The Empire of Wu
General Information
Capitals:	Wuchang (222-229, 265-266) Jianye (229-265, 266-280)
Founded:	222 A.D., by Sun Quan
Ended:	280 A.D., destroyed by Jin
Reign colour:	Yellow
Names
Chinese name:	吳
Pinyin:	Wú
Wade-Giles:	{{{wade-giles}}}
Other name(s):	Eastern Wu Dong Wu Kingdom of Wu
Community
Population:	In 242 A.D.: 523.000 families 2.400.000 people
Religions:	Taoism, Confucianism, Chinese folk religion

The empire of Wu was one of three empires of China during the Three Kingdoms period. It competed against Shu and Wei in trying to control all of China. Following the founding of Wei in 220 A.D. and Shu in 221 A.D., Wu was founded by Sun Quan in 222 A.D., however, it wasn't until 229 A.D. that Sun Quan declared himself Emperor of Wu. Wu covered the eastern and southeastern part of China. It lasted until 280 A.D. when it was destroyed by Jin.

Historians often refer to Wu as 'Dong Wu' or 'Eastern Wu' (東吳), this is done to distinguish the state from other historical Chinese states of the same name.

HistoryEdit

The beginnings of the Wu Empire stretch back to the warlord Sun Jian. After making a name for himself during the reign of Emperor Ling, Sun Jian became a known figure. When the Campaign against Dong Zhuo came around, Sun Jian was called forth to participate, and did so as an officer under Yuan Shu. Sun Jian proved himself further during the campaign by defeating one of Dong Zhuo's generals, Hua Xiong. However, Sun Jian arrived at Luo Yang after it had been burned down, but somehow, stumbled upon the Imperial Seal in a well and decided to take it back with him to the south. On his way back, he was discovered by Liu Biao of Jingzhou in 191 A.D. and war was declared, ending in the death of Sun Jian.

Sun Jian was succeeded by his oldest son, Sun Ce. Sun Ce allied himself with Yuan Shu and gave the Seal to him. Sun Ce turned his attention to the region of Jiang Dong which had been taken over by local warlords such as Liu Yao, Yan Baihu and Wang Lang. Sun Ce recruited many talented officers such as Zhou Yu during his reign and managed to defeat the warlords of the south and claimed the title of "Little Conqueror", effectively establishing the lands that would become the empire of Wu.

Unfortunately Sun Ce was assassinated soon after and died in 200 A.D., at the young age of 25. He was succeeded by his younger brother Sun Quan who would then continue to lead the army and become the new leader of Wu. One of the first major acts as Wu's leader, Sun Quan crushed one of his father's enemies, Huang Zu, who was an officer of Liu Biao, and succeeded in routing his forces. At the same time, Liu Bei was in flight from Cao Cao, who at the time held the most power in the land, and under recommendation from Zhou Yu, Sun Quan would ally with Liu Bei and they would work together to stop Cao Cao's unstoppable momentum. Soon after, in 208 A.D. The Battle of Chibi took place and Cao Cao's fleet was burned and decimated, putting an end to his campaign towards the south and eliminating the threat of the north temporarily. The Kingdom of Wu was officially established in 222 A.D. and Sun Quan later declared himself emperor in 229 A.D.^[1]

People of WuEdit

See AlsoEdit

• Portal:Wu

NotesEdit

Sources

1. ↑ http://kongming.net/novel/writings/wu/

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