Three Kingdoms

Alternate meanings: Three Kingdoms (disambiguation)

The Three Kingdoms period (Traditional Chinese characters: 三國, Simplified Chinese characters: 三国, pinyin Sānguó) in a strict sense refers to the period between the rise of the Wei dynasty (220) and the fall of the state of Shu (263). It was marked by the struggle between three rival states, Wei, Shu, and Wu for control of China. Most Chinese historians take the period between the coalition against Dong Zhuo (190) and the destruction of Wu by Jin (280) as the boundaries for the Three Kingdoms period.

Popular knowledge of the history of the period has long been distorted by the famous epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The authoritative historical record of the era is Chen Shou's Sanguo Zhi and Pei Songzhi's later annotations. The term "Three Kingdoms" itself has been regarded as a mistranslation since each state was eventually headed by an Emperor, who claimed legitimate succession from the Han Dynasty.

This article will trace outline the major developments leading to the establishment of the Three Kingdoms and their subsequent history.

Collapse of dynastic power

The series of events leading to the collapse of dynastic power and the rise of Cao Cao are extremely complex. The death of Emperor Ling in May 189 led to an unstable regency under General-in-chief He Jin and renewed rivalry between the factions of the eunuchs and officials. Following the assassination of He Jin, his chief ally the Colonel-Director of Retainers Yuan Shao led a massacre of the eunuchs in the imperial palaces. The ensuing turmoil at the capital allowed the frontier general Dong Zhuo to enter Luoyang and take control of the imperial court, ushering in a period of civil war across China.

Dong Zhuo manipulated the succession so that the future Emperor Xian could take the throne. In 190 a coalition led by Yuan Shao was formed in the eastern provinces against him. The mounting pressure drove the Han Emperor and later Dong Zhuo himself west to Chang'an in May 191. A year later he was killed in a coup and the Emperor passed through a number of warlords in the years that followed.

The rise of Cao Cao

There was some talk among the coalition of appointing an emperor of their own, and gradually its members began to fall out. Open warfare broke out as soon as Dong Zhuo left Luoyang. In August 195 Emperor Xian left Chang'an and made a year-long hazardous journey east in search of supporters. By 196, when he was received by Cao Cao, most of the smaller contenders for power had either been absorbed by larger ones or destroyed. The Han Empire was divided between a number of regional warlords. Yuan Shao occupied Ye and extended his power north of the Yellow River against Gongsun Zan, who held the northern frontier. Cao Cao, directly to his south, was engaged in a struggle against Yuan Shu and Liu Biao, who respectively occupied the Huai River basin and Middle Yangzi regions. Further south the young warlord Sun Ce was establishing his rule in the Lower Yangzi. In the west, Liu Zhang held Yizhou province whilst Hanzhong and the northwest was controlled by a motley collection of smaller warlords.

Cao Cao, who would become the effective founder of Wei, had raised an army in the winter of 189. He had absorbed some 300,000 Yellow Turbans into his army as well as a number of clan-based military groups. In 196 he established an imperial court at Xuchang and developed military agricultural colonies (tuntian) to support his army. After destroying Yuan Shu in 197, then the eastern warlords Lü Bu (198) and Liu Bei (199) successively, Cao Cao turned his attention north to Yuan Shao, who himself had eliminated his northern rival Gongsun Zan that same year.

Following months of planning, the two sides met in force at Guandu in 200. Overcoming Yuan's superior numbers, Cao Cao decisively defeated him and crippled the northern army. In 202, Cao Cao took advantage of Yuan Shao's death and the resulting hostility between his sons to advance north of the Yellow River. He captured Ye in 204 and occupied the provinces of Ji, Bing, Qing and You. By the end of 207, after a lightning campaign against the Wuhuan peoples, Cao Cao had achieved undisputed dominance of the North China Plain.

Red Cliffs and its aftermath

In 208, Cao Cao marched south with his army hoping to quickly unify the empire. Liu Biao's son Liu Zong surrendered the province of Jing and Cao was able to capture a sizeable fleet at Jiangling. Sun Quan, the successor to Sun Ce in the Lower Yangzi, continued to resist however. His advisor Lu Su secured an alliance with Liu Bei, himself a recent refugee from the north. Their combined armies of 50,000 met Cao Cao's fleet and 200,000-strong force at Red Cliffs that winter. After an initial skirmish, an attack with fireships inflicted a decisive defeat on Cao Cao, forcing him to retreat in disarray back to the north. The allied victory at Red Cliffs ensured the survival of Liu Bei and Sun Quan, and provided the basis for the states of Shu and Wu.

After his return to the north, Cao Cao contented himself with absorbing the northwestern regions in 211 and consolidating his power. He progressively increased his titles and power, becoming King of Wei in 217. Liu Bei entered Yi province and later in 214 displaced Liu Zhang as ruler, leaving his commander Guan Yu in charge of Jing province. Sun Quan, who had in the intervening years being engaged with defences against Cao Cao in the southeast at Hefei, now turned his attention to Jing province and the Middle Yangzi. Tensions between the allies were increasingly visible. In 219, after Liu Bei successfully seized Hanzhong from Cao Cao and as Guan Yu was engaged in the siege of Fan, Sun Quan's commander-in-chief Lü Meng secretly seized Jing province.

Tripartite of China

In the first month of 220, Cao Cao died and in the tenth month his son Cao Pi deposed the Emperor Xian and ended the Han Dynasty. He named his state Wei and made himself Wei Wendi at the capital of Luoyang. In 221, Liu Bei named himself Emperor Zhaolie of Han, in his bid for a revival of the Han dynasty. In the same year, Wei bestowed on Sun Quan the title of King of Wu and his enthronement took place at Wuchang. A year later, Shu-han troops declared war on Wu met the Wu armies at the Battle of Yiling. At Xiaoting, Liu Bei was disastrously defeated by Sun Quan's commander Lu Xun and forced to retreat back to Shu, where he died soon afterwards. After the death of Liu Bei, Shu and Wu resumed friendly relations and made a pact against Wei, thus stabilising the tripartite configuration. In 229, Sun Quan renounced his recognition of Wei Wendi and made himself Wu Dadi at Wuchang.

Dominion of the north completely belonged to Wei, whilst Shu occupied the southwest and Wu the central south and east. The external borders of the kingdoms were generally limited by to the extent of civilisation. For example, Shu's southern frontier halted after Han influence subsided to the semi-nomadic Thai tribes of modern Burma.

Population

In terms of manpower, the Wei was by far the strongest, retaining more than 660,000 households and 4,400,000 people within its borders. Shu had a population of 940,000, and Wu 2,300,000. Thus, Wei had more than 58% of the population and around 40% of territory. With these resources, it is estimated that it could raise an army of 400,000 whilst Shu and Wu could manage 100,000 and 230,000 respectively: roughly 10% of their populations. The Wu-Shu alliance against the Wei proved itself to be a militarily stable configuration; the basic borders of the Three Kingdoms almost unchanging for more than forty years.

Trade and transport

In economic terms the division of the Three Kingdoms reflected a reality that long endured. Even in the Northern Song, seven hundred years after the Three Kingdoms, it was possible to think of China been composed of three great regional markets. (The status of the northwest was slightly ambivalent, as it had links with the northern region and Xichuan). These geographical divisions are underscored by the fact that the main communication routes between the three main regions were all man-made: the Grand Canal linking north and south, the hauling-way through the gorges of the Yangzi linking the south with Xichuan and the Gallery Road joining Xichuan with the northwest. Given the geopolitical nature of the empire, the break into three separate entities was quite natural and even anticipated by such political foresights as Zhuge Liang (see Longzhong Plan 隆中對).

Consolidation

In 222 Liu Shan rose to the throne of Shu following his father's defeat and death. The defeat of Liu Bei at Yiling ended the period of hostility between Wu and Shu and both used the opportunity to concentrate on internal problems and the external enemy of Wei. For Sun Quan, the victory terminated his fears of Shu expansion into Jingzhou and he turned to the natives of the southeast, whom collectively the Chinese called the Shanyue peoples. A collection of successes against the rebellious tribesmen culminated in the victory of 234. In that year Zhuge Ge ended a three year siege of Danyang when 100,000 Shanyue surrendered. Of these 40,000 were drafted as auxiliaries into the Wu army. Meanwhile Shu were also experiencing troubles with the indigenous tribes of their south. The South-western Yi peoples rose in revolt against Han authority, captured and looted the city of Yizhou. Zhuge Liang, recognising the importance of stability in the south, ordered the advance of the Shu armies in three columns against the Yi. He captured and released the enemy leader Meng Huo on a several occasions and in the end, Meng submitted. A tribesman was allowed to reside in Chengdu as an official and the Yi formed their own battalions within the Shu army.

Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions

At the end of the southern campaign, the Wu-Shu alliance came to fruition and Shu was free to move against north. In 227 Zhuge Liang transferred his main Shu armies to Hanzhong, and opened up the battle for the northwest with Wei. (See Northern Expeditions) The next year, he ordered general Zhao Yun to attack from Ji Gorge as a diversion whilst Zhuge himself led the main force to Qishan. The vanguardMa Su, however, suffered a tactical defeat at Jieting and the Shu army was forced to withdraw. In the next six years Zhuge Liang attempted several more offensives, but supply problems limited the capacity for success. In 234 he led his last great northern offensive, reaching the Wuzhang Plain south of the Wei River. Due to his untimely death, however, the Shu army was forced once again to withdraw.

Wu and development of the south

In the times of Zhuge Liang's great northern offensives, the kingdom of Wu had always been on the defensive against invasions from the north. The area around Hefei was under constant pressure from Wei after the Battle of Red Cliffs and the scene of many bitter battles. Warfare had grown so intense that many of the residents chose to migrate and resettle south of the Yangzi. After Zhuge Liang's death, attacks on the Huainan region intensified but nonetheless, Wei could not break through the line of the river defenses erected by Wu, which included the Ruxu fortress.

Sun Quan's long reign is regarded as a time of plenty for his southern kingdom. Migrations from the north and the settlement of the Shanyue increased manpower and agriculture prospered, especially along the lower reaches of the Yangzi and in Huiqi commandery. River transport blossomed, with the use of the Zhedong and Jiangnan canals. Trade with Shu flourished, with a huge influx of Shu cotton and the development of celadon and metal industries. Ocean transport was improved to such an extent that sea journeys were made to Manchuria and even the island of Taiwan, then known as Yizhou (230). In the south, Wu merchants reached Linyi (southern Vietnam) and Fu'nan (Cambodia). As the economy prospered, so too did the arts and culture. In the Yangzi delta, the first Buddhist influences reached the south from Luoyang.

Decline and end of the Three Kingdoms

At Luoyang, the capital of Wei, bitter court factionalism broke out between the imperial kinsman Cao Shuang and the Grand CommandantSima Yi. In deliberations, Cao placed his own supporters in important posts and excluded Sima, whom he regarded as a threat. Indeed, the Sima clan, was a power unto itself, dating back to the great landowning families of the Eastern Han. Additionally, Sima Yi was a extremely capable strategist and politician himself, attaining many military honours. In 238 he crushed the rebellion of Gongsun Yuan and brought the Liaodong region directly under central control. Ultimately, he outmaneuvered Cao Shuang in power play. Taking advantage of an excursion by the imperial clansmen to Gaoping Tombs, Sima undertook a putsch in Luoyang, forcing Cao Shuang's faction from authority. Many protested to the overwhelming power of the Sima family; notable of which were the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. One of the sages, Xi Kang, was executed as part of the purges after Cao Shuang's downfall.

Conquest of Shu

The decreasing strength of the Cao clan was mirrored by the decline of Shu. After Zhuge Liang's death, his position as Lieutenant Chancellor fell to Jiang Wan, Fei Wei and Dong Yun, in that order. But after 258, Shu politics became increasingly controlled by the eunuch faction and corruption rose. Despite the energetic efforts of Jiang Wei, Zhuge's protégé, Shu was unable to secure any decisive victory against Wei. In 263, Wei launched a three-pronged attack and the Shu army was forced into general retreat from Hanzhong. Jiang Wei hurriedly held a position at Jiange but he was outflanked by the Wei commander Deng Ai, who force-marched his army from Yinping through territory formerly considered impassable. By the winter of the year, the capital Chengdu had fallen and the emperor Liu Shan had surrendered. The kingdom of Shu had come to an end after forty-three years.

Conquest of Wu

Following Sun Quan's death in 252, the kingdom of Wu went into a period of steady decline. Successful Wei oppression of rebellions in the Huainan region by Sima Zhao and Sima Shi reduced any opportunity of Wu influence. The fall of Shu signalled a change in Wei politics. Sima Yan (grandson of Sima Yi), after receiving the surrender of Liu Shan, overthrew the Wei emperor and proclaimed his own dynasty of Jin in 264, ending forty-six years of Cao dominion in the north. In 269 Yang Hu, Jin commander in the south, started preparing for the invasion of Wu by ordering the construction of a fleet and training of marines in Xichuan under Wang Jun. Four years later, Lu Kang, the last great general of Wu died, leaving no competent successor. The planned Jin offensive finally came in the winter of 279. Sima Yan launched five simultaneous offensives from Jiankang to Jiangling and the Xichuan fleet sailed downriver to Jingzhou. Under the strain of such an enormous attack, the Wu forces collapsed and Jiankang fell in the third month of 280, bringing to a close a century of conflict.

Major battles

Biographies

For a more comprehensive list, see Personages of the Three Kingdoms

External links