THE RISE AND FALL OF THE HAN DYNASTY General Throughout the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) the emperors lived in luxury while oppressing their people. This gave rise to wide opposition to the monarchy from within the country. The despotic rule was finally ended in 207 BC by an uprising led by Luibang official, which overthrew the Qin. Libang was a commoner with no aristocratic background. Early in his career, he had unintentionally become the leader of …showed first 75 words of 2234 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2234 total…ruled the country ruthlessly and his bloodthirstiness finally led to his failure. In the year 192 his officers assassinated him and threw his corpse to a mob that hated him. In 220, Emperor Xian formally abdicated in favor of Caopi, the son of Caocao. Caopi proclaimed himself the first emperor of the new Wei Dynasty (220 - 265). From then on, China fell apart again into another period of disunity - the Three Kingdoms Period, which lasted from 220 to 589.