Which Was the Best Kingdom?

Rachel Mawn, Writer

            The Wei Empire was definitely the best empire during the Three Kingdoms period. The Wei Empire was the strongest and largest of the three kingdoms and eventually became the ruling dynasty under another name. In 227 C.E., Zhuge Liang sent an army against Cao Pi even though Wei had a much bigger population. According to census figures around this time, Shu had a population of only about a million people. Wei probably had a population of about 3 or 4 million because a census of Wei that was taken in the year 260 C.E.  gives a figure of 4.4 million people. The Wei territory was also much bigger.  Zhuge Liang’s campaigns failed, and in 234 C.E., he led his last great northern offensive and died. Other sources even agree that the Wei empire was the greatest, “It was the strongest kingdom at that time” (China Travel).

            In 238 C.E. Wei got a new leader, Sima Yi, he helped make Wei the great empire that it became under the name the Jin dynasty. After the 230s, the ruling Cao clan in Wei was threatened by the Sima clan which held a lot of land in Wei. Sima Yi was a skilled general in Wei. In 238 C.E., Sima Yi took over the capital of Luoyang. In 263 Wei, with its new leader launched a three-pronged attack against the Shu. The Shu army was forced into a retreat. In 263 C.E., Liu Shan of Shu surrendered. The Wei Empire (renamed Jin) held lots of strength and influence on its surrounding areas, including the Wu Empire. Jin offensive attacks to demolish weak neighboring Wu finally came in the winter of 279 C.E. Sima Yan launched five simultaneous offensives along the Yangtze River. “In 280, Emperor Sun Hao of Dong Wu surrendered” (China Highlights) under the strain of such an enormous attack. This marked the end of the Three Kingdoms era because one empire, the strongest and best empire, had triumphed and defeated both Shu and Wu. Therefore, the Wei dynasty is obviously the best dynasty because of its greatest strength and size, as well as the fact that it became the victorious empire.

 

The Invention of Gunpowder

 

 Because of the chaos caused by war, economic development during the Three Kingdoms Period deteriorated. Luckily, there were several remarkable technological advances thanks to the many wars, such as the invention of gunpowder. This invention seems to have been discovered in China by accident - by alchemists seeking the elixir of immortality. It was used for entertainment after that by creating fireworks to entertain the population at celebrations. It was not created for military purpose, but later it was used as a weapon for attack by fire. In the eyes of the ancients, the gunpowder was very unique in visual effects. The fire crackers were made by wrapping the powder in paper with some sort of a wick attached. Therefore, fireworks actually initiated the application of gunpowder.

In the Period of Three Kingdoms, a clever technician Jun Ma, invented firecrackers and stared to make use of the gunpowder. Gunpowder didn’t start to spread out of China until about 850 A.D. though. Along with the silk and paper, gunpowder was traded along the Silk Road which helped it spread to the west. It reached Japan, Islam and then Europe in the 13th century. One century later the Arabs used it to attack the Spanish town Baza. The very next year in 1326 A.D. Florence ordered the manufacturing of cannons and cannon balls. From Italy the making of gunpowder soon spread to other European countries, and by the 1350s it had become an effective weapon on the battlefield.

Gun powder is still used this day in ammunition for fire arms. The gunpowder used for military purpose was first recorded in 919 A.D. By the 11th century, explosive bombs filled with gunpowder and fired from catapults were introduced and used in China. The first detailed description of using "firing cannon" in warfare was in a battle fought in 1126 A.D. when the Song army used it against the invading Nuchens. The so-called "fire cannon" was a tube made of bamboo filled with gunpowder which, when fired, threw a flaming missile towards the enemy. The Chinese invention of gunpowder never went much beyond its simplest form, and it was abandoned as a military weapon shortly afterwards. The Arabs improved gunpowder for military use. In 1280, the Syrian al-Hasan ar-Rammah wrote the Book of Fighting on Horseback and War Engines. He introduced a rocket device, which he called "Chinese arrow." In 1364 a musket-like gun was invented but its place of origin is under a large disagreement.  The shooter would lit wicks by hand that ignited gunpowder that was loaded into the gun barrel. The modern manufacture of firearms in the U.S. is a large industry. All economic activity from firearm manufacturing, distribution, and other activities totaled to $27.8 billion in 2010. The invention of gunpowder occurred over a thousand years ago, by accident, and has continued to be improved ever since.

By Konrad Kyeser, 1400 A.D. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm#Early_models

 

 

 

Chaos After Cao Cao Dies

Rachel Mawn, Writer

After Cao Cao of the Han dynasty died three men claimed to be the new emperor; Cao Pi, Lui Bei, and Sun Quan causing many years of chaos. In 220 A.D when Cao Cao died, his eldest son Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor, with Wei as empire’s title and Luoyang as his capital city. In 221A.D, Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor, with Shu his empire’s title and Chengdu the capital city. Finally, in 229A.D, Sun Quan proclaimed himself emperor and moved the capital to Jiankang, with his empire’s title as Wu. Wei occupied the north, Shu occupied the southwest and Wu occupied the southeast. So three different empires formed from the Han dynesty’s rubble, each refusing to accept the others rule.

As well as different locations and names each empire had different ways of doing things. This made the Three Kingdoms Dynasty all the more chaotic. Each kingdom committed to improving the way of ruling and develop their national economy because they didn’t agree with their predecessor’s, the Han dynasty, ways of operating. In the Kingdom of Wei, Cao Cao made many reforms to discard old policies from previous dynasties. The Tun Tian  (farming done by soldiers) system was also carried out, which greatly promoted the national productivity. In the Kingdom of Shu, Liu Bei set up strict social order and tried to govern the kingdom by law. With his assistance, Shu's agriculture and handicraft industry developed rapidly. In the Kingdom of Wu, the shipbuilding industry was much more prosperous. As for the national strength, Wei ranked first, Wu second and Shu third. Throughout the Three Kingdoms Period, battles between the three countries were countless. Among those, battles between Shu and Wu fighting for Jingzhou, Shu and Wei fighting for Hanzhong. The Three kingdoms dynasty showed what results after a large, strong, and unified empire like The Eastern Han falls, chaos.

 

 

 

 

 

Picture Collage

 

Coins:Coin used during the Three Kingdoms. It is important to the dynasty to show  that the kingdoms were advanced enough to have standardized currency.

River/Mountain Scene: This is the Yangtze river, one of many rivers that runs through China Proper. It helped support the kingdoms by providing drinking water, food, transportation, and improving the quality of farm land.

Horse: This is a copper, life-sized horse found the tomb of either Cao Cao or his son Cao Pi. This shows archaeologists that people during this time knew how to craft metals like copper to what they desire, such as art or weapons.

Brown Painting:During the period of the Three Kingdoms a new form of art was invented called the embryonic stage of Chinese landscape painting. But, unfortunately, very few works from that era exist today.

Cliff: Engravings on a cliff-side mark one widely accepted site of Chibi. The engravings are thousands of years old. This site marks the battle of Red Cliffs which occurred in 208/9 C.E. It was one of the major efforts to take down the Han dynasty by the rebels( who would eventually become the Three Kingdoms).

 

Coins:history.cultural
Cliff:wikipedia
Horse:goddesschess
 

Map of the Three Kingdoms

 

 

 

 (twcenter)

 

       The Shu, Wu, and Wei Empires occupied the eastern part of modern day China from 220 C.E. through about 280 C.E. This region is commonly referred to as China Proper. Many rivers pass through this area on their way to the ocean. Some of the most common are the: Yellow, Wei, Yangtze, and Xi. These rivers offer drinking water, food, transportation, and irragation for crops.When these rivers flood, they often do, they deposite minerals into the soil making better farm land. Both the Wu and Wei empireshad access to the ocean allowing for fishing, transportation, and possibly trade. There is also several moutain ranges in the northen part of the Wei empire. The most famous is the Changbai and it seperates modern day China and North Korea. China proper, it's rivers, and the mountains to the north were a huge part of the geography of the Three Kingdoms.