Classification Of Warlords In The Late Eastern Han Dynasty

In the late Eastern Han Dynasty,the emergence and development of warlords were inseparable from the political and social background of the turmoil in the late Eastern Han Dynasty,which was mainly divided into two aspects.On the one hand,the political problems accumulated in the Han Dynasty have not been solved and become more and more serious.The concentrated expression of these political problems is mainly reflected in the corruption of bureaucratic groups,especially eunuchs,and the cruelty of the political struggle of the court.On the other hand,the social crisis caused by successive famines and plagues in the late Eastern Han Dynasty,which developed to the extreme,resulted in the people’s uprising,which was widespread in all prefectures and counties of the Han Dynasty.The characteristics of the uprising were the simultaneous emergence of multiple insurgent forces,which posed a great threat to the rule of the Eastern Han Dynasty.At the same time,warlords came into being.First of all,bureaucrats who lived in the Eastern Han Dynasty needed a way of self-protection to protect their own safety.Mercenaries’ self-respect was a choice.Before the Dong Zhuo Rebellion,which was mainly referred to in the budding stage of the warlords,many small and scattered military groups had formed because of the suppression of the Yellow Towel Rebellion.Most of these military groups obeyed the central orders,but a few of them had begun to resist some important orders,suspected of breaking away from the central orders,and even started war with each other.The military group called it a budding warlord.At this time,the central decree still had some influence,so its classification was mainly based on its position and role in the Han Dynasty.From this,the warlords in the early budding stage formed a common feature of courting the Han Dynasty,and the warlords who did not act as courtiers were in great political danger.In 192 AD,with the death of Dong Zhuo,the rebellion of Dong Zhuo came to an abrupt end at its climax.Although Dong Zhuo died,the pace of decline of the Han Dynasty did not slow down.After Dong Zhuo left behind a dynasty of the Eastern Han Dynasty,which had officially entered the era of warlord melee in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.After Dong Zhuo’s Rebellion,the Eastern Han Dynasty presented several characteristics.Firstly,Dong Zhuo’s Rebellion completely disintegrated the power system of the Han Dynasty,and reached a consensus to achieve its own political goalsthrough armed separatism.Secondly,by suppressing the Yellow Towel Uprising and the anti-Dong Zhuo movement,many military forces have evolved into warlord separatist forces with independent administrative power,opening up an era of warlord confrontation.Thirdly,after the Dong Zhuo Rebellion,the warlord forces completed their germination and began to enter the stage of operation.The operation of their respective sites is also strange and unique.Based on the three characteristics mentioned above.After Dong Zhuo’s Rebellion,it is not appropriate to classify warlords’ status and role in the Han Dynasty,but to classify them according to their geographical location and self-development mode.