The Fall of the Han

By the late 100s the Han court was ruled by eunuchs and in-laws, and peasants were crushed by debt and floods. In 184 the Yellow Turban rebels rose in their hundreds of thousands.

The generals who put the revolt down became warlords. Cao Cao held the north, but at Red Cliffs his rivals stopped him, and in 220 the Han ended.

Three Kingdoms fought for 60 years. Their story, retold in the novel 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms', is still one of China's favourites.