fall of the han dynasty
In AD 9, a rebel named Wang Mang tried to seize the throne. He remained in power until AD 25 when the Hans took back control of the government and empire. For several years the Hans remained prosperous but eventually the situation dissolved further than ever. The court put its interests into things that did not matter to the betterment of the empire and its people. Social gaps between the rich and the poor grew causing civil unrest and poverty. Already poor peasants were forced to sell what little land/possessions they owned. These problems set the stage perfectly for revolt. In 184 AD exactly that happened, a sect of daoists called the yellow turbans threw the already unstable empire into chaos. Having no central government or military at this point, Subsequent groups of warlords and nomads sacked and destroyed cities in the empire. This threw the whole of china into an era known as "The Period of Dissolution" and would last upwards of 350 years.