Overview
After the Han collapse, China split into three rival states: Wei in the north, founded by Cao Pi in 220; Shu Han in Sichuan, founded by Liu Bei in 221; and Wu in the south under Sun Quan, who proclaimed himself emperor in 229.
Key developments
The three states fought one another for decades. The era was later romanticized in the 14th-century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which made figures such as Zhuge Liang household names.
End and transition
Wei conquered Shu in 263. In 265 Sima Yan replaced Wei with the Jin dynasty, and in 280 Jin conquered Wu, briefly reunifying China.