The Romance of the Later Three Kingdoms

In the final years of the Northern Wei, natural and man-made disasters came one after another. The court imposed heavy taxes and treated the people like cattle, leaving them in dire straits. At last, the massive Mahayana Sect uprising broke out. The Liang Empire in the south seized the opportunity to launch a northern expedition, but its dam project backfired, and it missed its chance at a crucial moment. The Northern Wei took advantage of the delay to put down the Mahayana Sect uprising. The Huai River Dam, built at great cost to the people and Liang's treasury, eventually collapsed. Liang gained not an inch of territory, but instead caused flooding for thousands of miles downstream. More than a hundred thousand households perished in the flood, and countless fields and homes were destroyed. Emperor Wu of Liang was forced to cease hostilities and let the people recover.

Liang's withdrawal gave Wei a chance to catch its breath, but the deeply troubled state of Wei could not recover. Gao Zhao, Yu Zhong, and Yuan Cha seized power in succession, and every coup was accompanied by bloodshed.

After that, rival warlords rose up, and fighting raged without end across the Central Plains. Liang launched several northern campaigns, but all came to nothing. Amid the chaos, three outstanding warlords emerged: Yuwen Tai, Gao Huan, and Chen Tanxian, each making their mark in the troubled times. In 534, Emperor Xiaowu of Wei entered the Guanzhong region, splitting the Northern Wei into Eastern Wei and Western Wei. After the ruling houses of both Wei states changed, and the Southern Liang changed hands, the three states of Zhou, Qi, and Chen formally took shape. They contended for decades, until Zhou conquered Qi, Sui replaced Zhou, and Sui conquered Chen.