- dynasty; reign (of a king)
- beneath the surface; fundamentally; at the deepest level
- Cao Cao (155-220), famous statesman and general at the end of Han, noted poet and calligrapher, later warlord, founder and first king of Cao Wei 曹魏, father of Emperor Cao Pi 曹丕; the main villain of novel the Romance of Three Kingdoms 三國演義|三国演义
- (bound form) ordinary; numerous; (bound form) pertaining to a concubine (contrasted with 嫡[di2])
- race; nationality; ethnicity; clan; by extension, social group (e.g. office workers 上班族)
- Yuan Shao (153-202), general during late Han, subsequently warlord
- victory; CL:個|个[ge4]
- 魏 Wèi: 魏 Wei4: surname Wei; name of a vassal state of the Zhou dynasty from 661 BC in Shanxi, one of the Seven Hero Warring States; Wei state, founded by Cao Cao 曹操[Cao2 Cao1], one of the Three Kingdoms after the Han dynasty; the Wei dynasty 221–265; Wei Prefecture or Wei County at various times in history魏 wèi: 魏 wei4: tower over a palace gateway (old)
- to grasp (often fig.); to control; to seize (initiative, opportunity, destiny); to master; to know well; to understand sth well and know how to use it; fluency
- Sima Yi (179-251), warlord under Cao Cao and subsequently founder of the Jin dynasty
- father and son
- to usurp; to seize
- Cao Wei, the most powerful of the Three Kingdoms, established as a dynasty in 220 by Cao Pi 曹丕, son of Cao Cao, replaced by Jin dynasty in 265
- Western Jin dynasty (265-316)
- Minister of War (official title in pre-Han Chinese states); two-character surname Sima
- family; clan
- first; first time; once; (math.) linear (of degree one)
- to counterattack; a counteroffensive
- to make reprisals; to retaliate; revenge; retaliation
- despot; tyrant; bully
- to prevail over; to defeat; to surmount
- with this; thereby; thus; because of this
- axle; (fig.) central element; key element; axis (alliance of nations)
- to explain; to expound; to interpret; elucidation
- each; every
- 晋 jìn: 晋 jin4: to move forward; to promote; to advance晋 Jìn: 晋 Jin4: surname Jin; the Jin Dynasties (265–420); Western Jin 西晉|西晋[Xi1 Jin4] (265–316), Eastern Jin 東晉|东晋[Dong1 Jin4] (317–420) and Later Jin Dynasty (936–946); short name for Shanxi 山西[Shan1 xi1]
- 发 fā: 发 fa1: to send out; to show (one's feeling); to issue; to develop; to make a bundle of money; classifier for gunshots (rounds)发 fà: 发 fa4: hair; Taiwan pr. [fa3]
- to throw (sth in a specific direction: ball, javelin, grenade etc); to cast (a ballot); to cast (a glance, a shadow etc); to put in (money for investment, a coin to operate a slot machine); to send (a letter, a manuscript etc); to throw oneself into (a river, a well etc to commit suicide); to go to; to seek refuge; to place oneself into the hands of; (coll.) to rinse (clothes) in water
- to express; to describe
- (of sb) to express; to state; to show; (of sth) to indicate; to signify; to show; expression; manifestation
- to give one's allegiance; (popular) support
- to betray
- political history
- Tang dynasty (618-907)
- 关 Guān: 关 Guan1: surname Guan关 guān: 关 guan1: mountain pass; to close; to shut; to turn off; to confine; to lock (sb) up; to shut (sb in a room, a bird in a cage etc); to concern; to involve
- short name for Gansu 甘肅|甘肃[Gan1 su4]
- Xianbei or Xianbi, group of northern nomadic peoples
- Han ethnic group, the majority ethnic group in China
- see 山東省|山东省[Shan1 dong1 Sheng3]
- a few; several; how many
- family influential for generations; aristocratic family
- large and influential family; clan