Empire220 CE – 280 CE · 60 years
Three Kingdoms (China)
Overview
The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from 220 to 280 AD following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the Western Jin dynasty. Academically, the periodisation begins with the establishment of Cao Wei in 220 AD and ends with the conquest of Wu by Jin in 280 AD. The period immediately preceding the Three Kingdoms, from 184 to 220 AD, was marked by chaotic infighting among warlords across China as Han authority collapsed. The period from 220 to 263 AD was marked by a comparatively stable arrangement between Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. This stability broke down with the conquest of Shu by Wei in 263 AD, followed by the usurpation of Cao Wei by Jin in 266 AD and ultimately the conquest of Wu by Jin in 280 AD.
Wikipedia: Three Kingdoms·CC BY-SA 4.0
Borders & accuracy
Solid borders are reconstructed from canonical historical-basemap data or hand-crafted from scholarly atlases.
- SOURCEhand-crafted from scholarly atlases
- DETAILhand-traced-from:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms
- SNAPSHOT250 CE
- POLITY TYPEstate
Wars of this empire18
Conflicts whose belligerents name this polity, best-documented first.
- Three Kingdoms Wars184–280 CEWorld-changing · 36M dead
- Three Kingdoms Period (China)220–280 CEWorld-changing · 20M dead
- Three Kingdoms Period Wars220–280 CEMajor conflict · 20M dead
- Shu-Wei Xiping Wars225–234 CESignificant · 500K dead
- Jin-Shu Unification War266–280 CESignificant · 500K dead
- Jinyang Wars and Sima Yi Campaigns245–266 CESignificant · 400K dead
- Battle of Wuzhang Plains234 CESignificant · 100K dead
- Sun Quan's Southern Expansion200–222 CERegional · 300K dead
- Liu Bei-Chu Conflicts208–220 CERegional · 300K dead
- Lu Xun's Strategic Campaigns230–245 CERegional · 300K dead
- Sun Quan's Eastern Campaigns214–229 CERegional · 200K dead
- Shu Jingzhou Campaigns208–220 CERegional · 150K dead
- Jizhou Conflicts200–220 CERegional · 100K dead
- Lingnan Campaign200–220 CERegional · 100K dead
- Yiling Campaign221–222 CERegional · 100K dead
- Battle of Yiling222 CERegional
- Battle of Chencang229 CERegional
- Goguryeo–Wei War244–245 CERegional
Open in the atlas →Seeks the timeline to 220 CE and fits the map to these borders.
Cite as: Three Kingdoms (China) (220 CE – 280 CE). War Atlas. https://waratlas.org/e/asia-three-kingdoms · Sources & methodology