The Three Kingdoms period was a period in Chinese history, part of an era of disunity called the "Six Dynasties" following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty rulers. In a strict academic sense it refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 and the conquest of the state Wu by the Jin Dynasty in 280. However, many Chinese historians and laymen extend the starting point of this period back to the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184.