Map of Kyushu in Han Dynasty

In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, it was not nine states, but thirteen states.

The last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty refer to the period from the first year of Zhongping to the twenty-fifth year of Jian'an (184-220), which refers to the eve of the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, until Cao Pi usurped the Han Dynasty or the Three Kingdoms were established (Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu Dynasty proclaimed himself emperor in 229 ) ended and lasted for 36 years (or 45 years based on the founding of Soochow). During this period, warlords separated themselves and fought with each other.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, as land annexation became more and more serious, powerful landlords had their own private armed forces, and *** *** politics became dark, the imperial power was weak, and excessive delegation of power to local areas resulted in a situation of separatism among the heroes. .

These separatist forces have different rise processes and development paths, reflecting the diverse aspects of that turbulent era.

Map of the Eastern Han Dynasty:

Extended information

Historical background of the late Eastern Han Dynasty

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, agricultural production appeared Serious land annexation has directly led to the rise of local powerful forces.

Due to the political darkness of the central government, the Shi Changshi ran rampant in government and opposition parties, and their control over local areas became increasingly weakened, causing the problem of land annexation to worsen day by day, and the people suffered the bitter consequences of this phenomenon, coupled with natural disasters and plagues A double blow, they rebelled one after another and launched large-scale rebellions. The most famous one was the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

The turmoil of the times also gave local tycoons the opportunity to rise. They initially relied on their own financial resources to organize their own armed forces to defend their homes, and later gradually evolved into warlords with private armed forces, such as Cao Cao, Liu Bei and others all emerged in this context. Since the central government did not cultivate political affairs, it was powerless to deal with such a situation. Instead, they were needed to maintain local stability.

As the local powerful developed to a later stage, they gradually divided into two camps: the nobles and the poor.

Among them, the gentry had an advantage in land and power, and therefore had the power to monopolize the top political leaders, forming a special gentry politics during the Three Kingdoms and Two Jin Dynasties.