Wu

The story of the Wu Kingdom starts with Sun Jian, the father of the first emperor of Wu, Sun Quan. Sun Jian was a modest man, but he claimed to be descended from Sun Tzu, the famous military general and author of The Art of War. Like many of his contemporaries, Sun Jian utilized the Yellow Turban Rebellion as a way to gain a name for himself; however, it was his participation in the coalition against Dong Zhuo that solidified his reputation. Sun Jian was chosen to lead the main offensive against Dong Zhuo’s armies. He was the first to enter the abandoned capital Luoyang: the city had been razed to the ground, but Sun Jian’s men found the legendary Imperial Seal in a well. Reports of the fate of the mysterious object vary, but historians tend to believe that, despite Yuan Shao’s attempts to take the seal from Sun Jian, Sun Jian was able to escape back home with the seal.

Once home, Sun Jian fell under the influence of Yuan Shao’s half brother, Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu called for Sun Jian to attack Liu Biao in the Jing Province, which led to Sun Jian’s untimely death at the age of thirty-seven. His son Sun Ce continued to serve under Yuan Shu, but his growing ambition refused to let him be satisfied.

According to the Romance, in 195 CE, Sun Ce traded the Imperial Seal to Yuan Shu for elite troops and he started to gain territory south of the Yangtze River, including the Danyang, Wu, and Kuaiji commanderies. After Yuan Shu named himself emperor in 197 CE, Sun Ce turned away from his former commander and instead established an alliance with Cao Cao, who named him the General Who Exterminates Rebels. In 198 CE, Sun Ce conquered Lujiang and took over the Yuzhang territory as well.

After this rapid success, Sun Ce was forced to return to Wu to suppress a rebellion led by Xu Gong and White Tiger Yan. Sun Ce successfully captured and killed Xu Gong; however, later he was attacked by some of Xu Gong’s loyal followers on a hunting trip and eventually died of his wounds. The Romance tells a different story: that Sun Ce was haunted to death by Yu Ji, a Taoist priest that Sun Ce had executed. Either way, Sun Ce died at age twenty-six, leaving his younger brother Sun Quan in charge.

Sun Quan took over as commander in 200 CE. Although he was young, his military prowess and leadership skills were confirmed in a series of naval campaigns against Huang Zu, establishing his control over much of the Yangtze River. Sun Quan was then sought out by Liu Bei, who desired to form an alliance together against Cao Cao. Sun Quan accepted Liu Bei’s offer: together with their two famous strategists, Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang, their combined forces destroyed Cao Cao’s numerically superior navy with Wu fire-ships at Chi Bi (The Battle of Red Cliffs).

Sun Quan continued to build a formidable navy, becoming the dominant navy in the middle Yangtze region. The Wu were also known for their powerful infantry. In particular, their ‘dare to die’ infantry were so fearsome that they once stripped off their armor in order to climb up to attack a Wei army: the Wei initially laughed at them, but were quickly overwhelmed by the fierce infantry.

After fighting back and forth with Liu Bei over territory, Sun Quan reestablished ties to the Wei empire in 221 CE when Cao Pi named him King of Wu, a move clearly designed to punish Liu Bei for stealing Jingzhou. Sun Quan was able to reclaim the Jing province in 222 CE: after this, he quickly broke from the Wei again and re-allied with the Shu Han. Finally, in 229 CE, Sun Quan also named himself emperor, establishing the last of the Three Kingdoms. He ruled until his death in 252 CE. Sun Quan’s successors focused more on in-fighting than maintaining the Wu kingdom, and the instability caused by this quarreling left the Sun family open to conquest: under Sun Hao, the Wu kingdom was conquered by the Sima clan in 280 CE, ending the Three Kingdoms period and absorbing the territory into the Jin empire.