The Three Kingdoms (三国, Sān Guó, AD 220–280) are technically not a dynasty (at least not a single one) but are usually listed among the Chinese dynasties. The kingdoms — Wei, Shu and Wu; a fourth kingdom, Yan, is sometimes considered part of this era — rose to prominence after the collapse of the Han Dynasty.
Wei is often referred to as Cao Wei after its founder Cao Pi, son of Cao Cao; Shu was founded by Liu Bei, a kinsman of the Han emperors and called itself "Han" as successors to the Han (Shu is a term associated with modern-day Sichuan province; "Shu-Han" was a term invented by later historians, just like "the Byzantine Empire"); Wu was also called Eastern Wu or Dong Wu after its location to the east (well, south and south-east to be exact). Very famous period, the setting of a major Chinese novel (well, one very famous one and presumably others), many Chinese operas, movies, TV series, and all those games from Koei.
Some date the beginning of the period to the Yellow Turban Rebellion of 184AD. From 190AD onwards, China was divided among feuding warlords before the Three Kingdoms around 220-222. Wei conquered Shu in 263 and the period ended with the overthrow of Wei by the Jìn dynasty (266) and the subsequent conquest of Wu (280).
Of the "24 Histories", "Records of the Three Kingdoms" (三國志/三国志, Sānguózhì), by Chen Shou, covers this era. Records was later supplemented by annotations from Pei Songzhi. For more information, refer to the page Three Kingdoms – Shu, Wei, Wu.
Notable individuals rising in prominence during this eranote :
Kingdom of Cao-Wei
- Cao Cao: A minister of the Han Empire turned warlord with strategic mind who successfully pacified the northern regions of China by defeating his rival warlords, creating the foundation of the Wei Kingdom.
- Cao Pi: Cao Cao's son and heir. While less capable in warfare, he made it up with internal restructurization. Eventually, he's the one who forced Emperor Xian of Han to abdicate, eliminating the Han Dynasty from history.
- Sima Yi: An advisor of Cao Cao descending from Sima Ang (who was active during the struggles of the Han Dynasty). Best known for eventually usurping the kingdom once Cao Cao's descendants became less capable, and eventually created the foundation of the Jin Dynasty spearheaded by his grandson Sima Yan.
Kingdom of Shu-Han
- Liu Bei: Claiming to be the descendant of Liu Bang, he started out as a small-time warlord who opposed Cao Cao and was tenacious enough to survive and eventually founded his kingdom of Shu in the southwest. Not exactly a paragon of virtue as the novel said, but more concerned in survival and his own aspirations. After a disastrous campaign against Wu in an attempt to avenge two of his trusted men, he died in grief.
- Liu Shan: Liu Bei's son. Generally more passive than his father, and often thought as vastly more incapable. Surrendered against Wei when they come knocking, but was allowed to live until his natural death by most likely Obfuscating Stupidity.
Kingdom of Wu
- Sun Jian: A descendant of Sun Tzu known for his ferocity and nicknamed "Tiger of Jiang Dong". A war veteran who participated in both quelling the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the coalition against the tyrant Dong Zhuo. Died prematurely in an ambush by Liu Biao. However, he has two sons who continued his legacy.
- Sun Ce: Sun Jian's eldest son. At a late teenage age, he managed to unify the southeast Wu region, earning him the nickname 'Little Conqueror' and getting his ferocity compared with Xiang Yu of the Han Dynasty. Like his father, he died in an ambush, at a tender age of 25 no less.
- Sun Quan: Sun Ce's little brother who took up arms after his brother's untimely demise. Is best known for the Wu leader who drove away Cao Cao's massive army in the famed Battle of Red Cliffs. While he was a good ruler in the beginning, he ended up getting worse mental-wise in his latter rule.
- Sun Hao: Wu's last emperor and Sun Quan's grandson. Showed promise at first, but turned out to be an extraordinarily megalomaniacal emperor who makes his people suffer while indulging himself with pleasure. His defeat by the Jin Dynasty marked the ultimate end of the Three Kingdoms era.
Others
- Zhang Jue: Sometimes known as Zhang Jiao. A hermit who found the book known as "The Way of Peace". After absorbing its teaching and seeing the Han Dynasty succumb to corruption, he initiated the "Yellow Turban Rebellion", which caused many officials of the Han Dynasty to band together to defeat him, but this spiraled out of control, leading to the formation of the Three Kingdoms later.
- Dong Zhuo: A Han minister turned tyrannical warlord. After taking custody of Emperor Xian, he controlled the young Emperor as a Puppet King and ruled the capital Luoyang with an iron fist, forcing many other warlords to form a coalition to drive him away. He did by burning Luoyang and relocating to Chang'an, but there, a feud/betrayal with his loyal general costed his life.
- Yuan Shao: A loyal Han general from an esteemed clan. Mostly known as Cao Cao's Friendly Rival, but eventually they become enemies in a struggle to unify the northern China. Yuan Shao lost the battle big time, and Cao Cao ended up being the unifier of Northern China.
- Yuan Shu: Yuan Shao's half-brother, generally thought to be more snobbish and smug with less competence than Shao. After getting ahold of the Imperial Seal, he promptly declared himself Emperor, but it only resulted with the other warlords to mark him as an usurper and struck him down.
Depictions in fiction
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms and all adaptations thereof such as Red Cliff.
