A historical text compiled by Chen Shou (233–297 CE) during the Western Jin dynasty. It is a biographical state-by-state history chronicling the Three Kingdoms period – Wei, Shu, and Wu – and comprises 65 scrolls: Book of Wei (30 scrolls),Book of Shu (15 scrolls), and Book of Wu (20 scrolls).
In 208, when Cao Cao launched his southern campaign against Jingzhou, his army swept through Xinye with overwhelming momentum. Behind him marched hundreds of thousands of northern troops; at the vanguard were elite generals like Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun.
In the turbulent final years of the Eastern Han dynasty, Liu Qi, eldest son of Jingzhou governor Liu Biao, found himself trapped in a deadly succession struggle orchestrated by his stepmother’s powerful clan.
The Battle of Cangting (201 CE) was indeed a real military engagement between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao following the pivotal Battle of Guandu. However, while historical sources confirm its occurrence, they offer only sparse details – far removed from the dramatic, large-scale confrontation vividly depicted in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
The assassination of Sun Ce, the “Little Conqueror” of Jiangdong, is often attributed to a simple act of vengeance: his killing of Xu Gong, the former Administrator of Wu Commandery, led to retaliation by Xu’s loyal retainers.