*SHU*
(the Three Kingdoms (AD 184/220–280) was the tripartite division of ‘China’ between the states of ‘Wei’ (魏), ‘Shu’ (蜀), and ‘Wu’ (吳), following the ‘Han’ dynasty and preceding the ‘Jin’ dynasty)
(the term “Three Kingdoms” itself is something of a mistranslation, since each state was eventually headed not by a king, but by an emperor who claimed legitimate succession from the ‘Han’ dynasty)
(nevertheless, the term “Three Kingdoms” has become standard among ‘sinologists’)
(to further distinguish the 3 states from other historical ‘Chinese’ states of similar names, historians have added a relevant character: ‘Wei’ is also known as ‘Cao Wei’ (曹魏), ‘Shu’ is also known as ‘Shu Han’ (蜀漢), and ‘Wu’ is also known as ‘Dong’ (or ‘Eastern’) Wu (東吳))
(academically, the period of the ‘Three Kingdoms’ refers to the period between the foundation of the state of ‘Wei’ in 220 AD and the conquest of the state of ‘Wu’ by the ‘Jin’ dynasty in 280. The earlier, “unofficial” part of the period, from 184 to 220, was marked by chaotic infighting between warlords in various parts of ‘China’)
(the middle part of the period, from 220 and 263, was marked by a more militarily stable arrangement between three rival states of ‘Wei’, ‘Shu’, and ‘Wu’)
(the later part of the era was marked by the conquest of ‘Shu’ by ‘Wei’ (263), the usurpation of ‘Wei’ by the ‘Jin’ dynasty (265), and the conquest of ‘Wu’ by the ‘Jin’ (280))
(the ‘Three Kingdoms’ period is one of the bloodiest in Chinese history)
(a nationwide census taken in AD 280, following the reunification of the ‘Three Kingdoms’ under the ‘Jin’ shows a total of 2,459,840 households and 16,163,863 individuals which was only a fraction of the 10,677,960 households, and 56,486,856 individuals reported during the ‘Han’ era)
(while the census may not have been particularly accurate due to a multitude of factors of the times, the Jin in AD 280 did make an attempt to account for all individuals where they could)
(technology advanced significantly during this period)
(‘Shu’ chancellor ‘Zhuge Liang’ invented the ‘wooden ox’, suggested to be an early form of the ‘wheelbarrow’, and improved on the repeating ‘crossbow’)
(‘Wei’ mechanical engineer ‘Ma Jun’ is considered by many to be the equal of his predecessor ‘Zhang Heng’)
(he invented a hydraulic-powered, mechanical puppet theatre designed for ‘Emperor Ming’ of ‘Wei’, square-pallet chain pumps for irrigation of gardens in ‘Luoyang’, and the ingenious design of the ‘south-pointing chariot’, a non-magnetic directional compass operated by differential gears)
(although relatively short, this historical period has been greatly romanticized in the cultures of ‘China’, ‘Japan’, ‘Korea’, and ‘Vietnam’)
(it has been celebrated and popularized in operas, folk stories, novels and in more recent times, films, television, and video games)
(the best known of these is Luo Guanzhong’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a ‘Ming’ dynasty historical novel based on events in the ‘Three Kingdoms’ period)
(the authoritative historical record of the era is Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms, along with Pei Songzhi’s later annotations of the text)