Thread by @olliekarp

For today's #dailysoup, I will talk about the causes of the Three Kingdoms Period of #China.

This is for immersion x context purposes as @mydearfaye is currently streaming "Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty", which takes place during that period.

More info in this 🧵.

1/18

What preceded the Three Kingdoms Period (220 AD - 280 AD) was the #Han Dynasty, which was marked with an expansive economic and political power, making it one of the greatest classical civilisations.

Just like any other empire, the Han Dynasty experienced its own downfall.

2/18

Four main theories behind the fall of the Han Dynasty are explained by Chinese historians.

These theories are: internal struggles, the rising power of the empress x court eunuchs over child emperors, external struggles, and rebellions.

3/18

As time passed, the Chinese Han Dynasty experienced corruption and favouritism as the taxes from small farmers paid to the empire's local elites, but these elites failed to use the funds to sustain the empire.

The Han government prioritised amusement over ruling.

4/18

Meanwhile, as the population grew, commoners had to prioritise on survival, so they resisted taxes by hiding from tax collectors, while scholar-officials exempted themselves from taxes.

Hence, tax revenue decresed for the Han Dynasty.

5/18

Another factor that dealt a huge blow to the Han Dynasty was the rise of the eunuchs, who were people who could not bear children anymore, so they had enough time to devote their loyalty to the empire. They started increasing in power, threatening elites.

6/18

During the reign of Emperor Huan from 146 AD - 168 AD, clashes between Han court officials and eunuchs began.

The eunuchs formed ties with the Han emperor that were so close that the emperor persecuted the Han court officials and favoured the eunuchs.

7/18

During the reign of Han Emperor Ling from 168 AD - 189 AD, a small group of elites tried to purge the eunuchs, but it failed and they were arrested, executed, and fired from their positions.

The eunuchs still had power, weakening the empire x inviting more favouritism.

8/18

Another factor that contributed to the fall of the Han Dynasty could be rooted in the wars between Han China and the Xiongnu state (a confederation of nomads from what is now known as Central Asia x the Xinjiang region) from 133 BC - 89 AD to secure the Silk Road.

9/18

Han China won against the Xiongnu in 89 AD.

However, it was a Pyrrhic victory for the Han Chinese coz the Xiongnu moved westwards to form the Huns, while other tribes like the Qiang and the Xianbi were allowed to attempt to invade Han China.

10/18

Hence, Han China spent a lot of resources in dealing with the other tribes after defeating the Xiongnu.

While resources were lost due to internal struggles, this further depleted the resources of Han China, making it unable to sustain itself.

11/18

Han China's constituents were affected by two summers of drought and the Yellow River floods of 183 AD, as well as a plague.

Meanwhile, the Han government was unable to respond to them coz of depleted resources x reduced tax revenue, so they raised taxes.

12/18

Hence, spiritual leader Zhang Jiao, who created a religious sect while claiming that he could "magically cure diseases", inspired the constituents to rebel against the Han Emperor in the "Yellow Turban Rebellion", starting riots in 16 communities x gov't institutions.

13/18

However, the Yellow Turban rebels were suppressed by the Han government forces, but this further depleted the resources in Han China, weakening the government while strengthening the eunuchs.

14/18

Hence, to deal with the Yellow Turban rebels, local leaders like Liu Bei tried to compensate for the weakened Han government by forming their own paramilitary volunteer groups.

After the rebellion, a reform policy gave more power x autonomy to Han China's local leaders.

15/18

After Emperor Ling's death in 189 AD, a military general named He Jin contacted provincial governor Dong Zhuo to deal with the eunuchs, but they assassinated He Jin, replacing him with Yuan Shao, who purged the eunuchs.

16/18

However, Dong Zhuo seized the power of Han China, installing Emperor Xian as his puppet, but Yuan Shao's forces managed to overthrow Dong Zhuo's government in 192 AD, only for them to turn themselves against each other, bringing Han China into anarchy.

17/18

Then, 3 powerful warlords emerged. First was Cao Pi, son of He Jin official Cao Cao. Second was Han Loyalist Liu Bei. Third was Sun Quan, who fought warlords x southern tribes.

They led to the start of the Three Kingdoms Period.

I will continue from this part next time!

18/18

Source Links:
- thoughtco.com/why-did-han-ch…
-kongming.net/novel/writings…
- China: A New History by John King Fairbank (a friend gave me a soft copy back in my uni years), amazon.com/China-New-Hist…