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Chinese History : The Three Kingdoms
As a result, there were many revolts and uprisings and as the empire began to decline, warlords began to grab power and land. When the Eastern Han Dynasty finally ended there were 3 main sphere of power. In 208 AD when the Eastern Han dynasty was alive but in name only, Cao of Wei (a warlord that grabbed land in the northern China) captured Emperor Xian of Han. With the emperor under his control, cao named himself the prime minister of the imperial government and used the name of the Emperor to order local powers to do his bidding. With this power is managed to reform the agriculture policy by recruiting refuges and reclaiming wasteland. In return for crop protection he demanded 50 % of the annual crop production, solving all food supply problems and enabling him to increase his army ranks. Cao brilliant planning and strategizing allowed him to unite the north of China, making the state of Wei 1 of the spheres of power. The second sphere of power was the state of Wu. While Cao was uniting the North, Sun Ce gradually built up his armies and occupied the south.When he died he Gave the land and power to his son Sun Quan. The last sphere of power was from the west from the state of Shu. Liu Bei was the leader of this state and a descendant of the royal family, he controlled the west of China making the third sphere of Power. The kingdom or state of Wei was the strongest of all the kingdoms holding 12 provinces and occupying the central fertile plains with a population of 4.43 million. The Wu kingdom in South China held 2.3 million people and the state of Shu in the West held just under 1 million. Cao of Wei attempted to unite all of China under his rule, but was defeated by Sun Quan and Liu Pei in the battle of the Red Cliff. This defeat was the beginning of the period known as the three Kingdoms which existed from 220-265 AD. As after the defeat, In 220 AD; Cao of Wei died and his son Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian to abdicate bring an end to the Han Dynasty. Cao Pi declared himself Emperor of the Wei Dynasty, Liu Bang declared himself the next emperor of the Han Dynasty calling his dynasty the Shu Han Dynasty and Sun Quan declared himself Emperor of the Wu Dynasty. In 222, the troops of Shu declared war on Wu and met the Wu armies at the Battle of Yi Ling. At Yi Ling, Liu Bei was disastrously defeated by Sun Quan's commander Lu Xun and forced to retreat back to Shu, where he died soon afterward. After Liu Bei’s death, Wu forgave Shu past regressions and allowed a peace treaty between the two states, as the state of Wei was a much larger threat than the state of Shu. In 223, the throne of Shu went to Liu Bang’s son Liu Shan.Liu Shan was said to be an incompetent leader however he had a very wise advisor named Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang created stability and growth in the state of Shu and started sending invasion forces into Wei. However each force was defeated and in 234 AD he died from an illness during one of the invasion forces. Without the guidance of Zhuge Liang the state of shu starting declining, as eunuchs started becoming more involved in politics and grabbing the emperor’s power. In 263, Wei launched a three-pronged attack and the Shu’s army was forced into a general retreat. By the winter of the year Liu Shan had surrendered and the state of Shu had come to an end. The next kingdom to fall was the Wei Kingdom. After Cao Pi died of illness, his son Cao Rui succeeded to the throne in 226. During the reign of Cao Cao,Cao Pi and Cao Rui there was a man who helped maintain the empire named Sima Yi. During the 3 different regions Sima Yi held many important posts and had many important connections in both military and in the court.In 239, Cao Rui died of a illness, and his son Cao Fang came to the throne at just 8 years old. Cao Shuang and Sima Yi were the assistants of the young emperor. Sima Yi managed to launch a coup and eliminate Cao Shuang and his supports. Without Cao Shuang the Emperor’s power fell into the hands of the Sima Family. In 265, Sima Yan ( the grandson of Sima Yi) forced the then Emperor Cao Huan to abdicate, and by doing overthrew the Wei Dynasty and established the Jin Dynasty. The last kingdom to fall was the Wu dynasty. Following the death of Sun Quan the Wu dynasty started to decline. The last Emperor of Wu was Sun Hao. He was a promising young man originally, but after getting the throne, he became a tyrant.He started killing or exiling all who dared to oppose him in the court and this led to a rapid decline in the Wu Dynasty power. In 280, Emperor Sun Hao surrendered to the Jin Dynasty and was given a fiefdom on which to live out his days and the history of both the Wu Dynasty and the The Three Kingdoms period ended. However it sparked a new chapter on the newly formed Jin Dynasty. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Chinese Blossom Want to learn Mandarin in Shanghai. A professional Mandarin school that offers the cheapest mandarin lessons and Chinese Classes in Shanghai. Cheap Mandarin Group lessons and Professional private classes. Free Mandarin learning Free Mandarin Learning. Chinese Flashcards, Mandarin games and Mandarin audio library |
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