Sun Jian

Sun Jian
A Qing dynasty illustration of Sun Jian finding the Imperial Seal.
Warlord
Born	c. 155
Died	191 (aged 36)
Names
Traditional Chinese	孫堅
Simplified Chinese	孙坚
Pinyin	Sūn Jiān
Wade–Giles	Sun Chien
Courtesy name	Wentai (traditional Chinese: 文臺; simplified Chinese: 文台; pinyin: Wéntái; Wade–Giles: Wen-t'ai)
Posthumous name	Emperor Wulie (Chinese: 武烈皇帝; pinyin: Wǔliè Huángdì; Wade–Giles: Wu-lieh Huang-ti)

Sun Jian (c. 155–191),courtesy name Wentai, was a military general and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He allied himself with Yuan Shu in 190 when warlords from eastern China formed a coalition to oust Dong Zhuo, a tyrannical warlord who held the puppet Emperor Xian in his power. Although he controlled neither many troops nor much land, Sun Jian's personal bravery and resourcefulness were feared by Dong Zhuo, who placed him among Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and Liu Biao as the most influential men at that time. After the coalition disbanded in the next year, China fell into massive civil war. In 191, Sun Jian was killed in battle during an offensive campaign against Liu Biao.

Sun Jian was also the father of Sun Quan, one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms era who eventually established the Eastern Wu state and declared himself its first emperor in 229, whereupon Sun Jian was given the posthumous title "Emperor Wulie" (武烈皇帝).

Born in the Fuchun Prefecture of the Wu Commandery (吳郡富春, present day Fuyang, Zhejiang), Sun Jian was said to be a descendant of the renowned military strategist Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War. No more immediate records survive, indicating his family probably played a very small part during the Han dynasty. Even his father's name is unrecorded, although a folk tradition gives it as Sun Zhong (孫鍾).

Sun Jian was a civil officer in his prefecture during his youth. When he was sixteen, Sun Jian travelled with his father to Qiantang (錢唐, present day Hangzhou, Zhejiang), where they came upon a band of pirates dividing up their spoils on land. Sun Jian jumped on shore with a sabre in hand and pointed in different directions as if commanding a detachment of soldiers to surround the pirates. Seeing this, the pirates were deceived and fled. Sun Jian pursued, and only after taking the head of every pirate did he return (or just the leaders according to some accounts). His name henceforth spread.