The collapse of the Han dynasty had been followed by nearly four centuries of rule by warlords.

The age of civil wars and disunity had begun with the era of the Three Kingdoms (Wei, Shu, and Wu, which had overlapping reigns during the period CE 220-80).

In later times, fiction and drama greatly romanticize the reputed chivalry of this period.

Unity is restored briefly in the early years of the Jin dynasty (CE 265-420), but the Jin cannot long contain the invasions of the nomadic peoples.