Three Kingdoms Period (220-265 A.D), following Han Dynasty, was a long period of disunity and civil war. The three kingdoms, Wei, Shu and Wu conquered and merged other kingdoms and eventually they became the three most powerful kingdoms in the Han Dynasty. The leaders of the kingdoms strove to reunite the empire and were therefore at constant warfare.

Wei (220 – 265 AD)

The kingdom of Wei was ruled by Cao Cao. It was the strongest kingdom at that time, and he had power over the valley of Wei even during the time of the Han rule. Cao Cao attempted to unify China under his rule, but he was defeated by the combined force of Shu and Wu in the Battle of the Red Cliff. This defeat was the beginning of the division into three kingdoms.
In January 220, Cao Cao died. Cao Pi became Cao Cao’s successor and he forced Emperor Xian to abdicate in October 220. Han Dynasty ends. Cao Pi named his state Wei and made himself emperor at Luoyang.
Cao Huan succeeded to the throne in 260 after Cao Mao was killed by Sima Zhao, a top official of Wei. Soon after, Sima Zhao died and his title as Lord of Jin was inherited by his son Sima Yan. Sima Yan immediately began plotting to become Emperor but faced stiff opposition.
However, due to advice from his advisors, Cao Huan decided the best course of action would be to abdicate, unlike his predecessor Cao Mao.
Sima Yan seized the throne in 264 AD after forcing Cao Huan's abdication, effectively overthrowing the Wei Dynasty and establishing the successor Jin Dynasty.

Shu (221-263 AD)

Taking the advantage of the victory in the Battle of the Red Cliff, Liu Bei occupied present Chengdu City (the ancient “Shu”). He became the first emperor of Shu.
After Zhuge Liang's death (a top official of Shu and a symbol of brilliance in Chinese history), his position as Lieutenant Chancellor fell to Jiang Wan, Fei Yi and Dong Yun, in that order. But after 258 AD, Shu politics became increasingly controlled by the eunuch faction and corruption rose. Despite the energetic efforts of Jiang Wei Shu was unable to secure any decisive achievement.
In 263 AD, Wei launched a three-pronged attack and the Shu army was forced into general retreat from Hanzhong. By the winter of the year, the capital Chengdu fell due to the strategic invasion of Wei by Deng Ai who invaded Chengdu personally. The emperor Liu Shan thus surrendered. The state of Shu had come to an end.
The fall of Shu signaled a change in Wei politics. After Liu Shan surrendered to Wei, Sima Yan (grandson of Sima Yi), overthrew the Wei emperor and proclaimed his own dynasty of Jin in 264, ending forty-six years of Cao dominion in the north.

Wu (222 - 280 AD)

After the Battle of the Red Cliff, Sun Quan seized the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, ruling the Kingdom of Wu, whose capital was at Jianye (today’s Nanjing City). He was the first emperor of Wu.
After Sun Quan's death and the ascension of the young Sun Liang as emperor in 252, the kingdom of Wu went into a period of decline. Successful Wei suppression of rebellions in the Huainan region by Sima Zhao and Sima Shi reduced any opportunity of Wu influence.
After Jin's rise, Emperor Sun Xiu of Wu died, and his ministers gave the throne to Sun Hao. Sun Hao was a promising young man, but upon ascension he became a tyrant, killing or exiling all who dared oppose him in the court.
The planned Jin offensive finally came in the winter of 279. Sima Yan launched five simultaneous offensives along the Yangzi River from Jianye to Jiangling whilst the Sichuan fleet sailed downriver to Jing province. Under the strain of such an enormous attack, the Wu forces collapsed and Jianye fell in the third month of 280. Emperor Sun Hao was surrendered and given a fiefdom on which to live out his days. This marked the end of the Three Kingdoms era, and the beginning of a break in the forthcoming 300 years of chaos.

How did the Three Kingdom Period form?

The Battle of Red Cliffs (winter 208-209AD) was a decisive battle at the end of the western Han Dynasty, immediately prior to the period of the Three Kingdoms in China. It was between the allied forces of the southern warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan and the numerically superior forces of the northern warlord Cao Cao. The battle happened on Yangtze River, at Red Cliffs

(today’s Puqi County, Hubei Province).

The allied forces of Liu Bei and Sun Quan won the war for they took advantage of wind and burned Cao Cao’s fleet. So, Liu Bei and Sun Quan successfully frustrated Cao Cao's effort to conquer the land south of the Yangtze River and reunite the territory of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The allied victory at Red Cliffs also ensured the survival of Liu Bei and Sun Quan, gave them control of the Yangtze (de Crespigny 2004:273), and provided a line of defence that was the basis for the later creation of the two southern kingdoms of Shu and Wu.

Who were the great men in Three Kingdom Period?

There is an old Chinese saying- Bad times make a good man. The Three Kingdom Period was such a troubled times witnessing many great men in Chinese history.

Cao Cao
Cao Cao (155 – 220 AD), with styled Meng De and alias Aman was born in Qiao County (today’s Bozhou, Anhui Province). He was a great strategist, statesman and poet in the Three Kingdom Period. He was entitled as the Emperor Wu of Wei after his son Cao Pi became the Emperor of Wei Dynasty.

Cao Cao was both civilly and militarily outstanding when he was young. At that time, there was a man living in Runan named Xu Shao who was famed for his ability to evaluate one's potentials and talents. Cao Cao paid him a visit in hopes of receiving the evaluation that would earn him some political reputation. Originally, Xu pondered and refused to make a statement; however, under persistent questioning, he finally said, "You would be a capable minister in peaceful times and an unscrupulous hero in chaotic times."
Cao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate Chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms Period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the Wei Dynasty and was posthumously titled Emperor Wu of Wei. Cao Cao has also been praised as a brilliant ruler and military genius who treated his subordinates like his family. He was also skilled in poetry and martial arts and authored many war journals.
In 200, Guandu Battle happened between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. Yuan Shao amassed more than 100,000 troops and marched southwards on Xuchang in the name of rescuing the emperor. Cao Cao gathered 20,000 men in Guandu, a strategic point on the shore of the Yellow River. Despite his overwhelming advantage in terms of manpower, Yuan Shao was unable to make full use of his resources because of his indecisive leadership and Cao Cao's location.
With the help of a defector from Yuan Shao's army, Xu You, who informed Cao Cao of the location of Yuan Shao's supply depot, Cao broke the stalemate and sent a special task force to burn all the supplies of Yuan's army and won a decisive and seemingly impossible victory.
It was a famous battle in which many were defeated by few. Then Cao Cao easily defeated Yuans taking good advantage of internal conflict in Yuan’s family. Henceforth Cao Cao assumed effective rule over all of northern China. He sent armies further out and expanded his control across the Great Wall into its northern affiliate (today’s Korea), and southward to the Han River.

Zhuge Liang (181-234 AD)

Zhuge Liang with styled Kong Ming was an outstanding statesman and strategist in the Three Kingdoms Period. He was the symbol of wisdom, brilliance and genius. He was called “Crouching Dragon” in history.
Zhuge Liang was born in Yangdu County in Langya Commandery (today’s Yinan County, Shandong Province). He was the second of three brothers and

became orphaned at an early age. His uncle raised him and his brothers. When Cao Cao marched Shandong in 195, his family was forced to flee south and his uncle soon died of illness.

For ten years he resided in Longzhong Commandery (today’s Hubei Province)with his brothers Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Jun, leading a simple peasant life – farming by day and studying at night. His reputation grew and he was nicknamed the “Crouching Dragon”, an indication of his wisdom in various fields.
Zhuge Liang married the daughter of Huang Chengyan, whose wife was the sister of Lady Cai (wife of the warlord Liu Biao and sister of Cai Mao). The name of Zhuge Liang's wife is rumored as Huang Yueying. The Huang family was also related to several other established clans in the region.
The warlord Liu Bei resided in the neighboring city Xiangyang (today’s Xiangfan City, Hubei Province) under Liu Biao, his distant relative and the governor of the Jing Zhou (today’s Jingzhou City, Hubei Province). Liu Bei visited Zhuge Liang personally for three times. Liu asked Zhuge to support him as counselor. At last, Zhuge Liang was moved and joined Liu Bei in 207. Zhuge Liang presented his Longzhong Plan to Liu Bei and travelled to Eastern Wu to form an alliance between Liu Bei and its ruler Sun Quan.
In the Battle of Red Cliffs of 208, the allied armies of Liu Bei and Sun Quan defeated Cao Cao, thus enabling Liu Bei and Sun Quan to establish their own kingdoms.
The historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms described Zhuge Liang calling forth a southeastern wind to enhance Huang Gai's fire-attack by spreading the flames across Cao Cao's ships. In reality, however, it was Zhou Yu, a famous general of Wu Kingdom who masterminded the fire attack. In folklore, the wind is attributed to either Zhuge Liang's magic or his ability to make accurate predictions of the weather.
After the death of Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang became the chancellor of Shu under Liu Shan, Liu Bei's son. He reaffirmed the alliance with Wu. Although Liu Bei suggested Zhuge Liang taking control of Shu if Liu Shan proved to be an incompetent leader, Zhuge declined the suggestion and continued to serve Liu Shan with unwavering loyalty.
The Three Kingdoms Period was a splitting and turbulent period in Chinese history, and it was also a time of heroes and nationalities’ fusion.