The Yellow Turban Rebellion,also translated as the Yellow Scarves Rebellion,was a peasant revolt in China against the Eastern Han dynasty. The uprising broke out in 184 AD during the reign of Emperor Ling. Although the main rebellion was suppressed by 185 AD,pockets of resistance continued and smaller rebellions emerged in later years. It took 21 years until the uprising was fully suppressed in 205 AD. The rebellion,which got its name from the colour of the cloths that the rebels wore on their heads,marked an important point in the history of Taoism due to the rebels' association with secret Taoist societies. The revolt was also used as the opening event in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Liu Bei,courtesy name Xuande (玄德),was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the Han imperial family,Liu Bei's father died when he was a child and left his family impoverished. To help his mother,he sold shoes and straw mats. When he reached the age of fifteen,his mother sent him to study under Lu Zhi. In his youth,Liu Bei was known as ambitious and charismatic. He gathered a militia army to fight the Yellow Turbans. Liu Bei fought bravely in many battles and grew famous for his exploits. Later,he participated in the coalition against Dong Zhuo,following this joined his childhood friend Gongsun Zan and fought under him against Yuan Shao.
Zhao Yun,courtesy name Zilong (子龍),was a military general who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. Originally a subordinate of the northern warlord Gongsun Zan,Zhao Yun later came to serve another warlord,Liu Bei,and had since accompanied him on most of his military exploits,from the Battle of Changban (208) to the Hanzhong Campaign (217–219). He continued serving in the state of Shu Han –founded by Liu Bei in 221 –in the Three Kingdoms period and participated in the first of the Northern Expeditions until his death in 229. While many facts about Zhao Yun's life remain unclear due to limited information in historical sources,some aspects and activities in his life have been dramatised or exaggerated in folklore and fiction. In the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms,he was lauded as a member of the Five Tiger Generals under Liu Bei.
Zhang He,courtesy name Junyi,was a military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He continued serving in the state of Cao Wei under its first two rulers,Cao Pi and Cao Rui,during the Three Kingdoms period until his death.
LüBu,courtesy name Fengxian,was a Chinese military general,politician,and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of Imperial China. Originally a subordinate of a minor warlord Ding Yuan,he betrayed and murdered Ding Yuan and defected to Dong Zhuo,the warlord who controlled the Han central government in the early 190s. In 192,he turned against Dong Zhuo and killed him after being instigated by Wang Yun and Shisun Rui,but was later defeated and driven away by Dong Zhuo's followers.
Zhang Fei,courtesy name Yide,was a military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. Zhang Fei and Guan Yu,who were among the earliest to join Liu Bei,shared a brotherly relationship with their lord and accompanied him on most of his early exploits. Zhang Fei fought in various battles on Liu Bei's side,including the Red Cliffs campaign (208–209),takeover of Yi Province (212–214),and Hanzhong Campaign (217–218). He was assassinated by his subordinates in 221 after serving for only a few months in the state of Shu Han,which was founded by Liu Bei earlier that year.
Cao Ren,courtesy name Zixiao,was a military general serving during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China under the warlord Cao Cao,who was also his older second cousin. He continued serving in the state of Cao Wei –founded by Cao Cao's son and successor,Cao Pi –during the Three Kingdoms period. He played a significant part in assisting Cao Cao in the civil wars leading to the end of the Han dynasty. He was appointed as the Grand Marshal (大司馬) when Cao Pi ascended the throne,and was also credited by the latter for the establishment of Wei. However,Cao Ren was also once derided as a mediocre commander by Zhu Huan,a general from Wei's rival state Eastern Wu.
Yu Jin,courtesy name Wenze,was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He joined Cao Cao in 192 around the start of the civil wars leading to the collapse of the dynasty,and fought in many of the campaigns which established the warlord's position as a central figure in that period. In 219,Yu Jin was tasked with leading forces to relief Cao Cao's general Cao Ren,who was being besieged in Fancheng by Liu Bei's general Guan Yu,but his armies were destroyed in a flood due to heavy rains. Yu Jin surrendered to Guan Yu and became a prisoner-of-war,but was transferred to the custody of another warlord,Sun Quan,after Sun Quan's forces captured Guan Yu's bases in late 219. Sun Quan treated Yu Jin like a guest and in 221 sent him back to the state of Cao Wei,which was founded in late 220 by Cao Cao's successor,Cao Pi,who ended the Eastern Han dynasty. Cao Pi pardoned Yu Jin and restored him to the position of a general. However,Yu Jin died later that year in regret after visiting Cao Cao's tomb,where he saw illustrations of the Battle of Fancheng depicting his surrender to Guan Yu.
Tian Feng,courtesy name Yuanhao,was a Chinese politician serving under the warlord Yuan Shao during the late Eastern Han dynasty.
Cao Hong,courtesy name Zilian,was a Chinese military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He started his career in the late Eastern Han dynasty under the warlord Cao Cao,who was his older second cousin.
Wu Ban,courtesy name Yuanxiong,was a Chinese military general of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period of China.
Xun Chen,courtesy name Youruo,was an official who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Born in the influential Xun family of Yingchuan Commandery,he was the fourth brother of Xun Yu and a second cousins once removed of Xun You. He initially served as an adviser to the warlord Han Fu and later to another warlord,Yuan Shao.
Zou Jing was a military officer who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty of China.
The war between Cao Cao and Zhang Xiu was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Zhang Xiu between 197 and 199 in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. It concluded with Zhang Xiu's surrender to Cao Cao.
The Jingnan campaign,or Jingnan rebellion,was a three-year civil war from 1399 to 1402 in the early years of the Ming dynasty of China. It occurred between two descendants of the Ming dynasty's founder Zhu Yuanzhang:his grandson Zhu Yunwen by his first son,and Zhu Yuanzhang's fourth son Zhu Di,Prince of Yan. Though Zhu Yunwen had been the chosen crown prince of Zhu Yuanzhang and been made emperor upon the death of his grandfather in 1398,friction began immediately after Yuanzhang's death. Zhu Yunwen began arresting Zhu Yuanzhang's other sons immediately,seeking to decrease their threat. But within a year open military conflict began,and the war continued until the forces of the Prince of Yan captured the imperial capital Nanjing. The fall of Nanjing was followed by the demise of Zhu Yunwen,the Jianwen Emperor and Zhu Di was thus crowned the Ming Dynasty's third emperor,the Yongle Emperor.
Zhu Huan (177–238),courtesy name Xiumu,was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Although he started his career early under the warlord Sun Quan,he did not receive any important responsibilities until after the Battle of Jiangling in 209. Since then,Zhu Huan had taken charge of some local defences and successfully quelled a few rebellions. Between 222 and 225,when Cao Pi,the emperor of Wu's rival state Wei,launched a three-pronged invasion of Wu,Sun Quan appointed Zhu Huan as a military commander to resist the Wei invaders. Zhu Huan defeated the Wei general Cao Ren at the Battle of Ruxu (222–223).
Zhao Yan,courtesy name Boran,was a government official and military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He previously served under the warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty.
Li Te,courtesy name Xuanxiu,posthumously King Jing of Chengdu and later Emperor Jing,was the spiritual founder of Cheng Han during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He was a Ba-Di from present-day Gansu who,due to Qi Wannian's rebellion in 296,decided to move back to his ancestral home in Yizhou. In Yizhou,his brother,Li Xiáng joined a rebellion in 300 headed by Zhao Xin but was betrayed and killed by Zhao the following year. Li Te retaliated and drove out Zhao from Yizhou before submitting to the Jin dynasty (266–420). Li Te was beloved by the refugees of Yizhou and was sought by them after the Jin court issued an order forcing all refugees to return to their provinces despite the problems that led to their migration still persisting there. After months of evading the order,Jin forces led by Luo Shang took action in 301 and attacked Li Te. For the next two years,Li Te fought Luo Shang with consistent success,going as far as reaching Chengdu and declaring a new reign era before he was abruptly killed in an ambush in 303. Still,his brother Li Liu and his son Li Xiong would continue his war,with the latter finally forcing Luo Shang out from Chengdu in 304. Li Xiong established the state of Cheng,and posthumously honoured his father as a king and later an emperor.
Chen An,courtesy name Huhou,was a Chinese military general and warlord of the Jin dynasty (266–420) and Han Zhao during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. During the aftermath of the Disaster of Yongjia in northern China,Chen An became a favored general of the Jin prince Sima Bao in Qinzhou,but an assassination attempt on him made by one of Bao's subordinates in 315 prompted Chen An to declare independence in Longcheng. He submitted to the Han Zhao state in 319,but after a misunderstanding between him and the emperor,Liu Yao,Chen An rebelled in 322,declaring himself the King of Liang. Chen An's reign was short,as he was defeated and executed by Han Zhao forces the following year.
Zhang Fang was a military general of the Jin dynasty (266–420). He was the powerful general of the Prince of Hejian,Sima Yong during the War of the Eight Princes who helped him in subduing the Prince of Changshan,Sima Ai,and had the imperial family under his control in 304. Though capable,he was most noted for his cruelty,allowing his soldiers to plunder and kill freely and also having them engaged in cannibalism. Zhang was killed by Sima Yong under his order in 306 in a desperate attempt to use his death to settle for peace with the Prince of Donghai,Sima Yue.
