by Maureen Leung

Created on: August 28, 2011   Last Updated: September 06, 2011

The Three Kingdoms Period (220-280 A.D.) was part of an Era of Disunity.  It was a period full of disunity and battle in Chinese history.  It was also one of the bloodiest periods.  After the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms rose to power: the Kingdom of Wei (220-265 A.D.), Shu (221-263 A.D.), and Wu (222-280A.D.).  The Wei dominated the north; Shu dominated the southeast; and Wu dominated the southeast. However, there were constantly battles between the three kingdoms.  Each of these kingdoms wanted to restore and unify China.  To trace back how the three kingdoms rose to power and declined, one must look into the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the country was in chaos. Eunuchs had the royal power to the court and emperors.  Dong Zhuo, a treacherous court official, dominated the last emperor of the Eastern Han.  The uprising of the Yellow Turbans and Cao Cao, a minor warlord, seized power to fight against Dong Zhuo.  Liu Bei, his brother, Sun Jian, military generals and warlords, and others also join allied forces to fight against Dong Zhou.  In 193 A.D., a small group led by Wang Yun (an official of the Eastern Han) and Lu Bu (a military general of the Eastern Han) killed Dong Zhuo.  After the death of Dong Zhou, rivalry still remained until 196 A.D.

In 196 A.D, Sun Ce, a brother of Sun Jian, made an alliance with Cao Cao.  The same year, Cao Cao captured Emperor Xian, the last emperor of the Eastern Han. He did not dethrone the emperor.  Instead, he forced Emperor Xian to fulfill his commands.  Emperor Xian had no choice but to carry out Cao Cao’s commands in order to control the political situations.  Cao Cao also commanded the troops of the Eastern Han.  From there, his military’s power continued to expand.

In 201 A.D., Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao, a leader who led the revolt of the Eastern Han.  In 209 A.D., he captured the city of Jingzhou.  From there, Cao Cao continued to expand his territory all the way to the south of China.  However, he did not succeed.  Liu Bei and Sun Quan defeated Cao Cao at the Battle of Red Cliff.  From there, Cao Cao withdrew his troops from the southern areas of China.

Cao Cao made various reforms for the Kingdom of Wei that he had established.  He recruited many people to work for the civil service based on their talents and skills.  He also established

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