Sun Quan
founder of Eastern Wu
182 CE to 252 CE
Sun Quan (182–252), formally Emperor Da of Wu, is the founder of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history.
He rules from 222 to 229 as King of Wu and from 229 to 252 as Emperor of Wu.
In his youth, Sun Quan spends time in his home county of Fuchun, and after the death of his father Sun Jian in the early 190s, at various cities on the lower Yangtze River.
His older brother Sun Ce carves out a warlord state in the region, based on his own followers and a number of local clan allegiances.
When Sun Ce is assassinated by the retainers of Xu Gong in 200, the eighteen-year-old Sun Quan inherits the lands southeast of the Yangtze River from his brother.
His administration proves to be relatively stable in those early years.
Sun Jian and Sun Ce's most senior officers, such as Zhou Yu, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, and Cheng Pu, remain loyal; in fact, it is mentioned in Romance of the Three Kingdoms that Sun Ce had at his deathbed reminded Sun Quan that "in internal matters, consult Zhang Zhao, in external matters, consult Zhou Yu."
Thus, throughout the 200s, Sun Quan, under the tutelage of his able advisors, continues to build up his strength along the Yangtze River.
In early 207, his forces finally win complete victory over Huang Zu, a military leader under Liu Biao, who dominates the middle Yangtze.
In winter of this year, the northern warlord Cao Cao leads an army of some 830,000 to conquer the south to complete the reunification of China.
Two distinct factions emerge at his court on how to handle the situation.
One, led by Zhang Zhao, urges surrender while the other, led by Zhou Yu and Lu Su, opposes capitulation.
In the end, Sun Quan decides to oppose Cao Cao in the middle Yangtze with his superior riverine forces.
Allied with Liu Bei and employing the combined strategies of Zhou Yu and Huang Gai, they defeat Cao Cao decisively at the Battle of Red Cliffs.
In 220, Cao Pi, son of Cao Cao, seizes the throne and proclaims himself to be the Emperor of China, ending and succeeding the nominal rule of the Han Dynasty.
At first Sun Quan nominally serves as a Wei vassal with the Wei-created title of King of Wu, but after Cao Pi demands that he send his son Sun Deng as a hostage to the Wei capital Luoyang and he refuses, in 222, he declares himself independent by changing his era name.
It is not until the year 229 that he formally declares himself emperor.
Because of his talent in gathering important, honorable men to his cause, Sun Quan is able to delegate authority to capable figures.
This primary strength serves him well in gaining the support of the common people and in surrounding himself with capable generals.
After the death of his original crown prince, Sun Deng, two opposing factions supporting different potential successors slowly emerge.
When Sun He succeeds Sun Deng as the new crown prince, he is supported by Lu Xun and Zhuge Ke, while his rival Sun Ba is supported by Quan Cong and Bu Zhi and their clans.
Over a prolonged internal power struggle, numerous officials are executed, and Sun Quan harshly settles the conflict between the two factions by exiling Sun He and forcing Sun Ba to commit suicide.
Sun Quan dies in 252 at the age of 70.
He enjoys the longest reign among all the founders of the Three Kingdoms, and is succeeded by his son Sun Liang.
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Cao Cao engages in the decisive Battle of Guandu with Yuan Shao along the shores of the Yellow River in the year 200, leaving the capital and his base city Xuchang poorly guarded.
Sun Ce is said to have then plotted to attack Xuchang under the banner of rescuing Emperor Xian, a figurehead held under Cao Cao's control.
Preparations are underway for the military excursion when Sun Ce runs into three former servants of Xu Gong during a solo hunting trip.
One of them manages to plant an arrow into Sun Ce's cheek before Sun Ce's men arrive and slay the assassins.
Many differing accounts of Sun Ce's death exist; one generally accepted scenario is that he died that same night.
Although he is survived by a posthumous son, Sun Shao (as well as at least two, possibly three, daughters, married to Gu Shao and later Zhu Ji, and Lu Xun respectively, Sun Ce passes his legacy to his younger brother Sun Quan.
When Sun Quan declares himself the first emperor of the state of Eastern Wu in 222, he bestows upon Sun Ce the posthumous title of Prince Huan of Changsha.
Sun Shao will bear one son, Sun Feng, who will be executed by Sun Hao for alleged treason due to his popularity.
Cao Cao’s army begins a southern campaign in the autumn of 208.
The Yangtze River in the area of Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan provinces) is key to the success of this strategy.
If Cao Cao is to have any hope of reuniting the sundered Han empire, he has to achieve naval control of the middle Yangtze and command the strategic naval base at Jiangling as a means of access to the southern region.
Two warlords control the regions of the Yangtze that are key to Cao Cao's success: Liu Biao, Governor of Jing Province, controls the river west of the mouth of the Han, roughly encompassing the area around the city of Xiakou and all territory south of that region.
Sun Quan controls the river east of the Han and the southeastern territories abutting it.
A third ally, Liu Bei, is living in refuge with Liu Biao at the garrison in Fancheng (present-day Xiangyang), having fled from the northeast to Jing Province following a failed plot to assassinate Cao Cao and restore power to the imperial dynasty.
The initial stages of the campaign are an unqualified success for Cao Cao, as the command of Jing Province had been substantially weakened and the Jing armies exhausted by conflict with Sun Quan to the south.
Factions have arisen supporting either of Liu Biao's two sons in a struggle for succession.
The younger son prevails, and Liu Biao's dispossessed eldest son, Liu Qi, departs to assume a prefecture in Jiangxia (present-day Yunmeng County, Hubei) (de Crespigny 2004:241).
Liu Biao dies of illness only a few weeks later, while Cao Cao is advancing from the north and, under these circumstances, Liu Biao's younger son and successor, Liu Cong, quickly surrenders.
Cao Cao thus captures a sizable fleet and secures the naval base at Jiangling.
This provides him with a key strategic military depot and forward base to harbor his ships.
Liu Bei, accompanied by a refugee population of civilians and soldiers, quickly flees south when Jing Province falls.
This disorganized exodus is pursued by Cao Cao's elite cavalry, and is surrounded and decisively beaten at the Battle of Changban (near present-day Dangyang, Hubei).
Liu Bei escapes, however, and flees further east to Xiakou, where he liaises with Sun Quan's emissary Lu Su.
At this point historical accounts are inconsistent; Lu Su may have successfully encouraged Liu Bei to move even further east, to Fankou.
In either case, Liu Bei is later joined by Liu Qi and levies from Jiangxia.
Liu Bei's main advisor, Zhuge Liang, is sent to Chaisang to negotiate forming a mutual front against Cao Cao with the state of Wu.
By the time Zhuge Liang arrives, Cao Cao has already sent Sun Quan a letter boasting of commanding eight hundred thousand men and demanding Sun Quan's surrender.
The faction led by Sun Quan's Chief Clerk, Zhang Zhao, advocates surrender, citing Cao Cao's overwhelming numerical advantage.
However, on separate occasions, Lu Su, Zhuge Liang, and Sun Quan's chief commander, Zhou Yu, all presented arguments to persuade Sun Quan to agree to the alliance against the northerners.
Sun Quan finally decided upon war.
He then assigns Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu, and Lu Su with thruty thousand men to aid Liu Bei against Cao Cao.
Although Cao Cao has boasted a command of eight hundred thousand men, Zhou Yu estimates Cao Cao's actual troop strength to be closer to two hundred and twenty thousand.
Furthermore, this total includes seventy thousand impressed troops from the armies of the recently deceased Liu Biao, so the loyalty and morale of a large number of Cao Cao's force is uncertain.
With the twenty thousand soldiers that Liu Bei has gathered, the alliance consists of approximately fifty thousand marines who are trained and prepared for battle.
The combined Sun-Liu force sails upstream from either Xiakou or Fankou to Red Cliffs, where they encounter Cao Cao's vanguard force.
Ravaged by disease and low morale due to the series of forced marches they had undertaken on the prolonged southern campaign, Cao Cao's men cannot gain an advantage in the small skirmish which ensues, so Cao Cao retreats to Wulin (north of the Yangtze River) and the allies pull back to the south.
Cao Cao has moored his ships from stem to stern, possibly aiming to reduce seasickness in his navy, which comprises mostly northerners who are not used to living on ships.
Observing this, divisional commander Huang Gai sends Cao Cao a letter feigning surrender and prepares a squadron of capital ships described as mengchong doujian (The exact nature of these vessels is unclear; they are most likely warships clad in a protective coating, possibly leather).
The ships have been converted into fire ships by filling them with bundles of kindling, dry reeds, and fatty oil.
As Huang Gai's "defecting" squadron approaches the midpoint of the river, the sailors ignite the ships before taking to small boats.
The unmanned fire ships, carried by the southeastern wind, speed towards Cao Cao's fleet and set it ablaze.
Within a short time smoke and flames stretch across the sky, and a large number of men and horses either burn to death or drown.
Following the initial shock, Zhou Yu and the allies lead a lightly armed force to capitalize on the assault.
The northern army, thrown into confusion, is utterly defeated.
Seeing the situation is hopeless, Cao Cao issues a general order of retreat and destroys a number of his remaining ships before withdrawing.
The allied counterattack might have vanquished Cao Cao and his forces entirely.
However, the crossing of the Yangtze River dissolves into chaos as the allied armies converge on the riverbank and fight over the limited number of ferries.
To restore order, a detachment led by the allied general Gan Ning establishes a bridgehead in Yiling to the north, and only a staunch rearguard action by Cao Ren prevents further catastrophe.
Cao Cao's army attempts a retreat along Huarong Road, including a long stretch passing through marshlands north of Dongting Lake.
Heavy rains have reduced the track to a thick mire, making the road so treacherous that many of the sick soldiers have to carry bundles of grass on their backs and use them to fill the road, to allow the horsemen to cross.
Many of these soldiers drown in the mud or are trampled to death in the effort.
To the misery of Cao Cao's army, the allies, led by Zhou Yu and Liu Bei, give chase over land and water until they reach Nan prefecture; combined with famine and disease, this decimates Cao Cao's remaining forces.
Cao Cao retreats north to his home base of Ye, ...
...leaving Cao Ren and Xu Huang to guard Jiangling, ...
...Yue Jin stationed in Xiangyang, and ...