Gongsun Kang was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. He became a vassal of the state of Cao Wei in the early Three Kingdoms period.
Gongsun Yuan, courtesy name Wenyi, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in 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 Cao Wei general Sima Yi led forces to Liaodong and successfully conquered Yan.
Yuan Shao, courtesy name Benchu (本初), was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He occupied the northern territories of China during the civil wars that occurred towards the end of the Han dynasty. He was also an elder half-brother of Yuan Shu, a warlord who controlled the Huai River region, though the two were not on good terms with each other.
Yuan Shu, courtesy name Gonglu, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. He rose to prominence following the collapse of the Han central government in 189. He declared himself Emperor of China in 197 under the short-lived Zhong dynasty, two years before his death in 199.
The military history of the Three Kingdoms period encompasses roughly a century's worth of prolonged warfare and disorder in Chinese history. After the assassination of General-in-chief He Jin in September 189, the administrative structures of the Han government became increasingly irrelevant. By the time of death of Cao Cao, the most successful warlord of North China, in 220, the Han empire was divided between the three rival states of Cao Wei, Shu Han and Eastern Wu. Due to the ensuing turmoil, the competing powers of the Three Kingdoms era found no shortage of willing recruits for their armies, although press-ganging as well as forcible enlistment of prisoners from defeated armies still occurred. Following four centuries of rule under the Han dynasty, the Three Kingdoms brought about a new era of conflict in China that shifted institutions in favor of a more permanent and selective system of military recruitment. This ultimately included the creation of a hereditary military class as well as increasing reliance on non-Chinese cavalry forces and the end of universal conscription.
Gongsun Zan, courtesy name Bogui, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty.
Yuan Tan, courtesy name Xiansi, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who was the eldest son of Yuan Shao, a warlord who occupied much of northern China during the late Eastern Han dynasty. After Yuan Shao's death, Yuan Tan engaged his younger brother, Yuan Shang, in a power struggle over their father's territories. He sought help from his father's rival, Cao Cao, and defeated Yuan Shang with Cao's help. However, the alliance between Yuan Tan and Cao Cao was eventually broken and Yuan was defeated and killed in the Battle of Nanpi by Cao Cao's troops.
The end of the Han dynasty was the period of Chinese history from 189 to 220 CE, roughly coinciding 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. One of those warlords, Cao Cao, was gradually reunifying the empire, ostensibly under Emperor Xian's rule; the Emperor and his court were actually controlled by Cao Cao himself, who was opposed by other warlords.
Zhang Yan, born Chu Yan, also known as Zhang Feiyan, was the leader of the Heishan bandits during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He rose from a local rebel to master of a confederation that could hold off the Han and was able to maintain authority in Changshan until he chose to surrender to Cao Cao, getting enfeoffment that remained with his family.
Yuan Shang, courtesy name Xianfu, was a Chinese military general, politician, and 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 Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms. 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.
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.
Tian Kai was an official serving under the warlord Gongsun Zan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.
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.
Xin Ping, courtesy name Zhongzhi, was a Chinese official who served under the warlords Han Fu, Yuan Shao and Yuan Tan during the late Eastern Han dynasty.
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 the Han population or the Xianbei tribes.
The Battle of Liyang, fought between October 202 and June 203 in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, was an invasion attempt by the warlord Cao Cao against the brothers Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan, the sons of Cao's rival Yuan Shao. The battle in October 202 was the first between the two factions since the death of Yuan Shao four months earlier. Although it ended in Cao Cao's withdrawal, events in this battle brought tensions between the Yuan brothers to the surface as Yuan Tan mutinied against his younger brother Yuan Shang after Cao Cao's temporary exit from the scene.
Lady Liu (劉夫人) was a Chinese noblewoman who lived during the Han Dynasty. She was a concubine of Yuan Shao, the Grand Administrator of Bohai. She was also the mother of Yuan Shang, third son and successor of Yuan Shao. After Yuan Shao's death, she succeeded him as the de facto leader. She is best known for starting a conspiracy against members of the Yuan family and plotting the murder of Yuan Shao's five concubines so that her son would become the family's sole heir.
Shi Huan (d.209), courtesy name Gongliu gained a reputation for valor and loyalty comparable to Han Hao. Served the Eastern Han dynasty warlord Cao Cao from early on, a trusted figure who helped supervise officials.
