Liu Bei

Reign: 221 – 223
Life: 161–223

While unable to establish a permanent foothold in northern China, he gathered support among opponents of Cao Cao, the warlord who controlled the Han central government and the figurehead Emperor Xian, and was eventually able to carve out his own realm, which at its peak spanned present-day Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Hunan, and parts of Hubei, Yunnan, and Gansu. Bolstered by the widespread influence of the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms and its portrayal of Liu Bei as an exemplar of virtuous Confucian rule, Liu Bei is widely revered in China and other East Asian societies as an ideal benevolent and humane ruler. Historically speaking, his style of governance has been said to have been "Confucian in appearance but Legalist in substance".

During Liu Bei's reign, Pope Urban I ruled Papacy and Severus Alexander ruled Rome.

Want to learn more? Further reading

To Establish Peace: Being the Chronicle of the Later Han Dynasty by Rafe de Crespigny

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The World During Their Reign

The most notable rulers who held power elsewhere at the same time, from European courts to Ottoman, Mughal, and Chinese thrones.

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To Establish Peace: Being the Chronicle of the Later Han Dynasty

Rafe de Crespigny

Liu Bei as warlord-turned-emperor of Shu, de Crespigny separates Romance from record.

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