Three Kingdoms

Traditional Chinese |  三國
Simplified Chinese |  三国
|  Transcriptions

Mandarin
\- Pinyin |  Sānguó
\- Wade-Giles |  San-kuo

The Three Kingdoms \-- Wei, Shu, and Wu—were the regional governments which ruled China after the Han Empire fell. They reigned from circa AD 190 to 280.

Wei was the first of the three kingdoms to be destroyed, when it was conquered by Shu in AD 236.

Many of the great works of Chinese literature are set during the period of the Three Kingdoms. One of these, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, is considered to be one of the four great novels in Chinese literary history. It is known and well-beloved by all literate Chinese.

The first dynasty to completely reunite China after this period was the Sui dynasty.