Previous History - The Cao-Wei Empire - The Shu-Han Empire - The Wu Empire Previous History Although the begin of the Three Kingdoms period could be settled in the year 220 when Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor of Wei, many scholars set the end of the Han Dynasty era in the year 190 when the mighty general Dong Zhuo 董桌 – after eredicating the eunuch fraction at the court - kidnapped the last emperor of Han, Xiandi 漢獻帝, and abducted him from the capital of Luoyang to the old capital of Chang’an 長安 (modern Xi’an), causing the begin of three decades full of war and unrest, of political and administrative chaos, of social and economical distresses and calamities. An alliance of local governors under the leadership of Yuan Shao 袁紹 tried to overthrow the “dictator” Dong Zhuo. After the death of Dong Zhuo in 192, the empire was left in a political vacuum that was filled by a dozen of warlords and religious sects like the Daoist Five-Peck-of-Grains-Sect (Wudoumi Dao 五斗米道) and the Yellow Turban (Huangjin 黃巾) peasant uprising. The mightiest of the warlords were Cao Cao (roaming the area of modern Henan Prov.) and Yuan Shao (occupying modern Hebei Prov.). Cao Cao, having the young emperor in his hands, was able to beat Yuan Shao and conquered the northern part of China until 207. His opponents in the south, Sun Quan and Liu Bei, forged an alliance against the northern warlord and defeated Cao Cao in the river battle at the Red Cliff (Chibi 赤壁, "Chibi zhi zhan 赤壁之戰"; near modern Puqi 蒲圻/Hubei Prov.) in 208. From now on, the division of China was decided and finally effected in the years of 220-222 when Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan successively called themselved emperors. Chinese historians describe this situation as “dingzu duishi 鼎足對峙 - the feet of a tripod erected against each other“, or “Sanguo dingli 三國鼎立 - Three Kingdoms standing [within the empire like the feet of a] tripod (that is actually a single unit like the country of China)“. The Cao-Wei Empire Although Cao Cao was not a real member of the north Chinese aristocracy, he was accepted as a leader due to his military and political success. Nonetheless, he tried to oust his political opponents among the aristocracy with brutal force and thereby provoked the hostility of the mighty clans (shizu 士族). Cao Cao looked not only for supporters among the already existing families of a higher education and a higher social background (mingshi 名士), but also among the lower social strata and tried to promote people of ability rather than simply because of social background. Cao Cao’s (now called with his posthumous title Wei Wudi 魏武帝 - see titles of emperors) son Cao Pi 曹丕 made himself Emperor of Wei 魏 in 220 (name of an old state of the Warring States period), intendingly braking with the old Han empire that had lasted for about four hundred years. At the northern frontier, nomadic Non-Chinese people submitted to the new emperor of China, like the Xiongnu 匈奴, Shanshan 鄯善, Guici 龜慈, and Yutian 于闐, and there was installed a commandant protecting the Xianbei people (hu Xianbei xiaowei [also read jiaoyu] 護鮮卑校尉). The western region was governed as administrative prefecture (Xiyu zhangshi fu 西域長史府). Following the tradition of territorial expansion of the Han empire to the Central Asian oasises, military agrarian colonies (tuntian 屯田) were arranged especially in the area of Gaochang 高昌 (modern Turfan 吐魯番/Xinjiang Prov.). The southern frontier as war front against the empires of Wu and Shu should be relatively stable and quiet for the next few decades, although there occurred several military campaigns against the two southern empires. To consolidate his rule, Cao Pi tried to abolish the institutional problems by which the Later Han Dynasty had suffered and finally had perished. It was forbidden to present submissions or petitions to empresses bypassing the authority of the emperor like it had often been practice during Later Han. Furthermore, the relatives of empresses were excluded from official charges and feudal titles. Relatives and princes of the imperial house were enfeoffed with a feudal territory far away from the capital (in modern Shandong, Henan and Hebei Prov.), but they had to reside within these estates and were not allowed to dwell in the capital Luoyang. Their personal troops could not exceed a certain number of soldiers. Like his father too, Cao Pi relied on a very austere and economical household policy and interdicted the organising of extravagant burials and tombs like it had been popular among the Han Dynasty aristocracy and officialdom – whose funeral customs left us many precious archeological items. After Cao Pi’s death (he was now called Wei Wend i魏文帝 - see titles of emperors) in 225, his son Cao Rui曹叡 became emperor, aided by the inofficial governors Cao Zhen 曹真, Chen Qun 陳群, Cao Xiu 曹休, and Sima Yi 司馬懿. Under his rule, several military campaigns against the kingdoms of Wu and Shu took place, and the rebellion of Gongsun Yuan公孫淵 in Liaodong 遼東 (modern Liaoning Prov.) was suppressed. Cao Rui was the initiator of a new criminal and administrative codex called Weilü 魏律 or Xinlü 新律. To assume an official career, it was necessary to take part in a kind of examination system that was based on the Confucian Classics. These procedures were partially a response to the philosophical movement of the doctrine of the mysterium (Xuanxue 玄學) that rather dealt with metaphysical questions than with social and state-political matters like Confucianism, and that was very widespread among scholars of the third and fourth centuries. In this time, we therewith find the real origin of the official state examination system of China that should last until the end of 19th century. The nine rank system (jiupin 九品) with upper, mean and lower subranks (counting 27 ranks in total) of state officials had already been introduced by Cao Pi. The policy of austerity that had been pursued under the rule of Cao Cao and Cao Pi was gradually given up, and we find again material and personal unthriftiness at the central court and the residences of the aristocracy. When Cao Rui (now called Wei Mingdi 魏明帝- see titles of emperors) died childless in 239, the ageing Sima Yi (later called Jin Xuandi 晉宣帝, temple name Jin Gaozu 晉高祖 - see titles of emperors) took over the government for the minor emperor Cao Fang 曹芳, but Sima Yi was manoeuvered out by the court clique around Cao Shuang 曹爽, a party to which also belonged the philosopher He Yan 何晏. Only when Sima Yi was able to establish a coalition with the empress dowager, Cao Shuang was eliminated. In 251, the defender-in-chief Wang Ling 王淩 overthrew the minor emperor and installed Cao Biao 曹彪 as new ruler. In turn, Sima Yi’s son Sima Shi 司馬師 (later called Jin Jingdi 晉景帝, temple name Jin Shizu 晉世祖 - see titles of emperors) could disempower the clique of Wang Ling, Wuqiu Jian 毋丘儉, and Zhuge Dan 諸葛誕, and installed another puppet ruler named Cao Mao曹髦. Sima Shi’s brother Sima Zhao 司馬昭 (posthumous title Jin Wendi 晉文帝, temple name Jin Taizu 晉太祖- see titles of emperors) finally was enfeoffed as Duke of Jin 晉公. His puppet emperor was Cao Huan 曹奐, Emperor Wei Yuandi 魏元帝. The Shu-Han Empire Liu Bei 劉備 redraw to the region of Yizhou 益州 (modern Sichuan Prov.) in 211 and was supported by Guan Yu 關羽 (later venerated as the red-faced god Duke Guan 關公) and Zhang Fei 張飛 after he lost the region of Jingzhou 荊州 (middle Yangtse area) to the kingdom of Wu. He always saw himself as righteous successor of the old Han-Dynasty, also because he had the same surname (Liu 劉) like the house of Han. In 221 he called himself emperor of Shu (name of an old state of the Sichuan region). After the critical battle of Yiling 夷陵 (near modern Yichang 宜昌/Hubei Prov.) that was lost by Liu Bei – who shortly afterwards died (now called Han Zhaoliedi 漢昭烈帝 - see titles of emperors), the Shu empire was given into the hands of the minor ruler Liu Shan 劉禪 (a character otherwise read “chan”). Liu Shan, Liu Bei’s son, ruled his remote empire with the assistance of the wise chancellor Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮. Already in 207, Zhuge Liang had made a contract with Sun Quan 孫權 from the Wu empire to create a united front against the northern “usurper” Cao Cao 曹操. During the next decades, it was possible to hold a relatively stable frontier against the Cao-Wei empire in the region of Hanzhong 漢中 (mountainous area between modern Sichuan and Shaanxi Prov.) and to turn the attention to domestic policies. The Liu dynasty, residing in Chengdu 成都, had to rely on the local gentry (haozu 豪族) of the Sichuan Basin who was granted offices and territory. During a short peaceful period, the territory of Shu-Han was expanded to the south, covering the region of the modern provinces of Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan, during the so-called southern campaign (zheng Nanzhong 征南中). To facilitate the expansion of agriculture and wealth, southern Non-Chinese people of the mountaineous area were resettled as workforces in the fertile Sichuan basin. From 227 on, Zhuge Liang undertook several military campaigns against the Cao-Wei empire, without obtaining any satisfactory results. After Zhuge Liang’s death, Jiang Wan 蔣琬 and Fan Yi 費禕 overtook the role of political advisors for Liu Shan, while the late chancellor (“Zhuge Chengxiang” 諸葛丞相) was more and more venerated as an unapproachable saint. The last attempts of Jiang Wei 姜維 and Huang Hao 黃皓 to attack the Cao-Wei empire should end in the conquest of Shu by the generals Deng Ai 鄧艾 and Zhong Hui 鍾會,and the subsequent capitulation of Liu Shan in 263. The Wu Empire The potentates of the lower Yangtse area, the Sun clan under the guidance of Sun Ce 孫策 and his brother Sun Quan 孫權, managed to control the whole area south of the Yangtse down to the north of modern Vietnam, as well as north of the Yangtse until the area of the River Huai 淮河 (north of modern Jiangsu Prov.). In 222, Sun Quan proclaimed himself emperor of Wu (name of an old state of the lower Yangtse area) and was therewith the third power in a divided China. He shifted his residence from Wuchang 武昌 (modern Echeng 鄂城/Hubei Prov.) to Jianye 建業 (modern Nanjing). At the begin of his rule, Sun Quan tried to rely on the aristocracy of the River Huai 淮河 area, but he could not but cooperate and arrange with the local gentry (shizu 士族) of the territory southeast of the lower reaches of the Yangtse (Jiangdong 江東 triangle; south of modern Jiangsu Prov. and north of Zhejiang Prov.). In order to invigorate economy, agriculture and military power, large farmlands were opened in the lower and middle Yangtse area, and Sun Quan tried to obtain cheap workforces from the Non-Chinese montagnard people of modern Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces. Military campaigns to Yizhou 夷洲 (modern Taiwan) and Liaodong 遼東 (modern Liaoning Prov.) ended in military desasters. Nontheless, there existed intensive economical contacts with countries in East Asia (Koguryŏ 高句麗/Korea and the Wa 倭 states of Japan), Southeast Asia (Linyi 林邑, Funan 扶南 in modern Vietnam and Cambodia), and even to India (Tianzhu 天竺) and the near east (Daqin 大秦). In order to secure his own rule, Sun Quan granted the mighty clans of the large land estate owners of the lower Yangtse area wide privileges. They were exempted from certain taxes, had special economical and military rights, and were allowed to manage large households with thousands of clerks, bondsmen and quasi-slaves. Yet not to lose the grip on these almost self-governed communities, wives and sons of this aristocrats had to be sent to the capital as hostages, and certain officials had the task to control this gentry. Often, gentry clans fought for their political independence from the court at Jianye. Succession struggles between Sun Quan’s sons Sun He 孫和, and Sun Ba 孫霸, led by court fractions, were finally decided in favour of Sun’s youngest son Sun Liang 孫亮 who was controlled by Zhuge Ke 諸葛恪and his opponent Sun Jun 孫峻 after Sun Quan’s death. Later, Sun Lin 孫綝 was able to depose Sun Liang to the title of King of Guiji 會稽, and to enthrone Sun Xiu 孫休. The empires of Cao-Wei and Shu-Han were already destroyed by Sima Yan 司馬炎, when chancellor Puyang Xing 濮陽興 and general Zhang Bu 張布 installed the young Sun Hao 孫皓 (later called Marquis of Wucheng 烏程) as emperor of Wu. Having lost the political and military grip on his own empire, Sun Hao submitted to Sima Yan, the new emperor of Jin 晉, in 280. Chinese historiographers did not have an absolute calendar like Western writers the counting from the year of Jesus' birth. During the Warring States period, the year of rule of the kings of Zhou was the scale of counting time. But for the Three Kingdoms, many historians were not able to decide the rule of what emperor should be the orientation scale. The History of the Three Kingdoms is compounded of three autonomous books for every empire: Weishu 魏書, Wushu 吳書 and Shushu 蜀書 (together called the Sanguozhi 三國志, compiled by 陳壽). Jin Dynasty 晉 (266-420) historians counted Liu Bei's rule as the justified, which directly was succeeded by Jin. For Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修, the Heavenly mandate was cut off during that time. Sima Guang 司馬光 (Northern Song Dynasty) used the Wei calendar because the other lords had accepted Cao Pi's rule. Zhu Xi 朱熹 (Southern Song) again chose the calendar of Liu Bei as the justified. History is never told objectively, but every age has its own interpretation of events and actors. Discussion about who was the right emperor is not ended yet. In the head of the average people, we find popular tales and stories about the battles, intrigues and plans of the Three Kingdoms. The tale that most formed popular thinking about this period of history is the novel Sanguo yanyi 三國演義 "The Three Kingdoms" by Luo Guanzhong 羅貫中 (end 15th cent.). This novel depicts Cao Cao as a decisive person who ended the dictatorship of cruel Dong Zhuo, but who dared to make himself the ruler for a weak and young emperor. His counterpart Liu Bei is the justified successor and defensor of the Han family. The contemporary historians were quite objective in their judge about who had to be a real ruler, but later novelists, theatre writers and open-air theatres made a villian of Cao Cao and a hero of Liu Bei and his followers. The last's advisor Zhuge Liang was even revered as a popular deity.

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