The 200s decade ran from January 1, 200, to December 31, 209.
Year 205 (CCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Geta. The denomination 205 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
The Five Barbarians, or Wu Hu, is a Chinese historical exonym for five ancient non-Han peoples who immigrated to northern China in the Eastern Han dynasty, and then overthrew the Western Jin dynasty and established their own kingdoms in the 4th–5th centuries. The peoples categorized as the Five Barbarians were the Xiongnu, Jie, Xianbei, Di, and Qiang. Of these five tribal ethnic groups, the Xiongnu and Xianbei were nomadic peoples from the northern steppes. The ethnic identity of the Xiongnu is uncertain, but the Xianbei appear to have been Mongolic. The Jie, another pastoral people, may have been a branch of the Xiongnu, who may have been Yeniseian. The Di and Qiang were from the highlands of western China. The Qiang were predominantly herdsmen and spoke Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman) languages, while the Di were farmers who may have spoken a Sino-Tibetan or Turkic language.
Cao Cao, courtesy name Mengde, was a Chinese warlord, statesman and poet. He was the penultimate grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty who rose to great power in the final years of the dynasty. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and ultimately the Jin dynasty, and was posthumously honoured as "Emperor Wu of Wei" although he never was an emperor during his lifetime. He remains a controversial historical figure, and is often portrayed as a cruel and merciless tyrant in subsequent literature; however, he has also been praised as a brilliant ruler and military genius with unrivalled charisma who treated his subordinates like his family.
Gongsun Yuan, courtesy name Wenyi, was a warlord and vassal of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He rebelled against Wei in 237 and declared himself "King of Yan" (燕王). In 238, the Wei general Sima Yi led forces to Liaodong and successfully conquered Yan.
Cao Zhang, courtesy name Ziwen, nickname "The Yellow Goatee" (黃鬚兒), was a prince of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was a son of Cao Cao, a warlord who rose to power towards the end of the Han dynasty and laid the foundation of Wei. Cao Zhang was said to have wrestled and killed wild animals with his bare hands. He also served as a general under his father, having led his troops to significant victories against Wuhuan incursions on the northern frontier.
Zhang Xiu was a military general and minor warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. In 197, he clashed with the warlord Cao Cao, who was then the de facto head of the Han central government, at the Battle of Wancheng and subsequent skirmishes. However, in 200, he heeded the suggestion from his adviser Jia Xu and surrendered to Cao Cao, who accepted his surrender and appointed him as a general. Having fought on Cao Cao's side at the decisive Battle of Guandu against a rival warlord Yuan Shao and in the subsequent campaigns against Yuan Shao's heirs, Zhang Xiu made great contributions during his service under Cao Cao. In 207, he died en route to joining Cao Cao on a campaign against the Wuhuan tribes. The Han imperial court honoured with the posthumous title "Marquis Ding".
The Wuhuan were a Proto-Mongolic nomadic people who inhabited northern China, in what is now the provinces of Hebei, Liaoning, Shanxi, the municipality of Beijing and the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia.
The end of the Han dynasty refers to the period of Chinese history from 189 to 220 CE, which roughly coincides with the tumultuous reign of the Han dynasty's last ruler, Emperor Xian. During this period, the country was thrown into turmoil by the Yellow Turban Rebellion (184–205). Meanwhile, the Han Empire's institutions were destroyed by the warlord Dong Zhuo, and fractured into regional regimes ruled by various warlords, some of whom were nobles and officials of the Han imperial court. Eventually, one of those warlords, Cao Cao, was able to gradually reunify the empire, ostensibly under Emperor Xian's rule, but the empire was actually controlled by Cao Cao himself.
Dong Zhao, courtesy name Gongren, was an official of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He previously served under the warlords Yuan Shao, Zhang Yang and Cao Cao consecutively during the late Eastern Han dynasty.
Yuan Shang, courtesy name Xianfu, was a warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the third son and successor of the warlord Yuan Shao. In the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Yuan Shang was described as "strong but arrogant", and he was his father's favourite son.
Tadun was a leader of the Wuhuan tribes during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was an ally of the warlord Yuan Shao and Yuan Shao's son and successor Yuan Shang.
Gongsun Gong was a minor warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. He was a son of Gongsun Du and a younger brother of Gongsun Kang, who both consecutively served as the Administrators of Liaodong Commandery in northeastern China. In 207, he advised his brother Gongsun Kang to execute the warlords Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang, who had fled to Liaodong Commandery for shelter after their defeat by the warlord Cao Cao. Gongsun Kang did so and sent the Yuans' heads to Cao Cao. After Gongsun Kang died, Gongsun Gong succeeded his brother as the new Administrator of Liaodong Commandery because Gongsun Kang's sons were too young at the time to assume the office. Gongsun Gong remained as a vassal of the Eastern Han dynasty and later pledged allegiance to the Cao Wei state, which replaced the Eastern Han dynasty in 220. In the same year, the Wei emperor Cao Pi granted Gongsun Gong the nominal appointment of General of Chariots and Cavalry (車騎將軍). In 228, Gongsun Yuan, Gongsun Kang's son, seized power from his uncle Gongsun Gong and put him in prison. Gongsun Yuan then started a rebellion against Wei, but the rebellion was suppressed by the Wei general Sima Yi in 238. Gongsun Gong was released after that. His eventual fate is unknown.
Kebineng was a Xianbei chieftain who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms period of China. He rose to power during the late Eastern Han dynasty after the warlord Cao Cao defeated the Wuhuan tribes in northern China at the Battle of White Wolf Mountain in 207.
Yan Rou was a military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He previously served under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty.
You Prefecture or Province, also known by its Chinese name Youzhou, was a prefecture (zhou) in northern China during its imperial era.
The Xianbei state or Xianbei confederation was a nomadic empire which existed in modern-day Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, northern Xinjiang, Northeast China, Gansu, Buryatia, Zabaykalsky Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, Tuva, Altai Republic and eastern Kazakhstan from 156 to 234. Like most ancient peoples known through Chinese historiography, the ethnic makeup of the Xianbei is unclear.
Gao Gan, courtesy name Yuancai, was a minor warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was a maternal nephew and subordinate of the warlord Yuan Shao.
The Battle of White Wolf Mountain was a battle fought in 207 in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. The battle took place in northern China, beyond the frontiers of the ruling Eastern Han dynasty. It was fought between the warlord Cao Cao and the nomadic Wuhuan tribes, who were allied with Cao Cao's rivals Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi. The victory attained by Cao Cao dashed the hopes of a Wuhuan dominion, and the Wuhuan eventually became weakened, lost importance, and were gradually absorbed into China or the Xianbei tribes.
The Battle of Nanpi happened in the first month of 205, during the period known as the end of the Han Dynasty. The battle spelled the annihilation of Yuan Tan, one of Yuan Shao's sons vying to succeed their father, by their common enemy Cao Cao, one of the serving Three Ducal Ministers. Having already dealt a major blow to another son Yuan Shang, Cao Cao's victory at Nanpi gave him uncontested control of the North China Plain, while the remnant Yuan power blocs were chased further north.
