Three Kingdoms
''This article is about "Three Kingdoms" in China. For other "Three Kingdoms", please refer to Three Kingdoms (disambiguation).
The Three Kingdoms (三國 pinyin san1 guo2) (220 - 265) refers to a period of time after the fall of the Han Dynasty in China, marked by the struggle of three rival kingdoms: the Kingdom of Wei (魏 wei4), the Kingdom of Shu (蜀 shu3) and the Kingdom of Wu (吳 wu2) for control of China. Each kingdom's ruler called himself "emperor" and believed that his "empire" should be the true successor of the Han Dynasty.
Of the three, Wei was always the most powerful kingdom. It conquered the Shu kingdom in 263. By this time the Sima clan had effectively wrested control of Wei away from the Cao family; Sima Yan formally seized the throne in 265 and established the Jin Dynasty (265-420). In 280, Sima Yan succeeded in conquering the Wu kingdom and reunifying China.
The famous Chinese epic novel Romance of Three Kingdoms was based on this period. The authoritative historical record of this era is the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms.
Map depicting significant regions of China at that time
- Major battles:
- Battle of Red Cliff
- Battle of Guan Du
- Battle of Yi Ling
- Battle of Jie Ting
- Battle of Wu Zhang Yuan
- Major Campaigns and Events:
- Yellow Turban Rebellion
- Cao Cao Unification of the North
- Liu Bei Campaign of subduing Yizhou
- Zhuge Liang Campaign of subduing the Southern tribes
- The Six Northern Expeditions
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Preceded by: Han Dynasty | Timeline of Chinese history |
Succeeded by: Jin Dynasty |
