A resilient man who dominates the south of the Yangtze River
Overview
Chinese Name: 孙权
English Name: Sun Quan
Other Names: Sun Zhongmou 孙仲谋, Great Emperor of Wu 吴大帝
Born: 182
Died: May 21, 252
Achievements:
Take over and stabilize Jiangdong and establish the state of Wu 接手并安定江东、建立吴国
Developing the economy in the south of the Yangtze River 发展江南经济
Expand territory and send troops to Yizhou 开疆拓土，派军抵达夷州
Brief Biography of Sun Quan
Sun Quan 孙权, the founding emperor of Wu 孙吴 during the Three Kingdoms 三国 period, was a politician and military commander.
Sun Quan, named Zhongmou 仲谋, was born in Fuchun 富春, Wu county 吴郡 (now Fuyang 富阳 District, Hangzhou 杭州 City, Zhejiang 浙江 Province).
When Sun Quan was young, his father Sun Jian 孙坚 and his brother Sun Ce 孙策 laid the foundation of Jiangdong 江东 in the separatist regime at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty 东汉.
In the fifth year of Jianan 建安 (200), Sun Ce was assassinated, and Sun Quan took charge of it. He was appointed by Cao Cao 曹操 as the general who attacks barbarians 讨虏将军. Zhang Zhao 张昭, Zhou Yu 周瑜, etc. were all convinced. They recruited talents, hired celebrities, conquered the resistance forces, and stabilized the situation in the south of the Yangtze River 长江.
In the 13th year of Jian An (208), Cao Cao occupied Jingzhou 荆州 and sent his troops south. Most of the discussants urged surrender, but Zhou Yu and Lu Su 鲁肃 fought resolutely, so they defeated Cao Cao’s army in Chibi 赤壁 together with Liu Bei 刘备‘s coalition forces.
In the twenty-fourth year of Jian An (219), Sun Quan sent Lü Meng 吕蒙 to attack Jingzhou successfully, which greatly increased the territorial area.
In the first year of Huangwu 黄武 (222), Sun Quan was conferred the title of king of Wu 吴王 by Cao Pi 曹丕, Emperor Wen of Wei 魏文帝, and the state of Wu 吴国 was established. In the same year, Liu Bei was defeated in the battle of Yiling 夷陵之战.
In the first year of Huanglong 黄龙 (229), Sun Quan proclaimed himself Emperor in Wuchang 武昌, and his country was named Wu 吴. Soon after, he moved his capital to Jianye 建业. After Sun Quan became emperor, he set up agricultural officials, cultivated the fields, and set up counties, which promoted the economic development of the south of the Yangtze River.
In the second year of Huanglong (230), Sun Quan sent generals Wei Wen 卫温 and Zhuge 诸葛 to Yizhou 夷州 (now Taiwan 台湾).
Sun Quan died of illness in the first year of Shenfeng 神凤 (252) when he was 71 years old. He had been in power for 24 years and was buried in Jiangling 蒋陵.
Personal Life and Major Contributions
The Battle of Red Cliffs 赤壁之战
In the 13th year of Jian’an (208), Prime Minister 丞相 Cao Cao 曹操 made a southern expedition and defeated Liu Bei. After occupying Jiangling 江陵, Cao Cao wrote a letter to Sun Quan, intending to take down the land of Wu 吴. Sun Quan’s subordinates disagreed. Lu Su and Zhou Yu believed that they should fight actively, while Zhang Zhao believed that they should surrender directly. Sun Quan intended to fight Cao Cao.
At this time, Lu Su brought Zhuge Liang 诸葛亮, Liu Bei’s adviser, from Jiangxia 江夏 to show Liu Bei’s determination to unite the Sun to defeat Cao. Zhou Yu returned and showed that Cao Cao had many disadvantages in sending troops and was expected to win the war. Sun Quan decisively decided to take Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu 程普 as the left and right captains, join forces with Liu Bei and fight against Cao Cao.
With Huang Gai 黄盖‘s plan, Zhou Yu defeated Cao Cao’s army with 50000 people in Chibi. After the war, Liu Bei and Zhou Yu pursued to Nan Commandery 南郡, and Cao Cao had to withdraw to the north, leaving Cao Ren 曹仁 and Xu Huang 徐晃 in Jiangling and sending Lejin 乐进 to guard Xiangyang 襄阳.
Ascend the throne as Emperor
In the first year of Huanglong (229), Sun Quan ascended the throne in Wuchang (now Hubei 湖北Echeng 鄂城), and the founding name was Wu 吴. The Sun Wu Dynasty 孙吴 was officially established. In June, he negotiated with Chen Zhen 陈震, the Shu 蜀汉 emissary who came to congratulate Sun Quan on his accession to the throne, to divide the nine states of the Wei Dynasty 曹魏 equally, and formulated an alliance. In September, Sun Quan issued an imperial edict to move the capital to Jianye 建业.
In the second year of Jiahe 嘉禾 (233), Gongsun Yuan 公孙渊 sent envoys to submit to Sunwu 孙吴, and Sun Quan planned to confer Gongsun Yuan the title of king of Yan 燕王. However, Gongsun Yuan thought that Sunwu was far away from the Cao Wei 曹魏 and was afraid of the expedition of Cao Wei. He coveted the treasures sent by Sunwu, so he seduced the Wu envoys and presented their heads to Cao Rui 曹叡, the emperor Ming of Wei 魏明帝. Sun Quan resented Gongsun Yuan’s repeated trickery. He planned to lead his army to fight against him. After listening to the advice of the courtiers, he did not go out.
In the third year of Jiahe (234), Sun Quan personally occupied Hefei 合肥 New Town. Later, he learned that Cao Rui 曹叡, the emperor Ming of Wei, had led a large army to rescue it, so he withdrew.
In the fourth year of Chiwu 赤乌 (241), Sun Quan sent General Quan Cong 全琮 to attack Huainan 淮南 and general Zhuge Ke 诸葛恪 to attack Liu’an 六安. Quan Cong fought with Wei General Wang Ling 王凌 in Shaopi 芍陂 but returned in low spirit. At the same time, General Zhu ran 朱然 besieged Fancheng 樊城.
Calm down Shanyue 山越
After Sun Quan became emperor, he set up prefectures and counties in the Shanyue 山越 area to expand his territory. Shanyue people were descendants of Baiyue 百越 in the Qin and Han Dynasties 秦汉时期. In order to avoid the heavy taxes, they fled into the mountains and forests, formed their own organization and society, and refused to pay taxes to the Sunwu regime.
At first, Sun Quan sent troops to suppress, but the effect was not great. In order to concentrate troops on fighting abroad and relieve worries, Sun Quan mobilized heavy troops to deal with the Shanyue people.
Generals Lü Fan 吕范, Cheng Pu, Han Dang 韩当, Zhou Tai 周泰, and other leaders surrounded the area. The leaders of the Shanyue people were captured one by one. Other Shanyue people were treated differently: the strong young people were made to enrich the army, and the elderly and women were under unified management and engaged in agricultural production.
Sun Quan concentrated his forces and finally solved the problem of Shanyue, and the rear area was completely stabilized, which laid the foundation for his next foreign fight.