Created: 07/05/2025 - Last updated: 09/07/2025
I started watching the Chinese Romance of the Three Kingdoms TV adaptation from 1994 as part of my learning Chinese journey, but already during the second episode I was so lost as to who was who! So here's a page to list the characters, how to recognize them, their role in the story, as well as a quick summary of the plot.
After the Seven Kingdoms period, the Qin dynasty united China, and when it fell, the Han Dynasty took over. In the second year of the Zhanghe era / 88 AD, the Emperor He of Han (eastern Han Dynasty) ascended on the throne at age 10 with the help of some eunuchs, and this was the start of the eunuchs gaining political power and influence in the imperial court. In the decades that followed, the interference of eunuchs intensified while many child emperors succeeded each other, and this ultimately led to a decline in imperial authority. This, added to many natural disasters and abusive local lords, made the population poorer and struggling to survive. In the 7th year of the Guanghe era / 184 AD, starving peasants led by Zhang Jue, a Taoist and a sorcerer, attacked government offices and workers - this was the start of the Yellow Turban rebellion, and it spread throughout the empire very quickly. Hé Jìn (Suigao), the current imperial regent, advised the emperor to recruit soldiers to fight off the rebellion.
As the imperial army recruitment starts, one man interrupts two others fighting in a market, and they go drink together afterwards. The one hosting is Zhāng Fēi (Yide), a butcher. The one he was fighting with is Guān Yǔ (Yunchang), a man who's been on the run since he slayed a bully in his village 5 years prior. The one who stopped them is Liú Bèi (Xuándé). As Zhāng Fēi and Guān Yǔ say they're thinking of joining the army, Liú Bèi reveals that he's a descendant of the imperial Han family but doesn't have money to recruit soldiers. Zhāng Fēi offers his money, and him and Guān Yǔ, both very talented martial artists, say they will fight by his side. The three of them become sworn brothers. Later, they start fighting the Yellow Turbans, and Liú Bèi is given a post in the government as the Commandant of Anxi County, which his companions judge a far too little reward for all his efforts. Then comes an inspector, who tries to blackmail Liú Bèi, but Liú Bèi is a good governor to his people, and very beloved, so he refuses to pay; instead he lets the people of his village beat up the inspector and leaves his post, realizing that a government job is not good for him, as he was getting weighted down by useless politics.
In the Imperial palace, in the capital city of Luòyáng, Emperor Ling is about to die, and people plot his succession. The Emperor's mother, Empress Dowager Dong, wants her grandson, Liu Xie, to take the throne, according to the Emperor's wish. The Ten Attendants, a group of eunuchs very influencial in both palace and state politics, are favorable to Liu Xie as well. Meanwhile, the Empress He, helped by her brother the General-in-Chief Hé Jìn, wants to put her son Liú Biàn on the thone. The Ten Attendants plan to kill Hé Jìn to weaken Empress He, but Hé Jìn learns of their plan and wants to kill them instead. The official Cáo Cāo (Mèngdé) manages to calm him down, and the Ten Attendants blaming one of their leaders, Jian Shuo, for the assassination idea and killing him eases tensions. At the Emperor's funeral, Hé Jìn designates Li Bian to become the new emperor, upsetting quite a few people. The Ten Attendants convince Empress Dong to get back some power to herself by nominating Liu Xie and other family members to important government roles, assuring her that nobody will dare disrespecting her so soon after the death of her son the Emperor. However, Empress He takes offense in her actions and exiles her from the palace; Hé Jìn sends her poison which she willingly drinks soon after. The Ten Attendants are still scared of Hé Jìn, so they make a new plot to kill him. Meanwhile, Hé Jìn wants to kill them but his sister doesn't allow him, so he decides to summon Dǒng Zhuó (Zhòngyǐng), a powerful and unpredictable warrior, and his army to get rid of the eunuchs. Before Dǒng Zhuó arrives, Hé Jìn is summoned to the palace. His advisors try to stop him, fearing for his life, but he's overconfident and walks right into the eunuch's trap, getting murdered. In retaliation, his army invades the palace, and kill the Ten Attendants and other eunuchs. During the battle, the young Emperor and Liu Xie are briefly kidnapped, before being found just as Dǒng Zhuó arrives to the palace.
During his brief meeting with the Emperor and Liu Xie, Dǒng Zhuó (Zhòngyǐng) is impressed by Liu Xie's natural authority, and believes Liú Biàn to be a weak emperor. Because of this, he plans to deposit Liú Biàn and to crown Liu Xie (who was originally supposed to be the Emperor) instead. When he shares his plans with the palace officials, he's called a traitor, and the warlord Ding Yuan sends his great soldier Lǚ Bù (Fèngxiān) to fight Dǒng Zhuó. Defeated, Dǒng Zhuó decides to recruit Lǚ Bù by offering him the famous Red Hare (Chì Tù mǎ), which he accepts, before killing Ding Yuan to prove his loyalty. Now better protected, Dǒng Zhuó goes to the palace and makes Liu Xie the new Emperor, demoting Liú Biàn to Prince of Hongnong and stripping Empress He of all her power. Dǒng Zhuó gives himself a very high post in the government, starting an era of tyranny and making himself hated by both his fellow officials and the people. Thus starts the fall of the Han dynasty.
Wang Yun (Zishi) receives a letter from Yuán Shào (Běnchū) saying he's tired of Dǒng Zhuó's abuse of power and is plotting to kill him. Faking a birthday party, Wang Yun has a meeting with all the former palace ministers and complains about Dǒng Zhuó. Cáo Cāo volunteers to kill him, saying that he's gained Dǒng Zhuó's trust, but his assassination attempt fails and Dǒng Zhuó is unto him. Cáo Cāo flees but is arrested and brought to Chén Gōng (Gongtai), who also dislikes Dǒng Zhuó and asks to know about Cáo Cāo's plans to defeat the tyrant. Cáo Cāo says that he intends to use his family's wealth to hire an army, and ask help from his good friend Yuán Shào to help with overthrowing Dǒng Zhuó. Chén Gōng is moved by Cáo Cāo's loyalty to his nation and decides to follow him. Along their journey, they go rest for a night at Cáo Cāo's father's sworn brother, Lü Boshe. The uncle welcomes them warmly, but they wake up in the middle of the night to two servants sharpening a weapon, and fear that they've been betrayed. They slaughter everybody before realizing that Lü Boshe only wanted to kill a pig to make a feast for them... As they flee away, they meet Lü Boshe who had gone to fetch some good wine for them, and Cáo Cāo decides to kill him, to prevent him seeking revenge for them killing his family. Seeing this, Chén Gōng decides to leave Cáo Cāo's side, unable to kill him but unable to follow him anymore. Cáo Cāo, as planned, goes back to his hometown to raise an army and sends letters to many warlords to have them join his cause.
In the first month of the Chuping era (190 AD), 18 lords form a coalition to rise up against Dǒng Zhuó and save the Han empire. They elect Yuán Shào (Běnchū) as their leader, and he orders Sūn Jiān (Wentai, aka the Tiger of Jiandong) to be the vanguard and advance to the Sishui Pass to take Luòyáng. Meanwhile, Dǒng Zhuó orders the General Huà Xióng to defend the capital from the uprising. Bao Zhong, one of the lords under Yuán Shào's command, decides to take a shortcut to the Sishui Pass to draw first blood and claim the honors... but he quickly gets beheaded by Huà Xióng. Sūn Jiān then starts his offensive quite successfully, but Yuán Shào decides to stop sending him provisions so he doesn't take all the glory. Sūn Jiān's army is defeated, but he manages to escape. Yuán Shào deplores all the defeats damaging the rebellion's morale (even though they're his fault), and now Huà Xióng is at his door. Turns out, Liú Bèi is in the rebellion army, along with his two sworn brothers Guān Yǔ and Zhāng Fēi. When several soldiers go to duel Huà Xióng and die, Guān Yǔ volunteers to go next, and comes back victorious with Huà Xióng's head! However, some generals are upset that someone of such a low rank would be awarded honors, so Liú Bèi, Guān Yǔ and Zhāng Fēi leave the meeting angrily, complaining about people caring about ranks more than about ending tyranny. Dǒng Zhuó decides to intimidate Yuán Shào by killing his whole family, but that only makes the rebellion leader more determined to win, and so the battle starts in Hulao Pass. Lǚ Bù defeats quite a few warriors, but the in the end Liú Bèi, Guān Yǔ and Zhāng Fēi make him run away! Starting to worry about a potential defeat, Dǒng Zhuó decides to move the capital back to Cháng'ān. Cáo Cāo wants to pursue Dǒng Zhuó immediately, but Yuán Shào refuses, saying their soldiers are too exhausted for battle.
Not finished yet, stopped at 10m10s.
As Cháng'ān is on fire, Sūn Jiān's men find someone hiding in a well with the Heirloom Seal of the Realm. Chéng Pǔ (Démóu) explains the story of the Seal: Biàn Hé saw a phoenix perched on a stone in Jīngshān, and brought the stone back to the King Wén of Chǔ, who had it cracked, and the jade inside it came to be known as the Jade of Hé. Later, Qín Shǐ Huáng had the jade carved into a seal, and Lǐ Sī engraved eight characters on it. Qín Shǐ Huáng had to let go of the Seal to escape a storm in Dòngtíng lake, but it was returned to him eight years later in Huáyīn. After Qín Shǐ Huáng's passing, his grandson Ziyīng gave the Seal away to Gāozǔ of Hàn, and it became known as the Heirloom Seal. Chéng Pǔ urges Sūn Jiān to return to Jiāngdōng to hide the Seal, but when he announces his departure to Yuán Shào, turns out the leader of the rebellion already knows he found the Seal! In the meantime, Cáo Cāo decided to pursue Dǒng Zhuó on his own, but was defeated and is on his way back to Yuán Shào. The leader is upset that Cáo Cāo defied his orders, but he organizes a banquet for his return. During the banquet, Cáo Cāo gives a drunken speech and shames all the commanders for refusing to follow him in retaking their lands, and he later writes a poem grieving for the petty battles for power which destroyed the rebellion.