original_language_of_work records of the three kingdoms
The Warring States period was an era in ancient ___MASK46___ history following the Spring and Autumn period and concluding with the Qin wars of conquest that saw the annexation of all other contender states , which ultimately led to the Qin state ' s victory in 221 BC as the first unified ___MASK46___ empire known as the Qin dynasty . Although different scholars point toward different dates ranging from 481 BC to 403 BC as the true beginning of the Warring States , Sima Qian ' s choice of 475 BC is generally the most often cited and popularly accepted one . The Warring States era also overlaps with the second half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty , though the ___MASK46___ sovereign , known as the king of Zhou , ruled merely as a figurehead and served as a backdrop against the machinations of the warring states . The Spring and Autumn period was a period in ___MASK46___ history from approximately 771 to 476 BC ( or according to some authorities until 403 BC ) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty . The period ' s name derives from the " Spring and Autumn Annals ", a chronicle of the state of Lu between 722 and 479 BC , which tradition associates with Confucius . Cao Cao ( 155  15 March 220 ), courtesy name Mengde , was a ___MASK46___ warlord and the penultimate Chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty who rose to great power in the final years of the dynasty . As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period , he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously honoured as " Emperor Wu of Wei ". Although he is often portrayed as a cruel and merciless tyrant in subsequent literature , Cao Cao has also been praised as a brilliant ruler and military genius who treated his subordinates like his family . During the fall of the Eastern Han dynasty , Cao Cao was able to secure the most populated and prosperous cities of the central plains and northern China . Cao had much success as the Han chancellor , but his handling of the Han emperor Liu Xie was heavily criticized and resulted in a continued and then escalated civil war . Opposition directly gathered around warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan , whom Cao was unable to quell . Cao was also skilled in poetry and martial arts and wrote many war journals . Luo Ben ( c . 1330  1400 , or c . 1280  1360 ), better known by his courtesy name Guanzhong , was a ___MASK46___ writer who lived during the Yuan and Ming periods . He was also known by his pseudonym Huhai Sanren . Luo was attributed with writing " Romance of the Three Kingdoms " and editing " Water Margin ", the first two of the Four Great Classical Novels of ___MASK46___ literature . Cao Wei ( 220  265 ) was one of the three major states that competed for supremacy over China in the Three Kingdoms period ( 220  280 ). With its capital at Luoyang , the state was established by Cao Pi in 220 , based upon the foundations laid by his father , Cao Cao , towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty . The name " Wei " first became associated with Cao Cao when he was named the Duke of Wei by the Eastern Han government in 213 , and became the name of the state when Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor in 220 . Historians often add the prefix " Cao " to distinguish it from other ___MASK46___ states known as " Wei ", such as Wei of the Warring States period and Northern Wei of the Southern and Northern Dynasties . The authority of the ruling Cao family gradually weakened after the death of the second Wei emperor , Cao Rui , and eventually fell into the hands of Sima Yi , a Wei regent , and his family , in 249 . Cao Rui ' s successors remained as puppet rulers under the control of the Simas until Sima Yi ' s grandson , Sima Yan , forced the last Wei ruler , Cao Huan , to abdicate the throne and established the Jin dynasty . The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period , also called Five Dynasties , was an era of political upheaval in 10th - century imperial China . During this period , five states quickly succeeded one another in the ___MASK46___ Central Plain , while more than a dozen concurrent states were established elsewhere , mainly in south China . The Han dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China ( 206 BC  220 AD ), preceded by the Qin dynasty ( 221  206 BC ) and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period ( 220  280 AD ). Spanning over four centuries , the Han period is considered a golden age in ___MASK46___ history . To this day , China ' s majority ethnic group refers to itself as the " Han people " and the ___MASK46___ script is referred to as " Han characters ". It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang , known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han , and briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty ( 9  23 AD ) of the former regent Wang Mang . This interregnum separates the Han dynasty into two periods : the Western Han or Former Han ( 206 BC  9 AD ) and the Eastern Han or Later Han ( 25  220 AD ). Chen Shou ( 233  297 ), courtesy name Chengzuo , was an official and writer who lived in the Three Kingdoms period and Jin dynasty . He started his career as an official in the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era but was demoted and sent out of the capital for his refusal to fawn on Huang Hao , an influential court eunuch in Shu in its twilight years . After the fall of Shu in 263 , Chen ' s career entered a period of stagnation before he was recommended by the minister Zhang Hua to serve in the Jin government . He held mainly scribal and secretarial positions under the Jin government before dying from illness in 297 . He had over 200 writings  about 30 of which he co - wrote with his relatives  attributed to him . Jiangsu , formerly romanized as Kiangsu , is an eastern - central coastal province of the People ' s Republic of China , one of the leading provinces in manufacturing electronics and apparel items , with its capital in Nanjing . Jiangsu is the third smallest , but the fifth most populous and the most densely populated of the 23 provinces of the People ' s Republic of China . Jiangsu has the second - highest GDP of ___MASK46___ provinces , after Guangdong . Jiangsu borders Shandong in the north , Anhui to the west , and Zhejiang and Shanghai to the south . Jiangsu has a coastline of over along the Yellow Sea , and the Yangtze River passes through the southern part of the province . Wuyue ( ___MASK21___ : ), 907 - 978 , was an independent coastal kingdom founded during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms ( 907 - 960 ) of ___MASK46___ history . It was ruled by the Qian family , which remains widespread in the kingdom ' s former territory . Romance of the Three Kingdoms , attributed to Luo Guanzhong , is a historical novel set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in ___MASK46___ history , starting in 169 AD and ending with the reunification of the land in 280 . The Four Great Classical Novels of ___MASK46___ literature are the four novels commonly regarded by ___MASK46___ literary criticism to be the greatest and most influential of pre - modern ___MASK46___ fiction . Dating from the Ming and Qing dynasties , they are well - known to most ___MASK46___ either directly or through their many adaptations to opera and various popular culture media . The Records of the Three Kingdoms , also known by its ___MASK46___ title Sanguozhi ( traditional ___MASK46___ :  ; simplified ___MASK46___ :  ; pinyin : Snguó Zhì ) , is a ___MASK46___ historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty ( c . 184 -- 220 AD ) and the Three Kingdoms period ( 220 -- 280 AD ) . It is widely regarded as the official and authoritative historical text for that period . Written by Chen Shou in the third century , the work combines the smaller histories of the rival states of Cao Wei , Shu Han and Eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms period into a single text . The Records of the Three Kingdoms provided the basis for the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century . The Three Kingdoms ( AD 220  280 ) was the tripartite division of China between the states of Wei , Shu , and Wu , following the Han dynasty and preceding the Jin dynasty . The term " Three Kingdoms " itself is something of a mistranslation , since each state was eventually headed not by a king , but by an emperor who claimed legitimate succession from the Han dynasty . Nevertheless , the term " Three Kingdoms " has become standard among sinologists . To further distinguish the three states from other historical ___MASK46___ states of similar names , historians have added a relevant character : Wei is also known as Cao Wei , Shu is also known as Shu Han , and Wu is also known as Dong ( or Eastern ) Wu . The term eunuch generally refers to a man who has been castrated , typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences . In some ancient texts , " eunuch " may also refer to a man who is not castrated but who is impotent , celibate , or otherwise not inclined to marry and procreate . In ___MASK84___ , the words " eunuchus ", " spado " ( ___MASK98___ : " spadon "), and " castratus " were used to denote eunuchs . The history of ___MASK46___ literature extends thousands of years , from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature vernacular fiction novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate ___MASK46___ . The introduction of widespread woodblock printing during the Tang Dynasty ( 618  907 ) and the invention of movable type printing by Bi Sheng ( 990  1051 ) during the Song Dynasty ( 960  1279 ) rapidly spread written knowledge throughout China . In more modern times , the author Lu Xun ( 1881  1936 ) is considered the founder of " baihua " literature in China . Wu ( 222  280 ), commonly known as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu , was one of the three major states that competed for supremacy over China in the Three Kingdoms period ( 220  280 ). It previously existed from 220  222 as a vassal kingdom nominally under Cao Wei , its rival state , but declared independence from Wei and became a sovereign state in 222 . It became an empire in 229 after its founding ruler , Sun Quan , declared himself ' Emperor '. Its name was derived from the place it was based in  the Jiangnan ( Yangtze River Delta ) region , which was also historically known as " Wu ". It was referred to as " Eastern Wu " or " Sun Wu " by historians to distinguish it from other ___MASK46___ historical states with similar names which were also located in that region , such as the Wu state in the Spring and Autumn period and the Wuyue kingdom in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period . It was called " Eastern Wu " because it occupied most of eastern China in the Three Kingdoms period , and " Sun Wu " because the family name of its rulers was " Sun ". During its existence , Wu ' s capital was at Jianye ( present - day Nanjing , Jiangsu ), but at times it was also at Wuchang ( present - day Ezhou , Hubei ). Shu or Shu Han ( 221  263 ) was one of the three major states that competed for supremacy over China in the Three Kingdoms period ( 220  280 ). The state was based in the area around present - day Sichuan and Chongqing , which was historically known as " Shu " after an earlier state in Sichuan named Shu . Shu Han ' s founder Liu Bei had named his state " Han " as he considered it the legitimate successor to the Han dynasty , while " Shu " is added to the name as a geographical prefix to differentiate it from the many " Han " states throughout ___MASK46___ history . Water Margin is a novel attributed to Shi Nai ' an . Considered one of the Four Great Classical Novels of ___MASK46___ literature , the novel is written in vernacular ___MASK46___ rather than ___MASK32___ .