* 221 – Liu Bei, a Chinese warlord and member of the Han royal house, declares himself emperor of Shu-Han and claims his legitimate succession to the Han Dynasty.

* Liu Bei, founding emperor of the Kingdom of Shu

* Empress Wu, wife of Liu Bei

* Ma Chao, son of Ma Teng, cousin of Ma Dai, brother of Ma Tie and Ma Xie, general and Tiger general of Shu for Liu Bei.

* Lu Su, advisor to Sun Quan, sympathetic to Liu Bei ( b. 172 )

* Chen Zhen, minister under Liu Bei of Shu ( b. 170 )

* Deng Zhi, minister under Liu Bei

* Liu Bei, founder of the Shu Kingdom of China ( d. 223 )

* Liu Zhang, ruled Yi after Liu Yan's death until he was forced to hand it to Liu Bei ( d. 219 )

* Chen Zhen, minister under Liu Bei ( d. 235 )

It began when the ruler of Wei, Cao Cao, was defeated by Liu Bei and Sun Quan at the Battle of Red Cliffs.

Liu Bei and Sun Quan declared themselves emperor of Shu and Wu respectively.

Tao Qian received the support of Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan, but even then it seemed as if Cao Cao's superior forces would overrun Xu Province entirely.

Tao Qian died in the same year, leaving his province to Liu Bei.

Lü Bu fled to Xu Province and was received by Liu Bei, and an uneasy alliance began between the two.

In 197, Yuan Shu, who was at odds with Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and Liu Bei, felt assured of victory with his subordinate's conquests, and thus declared himself emperor of the Cheng Dynasty.

Sun Ce complied, but first convinced Cao Cao to form a coalition against Yuan Shu, of which Liu Bei and Lü Bu were members.

Afterwards, Lü Bu betrayed Liu Bei and seized Xu Province, forming an alliance with Yuan Shu's remnant forces.

Liu Bei, together with his followers Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, fled to Cao Cao, who accepted him.

Soon, preparations were made for an attack on Lü Bu, and the combined forces of Cao Cao and Liu Bei invaded Xu Province.

He collaborated with Liu Bei on this effort, but Cao Cao soon found out about the plot and had Dong Cheng and his conspirators executed, with only Liu Bei surviving and fleeing to join Yuan Shao in the north.

Liu Bei fled to join Liu Biao in Jing Province, and many of Yuan Shao's forces were destroyed.

Zhang Rang had previously fled with Emperor Shao ( r. 189 CE ) and his brother Liu Xie — the future Emperor Xian of Han ( r. 189 – 220 CE ).

Liu Bei, unwilling to submit to Cao Cao, fled south.

Cao caught up to him and crushed his forces, but Liu Bei escaped with his life ; he fled to Dangyang ( 當陽, in present-day Yichang, Hubei ).

Liu Bobo, a surviving prince of the Tiefu fled to the Ordos Loop, where he founded a state called the Xia ( thus named because of the Xiongnu's supposed ancestry from the Xia dynasty ) and changed his surname to Helian ( 赫連 ).

Liu Bei fled to Hebei and joined the warlord Yuan Shao.

In the chaos, Yuan Shao's commander Wen Chou was killed and Liu Bei fled.

Liu Bei fled to Zigui with Wu forces hot on his heels and the demoralised Shu troops were unable to hold their ground and kept retreating.

Zhang Fei protected Liu Bei when the latter fled from the battlefield, while Guan Yu surrendered to Cao Cao on terms that he could return to Liu Bei's service if the latter was alive.

Liu Bei fled north to join Yuan Shao, where he was received with respect by Yuan Shao and his son Yuan Tan.

Liu Bei fled to Jing Province to seek refuge under Liu Biao.

Leaving his family behind, Liu Bei fled with only scores of followers.

In 479, after rival Liu Song's throne was usurped by the general Xiao Daocheng, who established Southern Qi as its Emperor Gao, Northern Wei commissioned Liu Chang ( 劉昶 ) the Prince of Danyang, a Liu Song prince who had fled to Northern Wei in 465, with an army and promising him support to rebuild Liu Song.

When she, also in Emperor Xiaowen's absence, tried to force Emperor Xiaowen's sister Princess Pengcheng, whose husband Liu Chengxu ( 劉承緒, Liu Chang's son ) had died earlier, to marry her brother Feng Su ( 馮夙 ) the Duke of Beiping, Princess Pengcheng fled out of Luoyang and arrived at Emperor Xiaowen's camp, accusing Empress Feng of adultery.

Liu Bei survived the battle and fled to Baidicheng, where he died a year later due to illness.

Yuan Shao reorganized his forces and sent Liu Bei with an army to support the rebellions against Cao Cao in Yinjiang ( 氵隱疆 ; southwest of present-day Xuchang ), just 20 li south of the capital.

Zhu Ling returned to Xuchang, but Liu stayed behind with the army.

Liu Bei and Liu Pi attacked Xuchang but were defeated by Cao Ren.

Cao Cao agreed and Guo Jia's point was proven later, when Liu Biao refused to attack Xuchang when Liu Bei advised him to do so.

During the Battle of Guandu in 200, Yuan Shao sent Liu Bei with an army to support the rebellions against Cao Cao in Yinjiang ( 氵隱 疆 ; southwest of modern Xuchang ), roughly 8. 3 km south of the capital.

Before Liu Bei reached Xuchang, Cao Cao caught word of his advance and rushed back to the city to join in its defense.

After hearing that Cao Cao diverted his troops to invade Liu Bei, Tian urged Yuan Shao to invade Xuchang.

Liu fled to Xuchang, where warlord Cao Cao set his base.

Emperor Dezong ordered the military governors around Zhangyi — including Yu Di the military governor of Shannan East Circuit, Han Hong ( Liu Xuanzuo's nephew ) the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit, Yi Shen ( 伊慎 ) the military governor of Anhuang Circuit ( 安黃, headquartered in modern Xiaogan, Hubei ), and Shangguan Shui ( 上官涗 ) the military governor of Chenxu Circuit ( 陳許, headquartered in modern Xuchang, Henan ) — to attack Wu.