Asian Locations: Romance of the Three Kingdoms & Dynasty Warriors

The Three Kingdoms period takes place at the end of the Han Dynasty. From 184 AD to 280 AD, China experiences a period of civil unrest as the the Imperial Court is weakened from both within as well as several powerful warlords and nobles that would eventually consolidate power as the Kingdoms of Shu, Wei, and Wu.

Trouble started early on with a number of rebellions, one of them growing from the Five Pecks of Rice rebellion decades earlier. The Yellow Turban Rebellion as it came to be known as, lasted from 184-215 AD. It was a religious movement and a response to the state's abuses of its' peasants and farmer class, as well as the corruption by the 10 Eunuchs within the court of Empress He. For some time, 189-199 AD 10 Eunuchs were known to abusive their stations of power. Both Noble to peasant were at the whims of these individuals and seemed to have the complete protection of Empress He. Internal struggles years earlier had caused the future Emperors Shao and and Xian to flee the court and go on the run.

Shao and Xian found an ally and protector under a northern Warlord known as Dong Zhou.
He used the two nobles to his own ends until a rebellion occurred within his own domain in which a band of Nobles rescued the future Emperors. With all this strife, the Han Dynasty began to fracture. A long period of battles occurred as the nobles started squabbling over areas. It didn't climax until 208 when the division of Three Kingdoms began. The Kingdom of Wei to the North who held the last Emperor of the Han Dynasty, the Kingdom of Shu to the east who managed to have held the Imperial Seal, and the Kingdom of Wu to the West.

This period of the The Three Kingdoms is a popular setting for several video game franchises. Koei has capitalized on this with its game series "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Dynasty Warriors". In both of these series you play out one of the three major faction who attempt to unify China. This historical period makes a wonderful RPG setting as their is much battlefield action and political intrigue going on.