418 Chapter 9

Chapter 9 End of an Empire (185–189)

Chronology The Loss of Liang Province Imperial Extravagance Imperial Succession Slaughter in the Palace A Note on the Dates of the Crisis Dong Zhuo Ruin of a Capital The End of Han

Chronology

184 [rebellion and destruction of the Yellow Turbans in eastern China]1 mutiny and rebellion in Liang province in the northwest 185 fires in the imperial palaces, and tax levies to rebuild them; Emperor Ling establishes the Hall of Ten Thousand Gold Pieces in the Western Garden; further development of the sale of offices the Liang province rebels approach Chang’an but are driven back Black Mountain bandit groups in the Taihang range 187 unsuccessful attack into Liang province by Geng Bi Wuhuan mutiny and rebellion in the north sale of secondary marquisates 188 Bobo “White Wave” rebels in Xihe commandery Governors are appointed to certain provinces in place of the lower- ranking Inspectors rebels kill the Southern Shanyu Qiangqu; collapse of the Xiongnu state establishment of the Western Gardens corps under eight colonels Liang province rebels advance into Youfufeng 189 Huangfu Song drives back the Liang province rebels; the rebellion splin- ters but the northwest is lost Liu Yu settles the Wuhuan rebellion in the northeast 13 May: death of Emperor Ling

1 The rebellion of the Yellow Turbans has been discussed in Chapter 8.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004325203_013 End of an Empire (185–189) 419

15 May: Liu Bian is placed upon the throne under the regency of his mother the Dowager He and her brother He Jin 22 Sep: assassination of He Jin; his troops attack the imperial palaces 24 Sep: eunuchs flee the city with the Liu Bian and Liu Xie; they are chased and killed and the boys are brought back 25 Sep: Dong Zhuo takes control of the imperial government 28 Sep: Dong Zhuo deposes Liu Bian and places Liu Xie, Emperor Xian, upon the throne 190 Yuan Shao and a loyalist alliance raise troops in the east to oppose Dong Zhuo 9 Apr: as Luoyang is looted and abandoned, Emperor Xian and the court depart for Chang’an 191 spring: Sun Jian captures Luoyang from Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu, then withdraws 192 assassination of Dong Zhuo at Chang’an by Lü Bu and Wang Yun; Dong Zhuo’s former followers Li Jue and Guo Si seize Chang’an 195 Emperor Xian escapes from Chang’an 196 the emperor returns briefly to Luoyang, but then follows the warlord Cao Cao into effective captivity at Xu city in Yingchuan 200 Cao Cao defeats Yuan Shao at the battle of Guandu 205 Cao Cao controls the North China plain 207 Cao Cao destroys a Wuhuan confederation in the north 208 Cao Cao becomes Imperial Chancellor Cao Cao takes Jing province but is defeated by the armies of Sun Quan and Liu Bei at the Red Cliffs on the Yangzi 211 Cao Cao defeats the warlords of the northwest at Huayin 213 Cao Cao becomes Duke of Wei 214 Liu Bei takes Yi province from Liu Zhang 215 a daughter of Cao Cao becomes the empress of Emperor Xian Cao Cao forces the surrender of Zhang Lu in Hanzhong 217 Cao Cao becomes King of Wei 219 Cao Cao’s general Xiahou Yuan is defeated by Liu Bei and loses Hanzhong Liu Bei’s general Guan Yu attacks in Jing province but is driven back and destroyed