Sun Ce's conquests in Jiangdong | |||||||
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Part of the wars at the end of the Han dynasty | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Sun Ce | Various warlords, Shanyue |
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Sun Ce Zhou Yu Wu Jing Sun Ben Sun Fu |
Liu Yao Yan Baihu Xu Gong Wang Lang Lu Kang Liu Xun |
Sun Ce's conquests in Jiangdong | |||||||
Traditional Chinese | 孫策平江東之戰 | ||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 孙策平江东之战 | ||||||
Literal meaning | Sun Ce's war of pacification in Jiangdong | ||||||
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Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Sūn Cè Píng Jiāngdōng Zhī Zhàn |
Sun Ce's conquests in Jiangdong were a series of military campaigns led by the warlord Sun Ce to conquer territories in the Jiangdong and Wu regions from 194 to 199 during the final years of the Eastern Han dynasty. The campaign concluded with victory for Sun Ce, and the conquered lands served as a foundation for the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms era.
Sun Ce was the eldest son of Sun Jian, who was killed in action during the Battle of Xiangyang in 191 against Liu Biao, the Governor of Jing Province. Although Sun Ce was 16 when his father died, he was already well-known and was acquainted with many reputable men.
In 194, Sun Ce went to meet Yuan Shu, the warlord whom his father was subordinate to. Yuan Shu was surprised, but he refused to return the command of Sun Jian's troops to Sun Ce. At that time, Sun Ce's maternal uncle Wu Jing, the Administrator of Danyang, was also under Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu then ordered Sun Ce to travel to Danyang and rally his own troops there. Although he managed to muster about a few hundred men, Sun Ce came under attack by Zu Lang, a bandit leader in Jing County, and almost lost his life. Sun Ce went to meet Yuan Shu again, with Yuan this time agreeing to return about 1,000 of Sun Jian's troops to Sun Ce. Yuan Shu also initially promised to let Sun Ce be the Administrator of Jiujiang, but he went back on his word and appointed Chen Ji instead.
Subsequently, Yuan Shu planned to attack Xu Province and requested 30,000 hu (斛) of rice from Lu Kang, the Administrator of Lujiang, but Lu refused and Yuan was enraged. Sun Ce bore a grudge against Lu Kang, because there was once when he visited Lu, Lu refused to meet him and sent a registrar to entertain him instead. Yuan Shu sent Sun Ce to attack Lu Kang, promising Sun, "It was my mistake to appoint Chen Ji, and now I often regret not abiding by my original decision. If you defeat Lu Kang, Lujiang will truly be yours." However, Yuan Shu reneged his promise again when Sun Ce conquered Lujiang, appointing Liu Xun as the administrator instead. Sun Ce became disappointed with Yuan Shu. Concurrently, Sun Ce gained the support of Wu territory residents such as Ling Cao and his kinsman, and pirates such as Zhou Tai and his gang.