This is because similar to the Roman Empire in western Europe, the fall of the unifi ed Han dynasty signaled a period of civil wars, intrigues, and nomadic invasions and rule over northe
Trang 1Three Kingdoms, China
The Three Kingdoms period lasted between 220 and
280 c.e It inaugurated almost four centuries of
politi-cal division in Chinese history, comparable to the Dark
Ages in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire in
the West This is because similar to the Roman Empire
in western Europe, the fall of the unifi ed Han dynasty
signaled a period of civil wars, intrigues, and nomadic
invasions and rule over northern China
Several events heralded the fall of the Eastern Han
dynasty, beginning with the Yellow Turban Rebellion
in 184 c.e This peasant revolt with messianic overtones
was put down by regional warlords, who proceeded to
war against one another, with the hapless emperors as
their pawns Cao Cao (Ts’ao Ts’ao) emerged as the most
powerful warlord, but his attempt to reestablish unity
under his leadership ended at the Battle of the Red Cliff
in 208, when his forces were defeated by a coalition of
two rivals As a result, Cao could only control
north-ern China, while one rival Liu Bei (Liu Pei), who was
a descendant of the Han imperial house, established
himself in Sichuan (Szechwan) and the southwest with
a capital city in Chengdu (Cheng-tu), while Sun Quan
(Sun Ch’uan) controlled the southeast from the
Yang-tze River valley to northern Vietnam with his capital
in Nanjing (Nanking) Cao Cao, known as one of the
most wily and ruthless politicians in Chinese history,
consolidated his rule in the north, gave himself the title
of king, and would probably have usurped the throne
but died in 220
In 220 Cao Cao’s son Cao Pi (Ts’ao P’ei) forced the
last Han emperor to abdicate in his favor and proclaimed
the establishment of the Wei dynasty However, his rivals
immediately challenged him Liu Bei proclaimed himself
emperor because of his imperial lineage, and his dynasty
was called the Shu Han (Shu is another name of
Sich-uan) Zhugo Liang (Chu-kuo Liang), a brilliant
tacti-cian who gained legendary renown, and Liu Bei’s sworn
brothers, Zhang Fei (Chang Fei) and Guan Yu (Kuan
Yu), aided him militarily The latter became known as
Guandi (Kuan-ti), or Emperor Guan, and was deifi ed as
the god of war in Chinese popular religion
Liu Bei’s early death in 223 and the inability of his
successor resulted in the annexation of Shu Han by Wei
in 263 Sun Quan also proclaimed himself emperor in
222 and called his realm the Wu dynasty Meanwhile,
Cao Cao’s weak descendants would suffer the same fate
as the last Han emperor In 265 the last Wei ruler was
forced to abdicate to his powerful general, Sima Yuan
(Ssu-ma Yuan), who founded the Jin (Chin) dynasty
Sima Yuan then destroyed Wu in 280 and ended the era
of the Three Kingdoms It was an era of chaos, wars, and murderous intrigues but has been romanticized as one of chivalry and romance
See also Era of Division (China)
Further readings: Crespigny, Rafe de The Records of the
Three Kingdoms Canberra: Australian National University
Press, 1970; Fang, Achilles The Chronicle of the Three
King-doms, 2 vols Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1952–65
Jiu-Hwa Lo Upshur
Three Kingdoms, Korea
The Three Kingdoms period refers to an era in Korean history in the fourth century c.e when the three states
of Koguryo, Silla, and Paekche existed simultaneously until the unifi cation of the peninsula by Silla in 668 c.e Koguryo was the largest and earliest unifi ed king-dom, followed by Paekche and Silla Our knowledge
of the three kingdoms comes from archaeology and ancient historical texts from China, Japan, and Korea,
particularly the Samguk Sagi, Korea’s fi rst history
written in 1145
Koguryo was unifi ed as a kingdom under the sixth ruler, King T’aejo, and occupied the northern part of the Korean peninsula and Manchuria in northeastern China The Yemaek tribes, who conquered the Puyo state in 37 b.c.e., founded Koguryo For centuries Koguryo kings fought against tribes to the north and China to the west In 313 c.e the Koguryo king drove the Chinese out of their Lo-lang commandery cen-tered in Pyongyang However, the Chinese retaliated
in 342, successfully attacked the Koguryo capital, dug
up the corpse of the Koguryo king, and departed with 50,000 prisoners Paekche took advantage of Kogu-ryo’s weakness by invading the capital near Pyongyang and killing the ruler
The golden age of Koguryo’s territorial expansion was during the rule of King Kwanggaet’o According to
an inscription in his tomb, he conquered 64 fortresses and 1,400 villages He also took over the Liaotung region
of northeastern China, which had been a focal point for Chinese attacks against Koguryo He drove back a Japa-nese invasion of Silla in 400 c.e In 475 Kwanggaet’o attacked the Paekche capital and expanded his borders southward by defeating an allied force of the Chinese Northern Wei kingdom and Paekche soldiers Koguryo