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Liu Bei

161 CE – 223 CE

Retrace Liu Bei's life across the map — 15 events in chronological order, from a cinematic flythrough to a full timeline.

Life journey

1. Cao Cao's invasion of Xu Province193 CE
   Cao Cao's invasion of Xu Province was a punitive invasion launched by the warlord Cao Cao against Tao Qian, the Governor of Xu Province, in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The casus belli for the invasion was the murder of Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, in Xu Province. Although Tao Qian's culpability was questionable, Cao Cao nonetheless held him responsible. The invasion took place in two separate waves in 193 and 194, during each of which Cao Cao captured a number of towns and engaged in collective punishment of the civilian populace.
2. Battle of Xiapi199 CE
   The Battle of Xiapi was fought between the forces of Lü Bu against the allied armies of Cao Cao and Liu Bei from the winter of 198 to 7 February 199 towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. The battle concluded with victory for Cao Cao and Liu Bei, with Lü Bu being subsequently executed.
3. Battle of Guandu200 CE
   The Battle of Guandu was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in 200 AD in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Cao Cao's decisive victory against Yuan Shao's numerically superior forces marked the turning point in their war. The victory was also the point at which Cao Cao became the dominant power in northern China, leading to the establishment of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period.
4. Battle of Yan Ford200 CE
   The Battle of Yan Ford took place along the southern banks of the Yellow River in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The battle was closely preceded by the Battle of Boma, and was part of a series of engagements leading to the decisive confrontation between the rival warlords Yuan Shao and Cao Cao at the Battle of Guandu in 200. Following the death of one of Yuan Shao's elite generals, Yan Liang, in the previous battle, the death of another famed general Wen Chou in this battle greatly demoralised Yuan's army, which was heading towards Guandu.
5. Battle of Bowang202 CE
   The Battle of Bowang, also known as the Battle of Bowang Slope, was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Liu Bei in 202 in the late Eastern Han dynasty.
6. Battle of Jiangling208 CE
   The Battle of Jiangling was fought by the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei against Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. The battle was an integral part of the Red Cliffs campaign, and was fought immediately after the Battle of Yiling in 208, and the preceding engagement at Wulin on land and the marine Battle of Red Cliffs where Cao Cao's navy was destroyed. Note that the battle at Wulin was a byproduct of the Battle of Red Cliffs, and they were not the same battle.
7. Battle of Red Cliffs208 CE
   The Battle of Red Cliffs, also known as the Battle of Chibi, was a decisive naval battle in China that took place during the winter of 208–209 AD. It was fought on the Yangtze River between the forces of warlords controlling different parts of the country during the end of the Han dynasty. The allied forces of Sun Quan, Liu Bei, and Liu Qi based south of the Yangtze defeated the numerically superior forces of the northern warlord Cao Cao. By doing so, Liu Bei and Sun Quan prevented Cao Cao from conquering any lands south of the Yangtze, frustrating Cao Cao's efforts to reunify the territories formerly held by the Eastern Han dynasty.
8. Battle of Changban208 CE
   The Battle of Changban was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Liu Bei in October 208 in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. The battle took place at Changban.
9. Battle of Baxi215 CE
   The Battle of Ba was fought between the warlords Liu Bei and Cao Cao between December 215 and April 216 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period. Following his victory over Zhang Lu at Yangping, Cao Cao appointed Pu Hu (朴胡), Ren Yue (任約) and Du Huo (杜濩) as Administrator of the three Ba commanderies but they were defeated by Huang Quan. Zhang He would later try to relocate citizens from Ba to Hanzhong but was also defeated by Zhang Fei.
10. Battle of Mount Dingjun218 CE
    The Battle of Mount Dingjun was fought between the warlords Liu Bei and Cao Cao in February 219 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms stretch of Chinese history. Liu Bei's victory in the battle marked a major milestone in his Hanzhong Campaign and allowed him to kill the commander of the Wei's forces, Xiahou Yuan and later taking Hanzhong Commandery.
11. Battle of Han River219 CE
    The Battle of Han River was fought between the warlords Liu Bei and Cao Cao in April 219 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The battle was the last major engagement in the Hanzhong Campaign, in which Liu Bei emerged victorious and subsequently declared himself King of Hanzhong.
12. Battle of Fancheng219 CE
    The Battle of Fancheng or the Battle of Fan Castle was fought between the warlords Liu Bei and Cao Cao in 219 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. It is named after Fancheng in present-day Xiangyang, Hubei, a fortress that played a significant role in the battle.
13. Battle of Xiaoting221 CE
    The Battle of Xiaoting (猇亭之戰), also known as the Battle of Yiling and the Battle of Yiling and Xiaoting, was fought between the states of Shu Han and Eastern Wu, in the years 221 and 222 during the early Three Kingdoms period of China. The battle is significant because Wu was able to turn the situation from a series of initial losses into a defensive stalemate, before proceeding to win a decisive victory over Shu. The Wu victory halted the Shu invasion and preceded the death of Liu Bei, Shu's founding emperor.
14. Liu Bei proclaims the Shu Han221 CE
    Liu Bei declared himself emperor at Chengdu, claiming the Han mandate as Shu Han.
15. Death of Liu Bei at Baidicheng223 CE
    Liu Bei died at Baidicheng after his defeat at Yiling, entrusting Shu to Zhuge Liang.

Event data from Wikipedia/Wikidata (CC-BY-SA). Spotted a mistake? Email [email protected].