| After the quelling of the Yellow Turbans Uprising of
the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD), local warlords and
tyrants sprung up everywhere in struggle for the control
over the country. Among them, the military groups under
Yuanshao and Caocao
in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River stood
out as the strongest. While to the south of the Yangtze
River, Sunquan and Liubei
occupied the eastern and western areas respectively. They
stayed comparatively weaker in the first round of power
struggle.
In 200 AD, Caocao declared war on Yuanshao. At Guandu
in present Henan Province, the army of Caocao crushed
the force of Yuanshao with lesser military strength.
After Guandu Battle, Caocao annexed other minor forces
in the north and unified the region north of the Yellow
River. Thereafter, Caocao pushed his army across the
river and launched assault on southern regimes.
Under the suggestion of Zhuge
Liang, the advisor of Liubei, the forces of Liubei
and Sunquan came to a united front against Caocao. They
won an overwhelming victory in Chibi Battle (near present
Puyin in Hubei Province). Since then, Caocao was warded
back in the north. Liubei followed up the victory and
seized present Chengdu City and west of present Hubei
Province. And Sunquan strengthened his influence in
the middle valley of the Yangtze River.
In 220 AD, Caopi, the son of Caocao, abandoned Emperor
Xian of the Eastern Han Dynasty and proclaimed himself
the emperor of Wei Kingdom (220 - 265), making Xuchang
in Henan Province his capital city. The next year, Liubei
was crowned in Chengdu, ruling the Kingdom of Shu (221
- 263). In 229 AD, Sunquan founded the Kingdom of Wu
(229 - 280) with capital at Jianye, present Nanjing
City. Thus the confrontation of three rival powers came
into being and China entered the period of the Three
Kingdoms, the golden age of chivalry in history.
Although the wars continued during this period, each
of the kingdoms highly concentrated on the reorganization
of the government and the rebuilding of the social order
and economy. In the kingdom of Wei, the rulers made
outstanding achievements. After the reunification of
the northern area, Caocao began the opening of the farmlands
by soldiers and local people. He restricted the rights
of big landlords and uprooted the abused privilege of
eunuchs and members of the royal family. Moreover, he
gave promotion to the able men from the middle and low
class. In Shu, Zhuge Liang sought to build the kingdom
stronger and set up good terms with southwestern minority
people. While in the Wu Kingdom, seafaring was in the
bloom.
In 263, the Wei Kingdom conquered Shu, which only lasted
forty-two years with two kings in the reign. Wei Kingdom
lasted for 46 years with five kings. In 265, Sima Yan,
a top official of the Wei, usurped the power and established
his reign as Jin (265 - 420). Later, Jin overturned
Wu, the last surviving kingdom in 280 and brought an
end to the Three Kingdoms Period.
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