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The Big Question
What happens when a 400-year empire collapses?
Why couldn't anyone put it back together?
Today's Thesis:
The late Han did not simply "fall"—it devolved into militarized regional states competing over food, manpower, and legitimacy. Even reunification under the Western Jin proved fragile because the institutions and elite power arrangements that emerged during war were hard to reverse.
The Period of Division Series
Three lectures covering one of Chinese history's most transformative eras:
Lecture 1 (Today): Political collapse, Three Kingdoms, Western Jin failure
Lecture 2: Non-Chinese rule in north, identity problem
Lecture 3: Buddhism's expansion, religious transformation
How This Complements Your Textbook:
Human experience of collapse (refugees, trauma, elite withdrawal)
Cultural problem of identity when "outsiders" rule heartland
Religious opening that helped Buddhism spread
Romance vs. Reality
Popular Image
Dynasty Warriors games
Heroic warriors, brilliant strategists
Noble loyalty, epic battles
Zhuge Liang's schemes
Guan Yu's virtue
Historical Reality
Civil war, mass violence
Famine, epidemic disease
Mass displacement
Administrative collapse
Population registration catastrophe
Population figures: Late Han ~59.6M registered → Early Jin ~16.16M
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Understanding "Registered Population"
Important: These represent registered households (people government knows about), not accurate counts.
Late Western Han (2 CE): ~59.6 million
Early Western Jin (280 CE): ~16.16 million
This drop signals:
Collapse of state capacity
People fleeing registration
Actual loss from war/famine/disease
Administrative system breakdown
The Han Collapse: A Perfect Storm
The Yellow Turban Rebellion (184 CE)
Not just "peasant revolt"—a religious uprising
Way of Great Peace (Taiping Dao): Daoist-inspired millenarian movement
Large-scale coordinated violence across regions
"The Blue Heaven is dead; the Yellow Heaven shall rise"
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Yellow Turban Rebellion (184 CE)
Massive uprising organized by Zhang Jue through Way of Great Peace religious movement.
Religious foundation: Daoist beliefs, healing rituals, millenarian prophecy
Dong Zhuo enters with troops, seizes court and emperor
Key shift: Legitimacy becomes hostage—emperor is prize, not governing authority
190: Coalition against Dong Zhuo fractures; civil war becomes normal
Luoyang devastated; court moved; symbolic center loses credibility
Court is no longer governing institution—it's a prize to be captured.
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Eunuch Massacre (189 CE)
Court eunuchs had gained enormous power. Scholar-official factions (led by Yuan Shao) staged violent coup, slaughtering thousands.
Why it matters: Court dysfunctional—factions settling scores with mass murder. Created power vacuum Dong Zhuo exploited. Military force now trumps political legitimacy.
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Dong Zhuo (died 192 CE)
Frontier general who marched into capital during 189 chaos, deposed one emperor, installed child emperor, ruled as dictator.
Significance: Broke rules—showed military force overrides court legitimacy. Created precedent: emperor as puppet. Triggered coalitions (failed). Devastated capital. Assassinated 192, but proved old system dead.
Cao Cao: State-Builder
IMAGE PLACEHOLDER 350x450px
Search: "Cao Cao portrait traditional"
"Cao Cao Three Kingdoms art"
Alt: Ming/Qing illustration
Sources: National Palace Museum
By early 3rd century, Cao Cao dominates north through superior organization:
Control of grain (garrison farming)
Strategic alliances, elite co-optation
Administration that extracts resources amid chaos
Military effectiveness through logistics
Not hero or villain—institutional competence in collapsing world.
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Cao Cao (155–220 CE)
Most successful warlord-state-builder of late Han. Started as regional official, became dominant power in north by 200s.
Why he succeeded: Logistics (tuntian for grain), functioning bureaucracy, elite management (meritocracy + patronage), strategic patience (consolidate north first).
Legacy: Romance portrays as cunning villain. History shows pragmatic builder. His son Cao Pi ends Han, founds Wei (220).
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Garrison Farming (Tuntian)
Military-agricultural system: soldiers/colonists farm near garrisons, provide food directly to armies.
Types: Military (soldiers farm), civilian (refugees/peasants farm state land, pay grain rent). Strategic placement near borders/supply routes.
Why crucial: Solves civil war's fundamental problem—how feed armies when agriculture devastated? Creates self-sufficient military regions. Foundation for hereditary military households.
⏸ Pause & Process #1
Collapse Comparison
Partner Discussion:
Compare fall of Han to fall of Roman Empire. What seems similar? Different? Why might China reunify when Western Europe remained fragmented?
Breakdown:184–220 (Yellow Turbans → warlords → end of Han)
Three Kingdoms proper:220–280 (Wei, Shu-Han, Wu as recognized states)
Timeline:
220: Cao Pi founds Wei (north)
221: Liu Bei founds Shu-Han (southwest)
229: Sun Quan founds Wu (southeast)
263: Shu falls to Wei
266: Sima clan replaces Wei with Jin
280: Jin conquers Wu → reunification
The Three States
IMAGE PLACEHOLDER 900x500px
Search: "Three Kingdoms map 220 280 Wei Shu Wu"
"Sanguo period China map territories"
Features: Wei (north), Wu (southeast/Yangzi), Shu-Han (Sichuan)
Include Yellow River, Yangzi, key cities
Sources: Chinese textbooks, Cambridge History maps
Wei (魏, north)
Founded 220 by Cao Pi
North China Plain
Strongest resources
Most populous
Wu (吴, southeast)
Founded 229 by Sun Quan
Lower Yangzi region
Naval/riverine strength
Natural barriers
Shu-Han (蜀汉, southwest)
Founded 221 by Liu Bei
Sichuan basin
Defensible geography
Claims Han legitimacy
Why Stalemate Happens
Three reasons none could quickly conquer others:
1. Geography
Sichuan basin hard to invade (mountains)
Yangzi River both highway and moat
Natural barriers favor defense
2. Logistics
Moving grain/siege equipment harder than troops
Supply lines stretch; armies weaken
Conquest requires sustained campaigns
3. Institution-Building
Each regime becomes just strong enough to survive
Administration, taxation, recruitment stabilize
Stalemate allows consolidation
Military Transformation
1. Cavalry Revolution
Stirrups attested early 4th century (Jin era)
Cavalry effectiveness accelerates
Sets conditions for heavier cavalry warfare
2. Military Households
Permanent soldier families, hereditary status
Families farm assigned land; state extracts rent + service
Creates durable military caste
3. Non-Chinese Troops
Steppe/frontier peoples recruited
Sometimes settled in strategic zones
Not "invasion"—integration story that can flip
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Cavalry Revolution
Cavalry becomes increasingly important late Han/Three Kingdoms.
Stirrups: Securely attested early 4th century (Jin). Earlier forms debated. Allow better fighting from horseback. Steppe influence: Contact with nomadic cavalry drives adaptation. Long-term: Foundation for medieval Chinese cavalry.
Don't claim "invented 300 CE"—say "conditions developing during era."
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Military Households
System where families have permanent military status passed down.
How: Son of soldier = soldier. Land grants. Dual obligation: grain rent + military service. Legally distinct from civilians. Why matters: Permanent military class. State maintains readiness without constant recruitment. Socially rigid. Continues through Tang.
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Non-Han Troops
Chinese states recruit steppe/frontier peoples (Xiongnu, Xianbei, Qiang).
Why: Han manpower depleted. Frontier peoples have skills (cavalry). They need land/resources. Some are steppe refugees. Trap: You've militarized non-Han populations inside China proper. When Jin collapses (L2), these groups found northern kingdoms. This is NOT "invasion"—it's Chinese states recruiting that creates conditions for later "flip."
The Western Jin: False Dawn
Timeline:
266: Sima clan replaces Wei, founds Jin
280: Jin conquers Wu → reunification
291–306:War of Eight Princes
316: Western Jin collapses; north lost
Why Fragile:
Reunification = military achievement, but governance needs stable succession + elite coordination
Jin relies on princes/great families → high risk for factional warfare
Regional power structures from Three Kingdoms remain strong
×
War of Eight Princes (291–306)
Devastating civil war among Jin imperial princes fighting for court control.
What: After first emperor dies, succession crisis. Eight princes (Sima family) fight. 15 years internal warfare shatters state. Consequences: Administrative collapse, regions militarize, frontier regimes expand, armies exhausted, elite disillusionment. Proximate cause of Western Jin collapse and opening for northern regimes (L2).
⏸ Pause & Process #2
Elite Response to Chaos
Small Group Choice:
If you were educated elite family in 300 CE, would you:
A) Pursue office and influence? B) Withdraw into private life, art, philosophy?
Result: Office access tilts toward birth/networks. Why risk life if system rigged?
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Nine Rank System (Jiupin)
Personnel evaluation system during Cao Wei to identify/rank candidates.
Supposed to: Central appoints "impartial judges" in regions. They evaluate/rank candidates 1-9. Rankings determine office eligibility. Goal: identify talent without capital travel. Actually: Elite capture—great families control evaluation. Reputation networks matter most. Hereditary advantage. Barrier to outsiders. System for talent became tool for aristocratic preservation.
The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove
IMAGE PLACEHOLDER 800x450px
Search: "Seven Sages Bamboo Grove tomb brick"
"Qixian bamboo grove Chinese art"
Description: Famous brick relief—seven scholars in bamboo grove, drinking wine, playing instruments
Sources: Nanjing Museum, tomb art collections
Intellectuals remembered for wine, poetry, music, provocation
"Study of Mysterious" (xuanxue): Laozi/Zhuangzi themes
Themes: spontaneity, naturalness, critique of artificial Confucian norms
"If state is insane, live truthfully."
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Seven Sages of Bamboo Grove
3rd-century intellectuals, symbols of cultural withdrawal/philosophical freedom (Cao Wei/Western Jin).
Famous: Ruan Ji (poet, wild singing), Ji Kang (musician, executed for defiance), Liu Ling (notorious drinker, walked naked). Represent: Withdrawal from dangerous politics, naturalism (spontaneity over ritual), critique (Confucian failed, return Daoist authenticity), performance (wildness as elite status competition). Think: philosophical provocateurs using Daoism to critique collapsing Confucian order.
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Xuanxue ("Study of Mysterious")
Intellectual movement late Han-Jin reengaging Daoist philosophy through commentary.
Themes: Naturalness (ziran—spontaneous virtue), non-action (wuwei—minimal governance), emptiness/presence, critique of artifice (Confucian ritual=hypocrisy). Why now: Confucian state collapsed → ideology bankrupt. Elite withdrawal → need philosophical justification. Daoist texts offer alternative. Xuanxue creates intellectual space for Buddhism to enter (L3)—Daoist concepts become tools for Buddhist ideas.
Most famous work: Orchid Pavilion Preface (original lost)
Synthesizes scripts into elegant, expressive style
"Civilization continues through style even when state fails."
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Wang Xizhi (303–361 CE)
Most celebrated calligrapher in Chinese history, "Sage of Calligraphy."
Why matters: Calligraphy becomes form of elite cultural competition when political service dangerous. Requires education, aesthetic training, resources. Expression of individual character/refinement. Orchid Pavilion Preface: Written at gathering of literati. Considered peak of semi-cursive script. Emperor Taizong loved it so much he had it buried with him (original lost; Tang copies survive). Cultural function: Elite status, aesthetic cultivation, moral character expression. Calligraphy as "civilization through style when state fails."
Closing: The Refugee Generation
The chaos produces mass displacement. The south becomes refuge and new cultural center.
Large share of court elites and lineages relocate south
They carry texts, genealogies, status claims
South China transforms from periphery to cultural heartland
Creates conditions for "Two Chinas" problem (north vs. south)
Preview for Lecture 2:
What about those who stayed in the north? What does it mean to be "Chinese" when the traditional heartland is ruled by regimes that aren't Han?
Key Terms for Lecture 1
Yellow Turban Rebellion (184) — religious uprising, warlord catalyst
Three Kingdoms (220–280) — Wei, Shu-Han, Wu
Cao Cao — northern state-builder
Tuntian — garrison farming
Military households — hereditary soldier families
Nine Rank System (jiupin) — elite selection favoring great families
Western Jin (266–316) — reunification 280, then collapse
War of Eight Princes (291–306) — civil war undermining Jin
Seven Sages — emblem of elite withdrawal
Wang Xizhi — iconic calligrapher
Registered population — proxy for administrative reach
Next Time
Lecture 2: The Problem of Identity
Non-Chinese rule in the north and what it means to be "Chinese" when the traditional heartland is no longer under Han control