Shu

As warlords battled for dominance throughout China, one man was committed to reestablishing the once-great Han dynasty: Liu Bei. Despite being a distant relative of Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Bei came from humble beginnings. His father died when Liu Bei was young, so to support his family Liu Bei helped his mother make straw sandals. He soon grew into a formidable young man and, when learning of the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 CE, he was eager to fight for the empire. He became sworn brothers with two other men, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, in the legendary ‘Oath of the Peach Garden’. The three men remained dedicated to one another for their entire lives, first serving as volunteers against the Yellow Turbans. It was during this rebellion that Liu Bei first made a name for himself: he was appointed assistant magistrate in Pingyuan in recognition for his accomplishments.

Liu Bei served under a variety of warlords, including Gongsun Zan, Tao Qian, and Liu Biao, throughout the tumultuous period between the end of the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the founding of the Three Kingdoms. After the death of Tao Qian, the governor left his title of Governor of Xu to Liu Bei. He then came into conflict with Yuan Shu, which led to an alliance with the infamous warlord Cao Cao, a man who controlled the puppet emperor. Liu Bei and Cao Cao also fought together against the notoriously fickle Lü Bu, who had once been an ally of Liu Bei’s. Liu Bei eventually turned against Cao Cao and in 200 CE, Cao Cao attacked Liu Bei and his companions, forcing Liu Bei to turn to Liu Biao for protection. While staying with Liu Biao, Liu Bei met and formed an alliance with the famous military strategist Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang, who has become a legendary figure, was credited with inventing a crossbow that shoots multiple bolts at once as well as writing Bazhentu (八陣圖) or the Eight Elements Battle Formation, a text that describes the importance of the interaction between chariots, crossbows, cavalry, and infantry in battle.

Liu Biao died in 208 CE, leaving Liu Bei in an unsafe position: to escape Cao Cao’s wrath, he fled south and sought an alliance with Sun Quan. The two successfully defeated Cao Cao at Chi Bi (the Battle of Red Cliffs) later that year, mostly due to the strategy of Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu. Liu Bei then married Sun Quan’s sister and became the Governor of Jing Province. A few years later, Liu Bei successfully captured the Yi Province from Liu Zhang and suddenly held a large portion of territory: he had ‘borrowed’ part of the Jing province from Sun Quan in 210 CE, and now refused to give it back. After conquering Hanzhong, Liu Bei officially named himself the King of Hanzhong in 219 CE.

Now the ruler of a large swath of territory in the modern day Sichuan province, Liu Bei named himself emperor in 221 CE in response to Cao Pi’s deposition of Emperor Xian the previous year. Convinced that Emperor Xian had been murdered by Cao Pi, Liu Bei claimed that he sought to reestablish the Han empire. He established the Shu Han capital at Chengdu. Despite establishing an empire, Liu Bei didn’t enjoy any peace: Sun Quan and the Wu armies had retaken the Jing Province and killed Liu Bei’s sworn brother Guan Yu. Protected by his White Feather Guard, an elite infantry unit, Liu Bei fought against the Wu kingdom in 221 CE, but he was ultimately defeated.

Liu Bei died in 223 CE from illness, leaving his most trusted advisor Zhuge Liang as regent over his heir Liu Shan. Zhuge Liang ruled until his death in 234 CE: the regency was then passed to Jiang Wan until 246 CE when Liu Shan finally took over as full emperor. Liu Shan was never able to live up to his father’s reputation, and he surrendered Chengdu to the Wei in 263 CE, ending the brief Shu Han empire.