There were centuries of chaos and disorder after the Han dynasty fell because one kingdom would fall and then another would take over in rapid succession. The population decreased because of war and nomadic invasions. The entire midsection of China in the cities was in ruins.

The nomadic people adopted Chinese culture by taking up agriculture, building permanent settlements, marrying Chinese spouses, taking Chinese names, wearing Chinese clothes, and eating Chinese food. Some of them got a formal Chinese education and explored Chinese philosophy and literature.

The Confucian tradition lost a lot of credibility because the primary goal of Confucius was to bring order from chaos. When the dynasty collapsed, Confucianism became irrelevant. Confucianism followers turned to Daoism and Buddhism.

Daoism offered a way to find peace in a violent world and after the fall of the Han Dynasty, Daoism became a religion than a philosophical doctrine. Daoism promised salvation and had potions (elixirs) that supposedly helped a person's health and could bring immortality.

Before the fall of the Han Dynasty, Buddhism was a religion for foreign merchants but when the Han Dynasty collapsed, Buddhism got support from the nomadic people and grew. Buddhism also grew because of missionary efforts from India. Buddhism provided cultural foundation to unify political order.