The Beginning
Written by TH
In ancient China, there was a period of division among the empire from 220 AD to 280 AD. Three dynasties controlled China during this era of separation: the Wei dynasty, the Wu dynasty, and the Shu dynasty. The Wei dynasty ruled northern China, the Wu dynasty ruled in the southeast along the Atlantic Ocean, and the Shu dynasty hailed in the southwest region of China to make divide the empire into almost even thirds. This era of ancient China is known as the Three Kingdoms.
The Three Kingdoms formed after around twenty years of inner conflict and civil war in ancient China. The conflict arose as the young Emperor Shao came to power due to the death of Emperor Ling in 189 AD. Emperor Ling was the last emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty to experience internal peace of China, because Emperor Shao did not have a strong hold over his empire and there was much conflict that resulted from manipulation in the government. Dong Zhuo was the government official given the credit for dethroning Shao and giving the power to Emperor Xian.
Over the next seven years, Dong Zhuo was killed from mutiny and China seemed as if it had been broken into different sections. However, there were two major divisions that had distinct advantages over the others. Those divisions were ruled by Cao Cao and Yuan Shao. In 201, the Battle of Guandu took place where Yuan Shao was defeated by Cao Cao and the northern area of China was unified under Cao Cao. He continued his conquests toward southern China, but was brought to a halt by Sun Quan and Liu Bei at the Battle of Red Cliff. This assisted in the formation of the Wei and Shu dynasties.
The official beginning of the Wei dynasty was in 220 when Cao Cao's son Cao Pi became emperor and took the national title of Wei. The Shu dynasty began as Liu Bei gave himself the title of emperor and took the national title of Shu in 221. The year 222 was the year that began the Wu dynasty, ruled by Emperor San Quan. Thus began the era of the Three Kingdoms. The next sixty years were filled with battles and innovation. Each kingdom had their own improvements and advancements with the use of available technology and there were thrilling battles throughout the era of the Three Kingdoms. (The Three Kingdoms)
