period
Beginnings and founding . Towards the
end of the Han dynasty,
Sun Ce, the eldest son of the warlord
Sun Jian, and his followers borrowed troops from the warlord
Yuan Shu and embarked on
a series of military conquests in the
Jiangdong and
Wu regions between 194 and 199, seizing several territories previously occupied by warlords such as
Liu Yao,
Yan Baihu and
Wang Lang. Sun Ce
broke off relations with Yuan Shu around 196–197 after the latter declared himself emperor—an act deemed as treason against
Emperor Xian, the figurehead ruler of the Han dynasty. The warlord
Cao Cao, who was the
de facto head of government in the Han imperial court, asked Emperor Xian to grant Sun Ce the title of "Marquis of Wu" (). Sun Ce was assassinated in the summer of 200 and was succeeded by his younger brother,
Sun Quan. Sun Quan, like his elder brother, also paid nominal allegiance to Emperor Xian while maintaining autonomous rule over the Wu territories. In 208, Sun Quan allied with the warlord
Liu Bei and they combined forces to defeat Cao Cao at the
Battle of Red Cliffs. Sun Quan and Liu Bei maintained their alliance against Cao Cao after the battle for the next ten years or so, despite having some territorial disputes over
Jing Province. In 219, Sun Quan severed ties with Liu Bei when he sent his general
Lü Meng to
invade Liu's territories in Jing Province.
Guan Yu, who was defending Liu Bei's assets in Jing Province, was captured and executed by Sun Quan's forces. After that, the boundaries of Sun Quan's domain extended from beyond the Jiangdong region to include the southern part of Jing Province, which covered roughly present-day
Hunan and parts of
Hubei. In 220, Cao Cao's son and successor,
Cao Pi, ended the Han dynasty by forcing Emperor Xian to abdicate in his favour and established the state of
Cao Wei. Sun Quan agreed to submit to Wei and was granted the title of a vassal king, "King of Wu" (), by Cao Pi. A year later, Liu Bei declared himself emperor and founded the state of
Shu Han. In 222, Liu Bei launched a military campaign against Sun Quan to take back Jing Province and avenge Guan Yu, leading to the
Battle of Xiaoting. However, Liu Bei suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Sun Quan's general
Lu Xun and was forced to retreat to
Baidicheng, where he died a year later. Liu Bei's successor,
Liu Shan, and his regent,
Zhuge Liang, made peace with Sun Quan later and reaffirmed their previous alliance. Sun Quan declared independence from Wei in 222, but continued to rule as "King of Wu" until 229, when he declared himself "Emperor of Wu". His legitimacy was recognised by Shu. To distinguish the state from other historical Chinese states of the same name, historians have added a relevant character to the state's original name: the state that called itself "Wu" (吳) is also known as "Eastern Wu" (東吳; Dōng Wú) or "Sun Wu" (孫吳).
Sun Quan's reign Sun Quan ruled for over 30 years and his long reign resulted in stability in southern China. During his reign, Wu engaged Wei in numerous wars, including the battles of
Ruxu (222–223),
Shiting (228), and
Hefei (234). However, Wu never managed to gain any territory north of the Yangtze River while Wei also never succeeded in conquering the lands south of the Yangtze. A succession struggle broke out between Sun Quan's sons in the later part of his reign—Sun Quan installed
Sun He as the
crown prince in 242 after his former heir apparent,
Sun Deng, died in 241, but Sun He soon became involved in a rivalry with his younger brother,
Sun Ba. The conflict resulted in the emergence of two rivalling factions, each supporting either Sun He or Sun Ba, in Sun Quan's imperial court. Sun Quan eventually deposed Sun He and forced Sun Ba to commit suicide, while
Lu Xun and many other ministers who took either Sun He's or Sun Ba's side in the struggle met with unhappy ends. Sun Quan appointed his youngest son,
Sun Liang, as the crown prince after the incident.
Reigns of Sun Liang and Sun Xiu Sun Quan died in 252 and was succeeded by Sun Liang, with
Zhuge Ke and
Sun Jun serving as regents. In 253, Zhuge Ke was assassinated in a coup launched by Sun Jun, and the state power of Wu fell into Sun Jun's hands and was passed on to his cousin,
Sun Chen, after his death. During Sun Liang's reign,
two rebellions broke out in the Wei garrison at Shouchun (around present-day
Shou County,
Anhui) in 255 and 257–258. Sun Jun and Sun Chen led Wu forces to support the rebels in the first and second rebellions respectively in the hope of making some territorial gains in Wei, but both revolts were suppressed and the Wu forces retreated after suffering many losses. Sun Liang was deposed in 258 by Sun Chen, who installed
Sun Xiu, another son of Sun Quan, on the throne. Sun Xiu killed Sun Chen later in a coup with the help of
Zhang Bu and
Ding Feng.
Fall of Wu Sun Xiu died of illness in 264, a year after
Shu was conquered by Wei. At the time, Wu was experiencing internal turmoil because rebellions had broken out in
Jiaozhi () in the south. The ministers
Puyang Xing,
Wan Yu and
Zhang Bu decided to install Sun He's son,
Sun Hao, on the throne. In the beginning of Sun Hao's reign, the emperor reduced taxes, gave relief to the poor, and granted freedom to a large number of palace maids. However, Sun Hao gradually became more cruel and superstitious and started indulging in wine and women instead of finding ways to revive his declining state. Sun Hao's tyranny caused widespread anger and hatred towards him in Wu, but it was due to the efforts of officials such as
Lu Kai and
Lu Kang that Wu was able to remain relatively stable and peaceful. In February 266,
Sima Yan ended the state of Cao Wei by forcing its last ruler,
Cao Huan, to abdicate in his favour, and then established the
Jin dynasty. In the summer of 279,
Guo Ma rose in rebellion in Guangzhou. In late 279, Jin forces led by
Du Yu,
Wang Jun and others
attacked Wu from six directions. Sun Hao attempted to put up resistance by sending his armies to fight the Jin invaders, but the Wu forces suffered several consecutive defeats and even the Wu chancellor,
Zhang Ti, was killed in action. Seeing that Wu was doomed to fall, Sun Hao surrendered to the Jin dynasty on 31 May 280, marking the end of Wu and the end of the
Three Kingdoms period. ==Government and military==