han government had no way of control, so Emperor Ling with the suggestion from his governor Liu Yan returned power to the provinces giving the local governors authority to command there armies and states with no direction from the Emperor, this action lead to Officials ignoring the ruling Han and slowly but surely becoming rulers themselves in there own right.


    After Emperor Lings death there was a conspiracy to replace the rightful ruling emperor with another chosen by the Ten Attendants of the imperial palace and to kill the general He Jin, who would be a hindrance to there plan, the General got news of this and plotted with warlord Yuan Shao to assassinate the Ten Attendants ( ten palace eunuchs who controlled much of the imperial court with there leader Zhang Rhang). He Also gave word to General Dong Zhuo to move his army in to keep rule, Dong Zhuo lead a large and skillful army up north defending China against the powerful northern tribe of the Qiang.


    The eunuchs found out the generals plan and killed him before warlord Yuan Shao arrived. Upon Yuan Shao’s arrival he quickly assassinated the Ten Attendants and there two thousand of so followers. This left a void in the imperial court and when Dong Zhou arrived with his highly skilled army he had no problems with little resistance filling that void and effectively taking power.


    Dong Zhou although at the beginning wanted what was best for the empire by re-establishing one of the surviving relatives of the Han, Emperor Xian and thereby returning power and order to the rightful ruling family. But gradually the general became lost in his ideals and became cruel, executing all who opposed him, ignoring the laws and protocol of the imperial court and openly disrespecting the Emperor. Eventually the other warlords of the surrounding provinces united to defeat Dong Zhou driving him West to Chang’an, although he did not go without first driving masses of people west with him and left the biggest city in China at the time, Louyang burning behind him, not to leave it to the enemy. He was assassinated later by his adopted son with the help of a court official named Wang Yun.


    At this point in 191 AD there was many separate warlords vying for control, you had Yuan Shao in the north of Ye, Cao Cao directly in the south beneath him, Sun Ce in the lower Yanzi, Liu Zhang in Yixzhou in the West and Ma Teng along with a band of other warlords in the NorthWest, these main players were consuming the other smaller warlords with each one growing more powerful. Cao Cao at this time was conquering neighbouring rivals up North and made a decisive decision to receive Emperor Xian who fled Luoyang in the west from general Li Jue. This decision won him favour with rivals who were more willing to join him and along with hiring farmers to support his army who were happy to do so for stability, gave him the ingredients he needed for success and not long after and with many important battles won he became the ultimate ruler of the North having full control of the now Kingdom of Wei.



    From here Cao Cao turned his attention to the south with longings for a single unified China and marched his armies down defeating one province after another. He aquired a sizeable fleet of ships at the seizure of Jianling and it all came to head in the winter of 208 AD on the Yangtze river at the naval battle of RedCliffs. In the south two forces joined, warlords Liu Bei, a recent refugee of the north and Sun Quan, who's army were expert in the naval field. Cao Cao knew that to have control of the south he needed control of the navy. Liu Bei and Sun Quan had a total of 50,000 against Cao Caos 200,000 men. The battle was a series of skirmishes with Cao Cao losing each fight due to the long battle and journey previously had, not used to being navy men and loyalty of men who had just been defeated by him and forced to join. Liu Bei and Sun Quan made a final decisive move against Cao Caos fleet by sending fireships (ships equipped with bundles of reids and timber soaked in animal fat),throwing these fire bombs on board of the enemy, setting much of Cao Caos Fleet on fire, and sending him back up North defeated winning the battle of RedCliffs and ensuring there control of the south. This important victory created the Kingdoms of Shu and Wu down south while leaving Wei up north.

    Cao Cao 211 AD returned and was contented with authorising his power in the NorthWest region. In 217 AD the puppet Emperor gave title to Cao Cao as the Prince of Wei. In 220 AD he died and his son Cao Pi took his position and soon after in the same year took Emperor Xian's position also, ending the Han era and starting The Three Kingdoms proper.

    Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms

  • #2
    Three Kingdoms continued

    Cao Pi held the state of Wei controlling the North, Liu Bei held the state of Shu Han controlling the Southwest and named himself Emperor in 221 AD and Sun Quan was given title of King of Wu by the state of Wei controlling Central South and East.


    Later Shu Han decalred war on Wu at the Battle of Yiling and defeated Liu Bei’s Wu, Liu Bei soon died after and his son Liu Shan rose to the throne and formed a mutual and benefiiting Shu and Wu alliance with Sun Quan. Sun Quan ignored his allegiance to Wei in 222 AD and in 229 AD he declared himself Emperor of Wu.


    The Shu-Wu alliance formed a stabilised Three Kingdoms keeping Wei the strongest of the three from taking full control. There were countless battles with the Shu and Wu alliance trying to keep Wei advances North of the Yangtse and all the while each state dealing with barbarians at there borders.


    Even so it was a time of prosperity for the Three Kingdoms, in Wei farming greatly prospered which increased Wei’s wealth and strength. In Shu Zhuge Liang set up strict social order and with that in place, crafts and farming flourished. In Wu ship building advanced greatly opening trade to the seas. In prosperity and strength Wei came first followed by Wu with Shu last, even to this day China's economy is split into these three main sectors.

    The brilliant inventor and engineer Ma Jun invented the South Pointing Chariot a compass which ran on differential gears, a square pallet chain pump and a mechanical puppet show.

    Buddhism although introduced in the Han dynasty from India, spread rapidly throughout China in the Three Kingdom period.

    Tea was discovered in the south in this period, and the craft of porcelain was developed.


    Shu decreased in strength over time and from 258 AD onward became increasingly weakened with corruption in there political system. They were targeted by Wei and defeated in a three prong attack led by Wei’s Commander Deng Ai, in 264 AD.


    The end of the Three Kingdom period came about in the same way as the previous Han with the passing of the Chancellor of Wei, Sima Zhao leaving to his son Sima Yan, inheritance title of Lord of Jin. Siam Yan became a usurper forcing the then Emperor Cao Huan’s abdication of the throne ending the Wei dynasty and the Cao lineage, forming the new Jin Dynasty leaving the only surviving kingdom of Wu.

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    • #3
      Map of The Three Kingdoms

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      • #4
        Ma Jun's South Pointing Chariot




        Ma Jun's South Pointing Chariot was the most technologically advanced piece of geared driven machinery that came from ancient China. The chariot was designed as a non-magnetic compass so that no matter which way the chariot turned the figure on top with an out strecthed arm always pointed South.

        This was cleverly done by a differential gear system connected to the two wheels of the chariot, which ran up and was attached to the figure on top so as the chariot turned, the figure driven by the gear system, would counteract the turning motion of the wheels thereby always pointing in the same direction.

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        • #5
          This is great!

          I have a huge interest in the Three Kingdoms period but it comes largely from reading the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' which, if written in modern times, would be classified as 'Historical Fiction'.

          It is great to read a solid historical account!

          Peter.
          Peter Clayton
          Shaolin Wahnam Ireland
          "Though one man may conquer in battle a thousand men a thousand times over, it is he who conquers himself that is the greatest of conquerors". - Dhammapada.

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          • #6
            Hi Peter,

            Great to hear from you, I would love to read one of those stories, please feel free to add what you like

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            • #7
              I am just pleased that there is a thread on this! The chariot is fascinating.

              In my own view, the best translation of 'The Romance of the Three Kingdoms' is the Moss Roberts version. Unfortunately I could only get the abridged edition - ISBN 0-520-21585-0

              I also have the full version in two volumes but the translation uses the Wade system which I found difficult to get into as most sources concerning the Three Kingdoms period, including this thread, use the Pinyin system for names etc.

              If you wanted to take a look at either copy I can happily leave them with Sifu for you to collect when you are next in the area
              Peter Clayton
              Shaolin Wahnam Ireland
              "Though one man may conquer in battle a thousand men a thousand times over, it is he who conquers himself that is the greatest of conquerors". - Dhammapada.

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              • #8
                One of my fondest memories of this topic recently involves Sigung, myself and my ten year old Nephew, Corey

                Corey had been playing a video game based on the period called 'Dynasty Warriors'. We had a constant debate on who was the more 'powerful' warrior - My nephew was a fervent supporter of Lu Bu but I personally favoured Zhao Yun (Zilong)

                It was in a car journey with Sigung that I brought up the subject and after explaining my position I inquired who he would choose?

                Sigung explained that he would choose Lu Bu for although he was not very gifted in intelligence, he had fought Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei all at the same time!

                Zhao Yun (Zilong) was certainly more tactical and charismatic. I should also point out that Zhao Yun (Zilong) and Lu Bu never met on the field of battle.
                Peter Clayton
                Shaolin Wahnam Ireland
                "Though one man may conquer in battle a thousand men a thousand times over, it is he who conquers himself that is the greatest of conquerors". - Dhammapada.

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                • #9
                  Hi Peter,

                  Thanks for sharing your story, back at college at the minute and I am between moving house, so I have not had much time to get on the forum, hopefuly I will continue with our journey of the Dynasties soon

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                  • #10
                    Sadly, my entire knowledge of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms comes from the Dynasty Warriors video games. Though after playing it for years I've been tempted to pick up the novel.

                    I was also fond of Lu Bu. Though he seems like an absolute monster of a man. But it sounds like that's possibly an exaggeration of the real man. As if a novel or a video game could even be slavishly realistic about a person's character.

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