the three kingdoms

"Domains Under Heaven, After A Long Period Of Division, Tend To Unite; After A Long Period Of Union, Tend To Divide."

1. Cao Wei
The founders of the Cao Wei Empire Kingdom

Dian Wei (Bodyguard); Cao Cao (Emperor); Xu Chu (Bodyguard) Cao's Relatives Serve As Military Generals: Xiahou Dun; Xiahou Yuan; Cao Ren; Cao Hong

 Military Generals: Zhang Liao; Yue Jin; Yu Jin; Zhang He; Xu Huang Cao's Advisors: Guo jia; Xun Yu; Xun You; Jia Xu; Cheng Yu During the decline of the Han Dynasty, the northern part of China was under the control of Cao Cao, the Imperial Chancellor to the last Han emperor (see Unification of northern China). In 213, he was titled the "Duke of Wei" and was given ten cities as his domain. This area was named "Wei". At that time, the southern part of China was already divided into two areas controlled by two warlords (later Shu Han and Eastern Wu). In 216, Cao Cao was promoted to "King of Wei". In March 15 of 220, Cao Cao died and his son Cao Pi succeeded to the title "King of Wei" and the position as Imperial Chancellor. Later that year in December 11, Cao Pi seized the imperial throne and claimed to have founded the Wei Dynasty, but Liu Bei of Shu Han immediately contested his claim to the throne, and Sun Quan of Eastern Wu followed suit in 222. Wei conquered Shu Han in 263. Shortly afterwards, in 265, the Wei dynasty was overthrown by its own last Imperial Chancellor, Sima Yan, grandson of Sima Yi, who then founded the Jin Dynasty.

2. Shu Han
The founders of the Shu Han Empire Kingdom

 Liu Bei (Emperor) Liu's Advisors: Zhuge Liang; Pang Tong; Xu Shu Military Generals: Guan Yu; Zhang Fei; Zhao Yun; Ma Su; Huang Zhong Wei Yan (General); Fa Zheng (Advisor); Jian Yong (Minister); Mi Zhu (Advisor and Liu's Brother-in-law); Sun Qian (Advisor)

During the decline of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bei, a distant relative of the emperor, gathered together many capable men, and with Zhuge Liang's advice, took parts of Jingzhou at first, then Yizhou and Hanzhong. From these territories, he established a place for himself in China during Han's final years. In 219, L Meng of Wu attacked and conquered Jingzhou. Subsequently, Liu Bei's trusted general Guan Yu was executed by Sun Quan. After Cao Pi of the Wei seized the imperial throne in 220 from Emperor Xian and proclaimed the Wei Dynasty, Liu Bei proclaimed himself to be the next Han emperor and the real ruler of China. There is much dispute in the official foundation of the dynasty. According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms Shu-Han was founded in 221, but many historians doubt Liu Bei waited an entire year to proclaim himself emperor. Although Liu Bei is said to be the founder of the Shu Han dynasty, he himself never claimed to be the founder of a new dynasty; rather, he claimed to continue the heritage of the earlier Han Emperors. In 222, the first major conflict of the Three Kingdoms period began. Liu Bei initiated an attack of over 40,000 men upon Eastern Wu in the Battle of Yiling to retake the Jing province. However, because of a grave tactical mistake, his line of camps was burned to the ground and his already numerically inferior troops were decimated. He survived the attack and fled to Baidicheng, but one year later he became ill and died there. He was succeeded by his son, Liu Shan. The Chancellor of Shu, Zhuge Liang, made peace with Wu instead of taking revenge. He decided that it was more important to conquer Cao Wei and not only gain the fertile lands of the north but also to topple the Wei government and restore legitimacy to the Shu-Han Dynasty. He made several invasions to the north but failed each time, finally dying of sickness during his sixth attempt to conquer Wei. Jiang Wei, his eventual successor, also tried many times but was pushed back each time. In 263, Wei took advantage of Shu's weakness and attacked. The brilliant strategies of the Wei generals, Zhong Hui and Deng Ai led to the quick conquest of Hanzhong and the subsequent conquest of the capital Chengdu. Jiang Wei surrendered to Zhong Hui and tried to incite Zhong Hui to rebel against Deng Ai, hoping to revive Shu Han by trying to take advantage of the ensuing chaos and bringing back the Emperor Liu Shan. However, his plan failed and he was killed along with Zhong Hui and Deng Ai by their soldiers. Afterwards, the Emperor Liu Shan was taken to the capital of Wei, Luoyang, where he was given the title Duke of Anle (meaning Duke of Comfort) and retired in peace. However, Shu was not simply a nation of war. During times of peace, Shu began many irrigation and road-building projects designed to improve the economy of Shu. Many of these public works still exist and are widely used. For example, the Nine-Mile Dam is still present near Chengdu in Sichuan province. These

works helped improve the economy of Southwest China and can be credited with beginning the history of economic activity in the Sichuan area.

3. Eastern Wu
The founders of the Eastern Wu Empire Kingdom

Sun Jian (Father); Sun Ce (Eldest Son); Sun Quan (Second Son, Emperor) Sun's Advisors: Zhou Yu; Lu Su; Sun's Officers: Lv Meng; Lu Xun Military Generals: Taishi Ci; Gan Ning; Cheng Pu; Huang Gai; Han Dang Ministers: Zhou Tai; Zhang Zhao; Zhang Hong; Zhuge Jin (Zhuge Liang's elder brother)

During the decline of the Han dynasty, the region of Wu - a region in the south of the Yangtze River surrounding Nanjing - was under the control of the warlord Sun Quan. Sun Quan succeeded his brother Sun Ce as the lord over the Wu region paying nominal allegiance to Emperor Xian of Han (who was, at that point, under the control of Cao Cao). Unlike his competitors, he did not really have the ambition to be Emperor of China. However, after Cao Pi of the Kingdom of Wei and Liu Bei of the Kingdom of Shu each declared themselves to be the Emperor, Sun Quan decided to follow suit in 229, claiming to have founded the Wu Dynasty. Eastern Wu was finally conquered by the first Jin emperor, Sima Yan, in 280. It was the longest-lived of the three kingdoms.