Cao Cao,courtesy name Mengde,was a Chinese statesman,warlord,and poet who rose to power during the end of the Han dynasty,ultimately taking effective control of the Han central government. He laid the foundation for what was to become the state of Cao Wei (220–265),established by his son and successor Cao Pi,who ended the Eastern Han dynasty and inaugurated the Three Kingdoms period (220–280). Beginning in his own lifetime,a corpus of legends developed around Cao Cao which built upon his talent,his cruelty,and his perceived eccentricities.
The Yellow Turban Rebellion,alternatively translated as the Yellow Scarves Rebellion,was a peasant revolt during the late Eastern Han dynasty of ancient China. The uprising broke out in 184 CE,during the reign of Emperor Ling. Although the main rebellion was suppressed by 185 CE,it took 21 years for full suppression of resistant areas and emerging rebellions by 205 CE. The weakening of the imperial court and the rising political influence of ultra-autonomous regional military-governors,who helped suppress the rebellion,eventually led to rampant warlord dominance and the resultant Three Kingdoms period.
Zhang Liao,courtesy name Wenyuan,was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He served briefly in the state of Cao Wei,founded by Cao Cao's successor Cao Pi,in the early Three Kingdoms period before his death. Formerly a subordinate of other warlords such as Ding Yuan,Dong Zhuo and LüBu,Zhang Liao joined Cao Cao around 198 after LüBu's downfall at the Battle of Xiapi. Since then,he participated in many of Cao Cao's military campaigns,including those against Yuan Shao's heirs and the Wuhuan tribes from 201 to 207. He is best known for his pivotal role in the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford in 214–215,in which he successfully defended Hefei from the forces of the warlord Sun Quan.
Liu Bei,courtesy name Xuande (玄德),was a Chinese warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who later became the founding emperor of Shu Han,one of the Three Kingdoms of China.
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 (益德),was a Chinese military general and politician 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.
Guo Jia,courtesy name Fengxiao,was an adviser to the warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Throughout his 11 years of service,Guo Jia aided Cao Cao greatly with his brilliance and foresight,and his strategies were instrumental to Cao Cao's triumphs over rival warlords such as LüBu and Yuan Shao. For example,four years before Cao Cao's decisive victory over Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu,Guo Jia already foresaw that Cao Cao would win when he pointed out ten advantages Cao Cao had over Yuan Shao.
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.
Ji Ling was a military general serving under the warlord Yuan Shu during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.
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.
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.
Qu Yi was a military general serving under the warlord Yuan Shao during the late 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 Battle of Han River was fought between the warlords Liu Bei and Cao Cao in April 219 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The battle was the last major engagement in the Hanzhong Campaign,in which Liu Bei emerged victorious and subsequently declared himself King of Hanzhong.
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 the Jianwen Emperor,Zhu Yunwen. Zhu Di was then crowned the Ming Dynasty's third emperor,the Yongle Emperor.
Sima Yi's Liaodong campaign occurred in 238 CE during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Sima Yi,a general of the state of Cao Wei,led a force of 40,000 troops to attack the kingdom of Yan led by warlord Gongsun Yuan,whose clan had ruled independently from the central government for three generations in the northeastern territory of Liaodong. After a siege that lasted three months,Gongsun Yuan's headquarters fell to Sima Yi with assistance from Goguryeo,and many who served the Yan Kingdom were massacred. In addition to eliminating Wei's rival in the northeast,the acquisition of Liaodong as a result of the successful campaign allowed Wei contact with the non-Han peoples of Manchuria,the Korean Peninsula,and the Japanese archipelago. On the other hand,the war and the subsequent centralisation policies lessened the Chinese grip on the territory,which permitted a number of non-Han states to form in the area in later centuries.
