Cai Lun (c. 62–121 CE) was a eunuch official of the Eastern Han dynasty and is traditionally credited with the invention of papermaking. His courtesy name was Jingzhong, and he was born in Guiyang (modern-day Leiyang, Hunan).
This article recounts the fall of Eastern Han’s powerful Dou clan. Dou Xian seized control, murdered a royal kinsman, and grew tyrannical after defeating the Northern Xiongnu. At 14, Emperor He plotted with eunuch Zheng Zhong, staged a coup, and toppled the Dous. The purge reshaped the court and ended the clan’s tyranny.
Cao Cao (155–220 CE) was a statesman, military strategist, and poet of the late Eastern Han dynasty. His courtesy name was Mengde, and his childhood nickname was Aman. He was born in Qiao County, Pei Commandery (present-day Bozhou, Anhui). At age 20, he was recommended as a “Filially Pious and Incorrupt” official and appointed…
Zhong Yao (151–230 CE) was a statesman and calligrapher of the late Eastern Han and early Three Kingdoms period, traditionally regarded as the “Father of Regular Script” (kaishu) in Chinese calligraphy. His work Jian Jizhi Biao (Memorial Recommending Ji Zhi) is one of his most famous surviving pieces, originally written as a court memorial…
Even as Cao Cao consolidated control over northern China in 204 CE, Yuan Tan, the eldest son of Yuan Shao, remained fixated not on survival – but on destroying his younger brother, Yuan Shang.
Following the catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Guandu (200 CE), Yuan Shao refused to accept his fate. In a final attempt to reclaim dominance, he rallied a massive force – some 200,000 to 300,000 troops – and marched once more against Cao Cao. Yet this campaign at Cangting, dramatized in Chapter 31 of…