Eastern Wu

Eastern Wu, also known as Sun Wu, was one the three states competing for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period after the fall of the Han Dynasty. It was based in the Jiangnan (Yangtze River Delta) region of China. During its existence, its capital was at Jianye (建業; present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu), but at times it was also at Wuchang (武昌; present-day Ezhou, Hubei).

History

During the final years of the Han Dynasty, the Wu region - in the south of the Yangtze River surrounding present-day Nanjing - was under the control of the warlord Sun Quan. Sun Quan succeeded his brother Sun Ce as the lord over the Wu region paying nominal allegiance to Emperor Xian of Han (who was, at that point, under the control of Cao Cao). Unlike his competitors, he did not really have the ambition to be Emperor of China. However, after Cao Pi of Cao Wei and Liu Bei of Shu Han each declared themselves emperor, Sun Quan decided to follow suit in 229, claiming to have founded the Wu Dynasty.

Sun Quan's long reign resulted in the stabilizing of the south. Wu and Shu had a military alliance, to defeat Wei in the north. Wu never managed to gain territory north of the Yangtze River, but Wei never managed to take territory south of the river.

Wu was finally conquered by the Jin Dynasty in 280, which marked the reunification of China at the end of the Three Kingdoms period.

Legacy

Under the rule of Wu, the Yangtze River Delta region, regarded in early history as a barbaric "jungle" developed into one of the commercial, cultural, and political centers of China. Within five centuries, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, the development of southern China centered around Jiangnan had surpassed that of the north. The achievements of Wu marked the beginning of the cultural and political division between northern and southern China that would repeatedly appear in Chinese history well into modernity.

The island of Taiwan may have been first reached by the Chinese during the Three Kingdoms period. Contact with the native population and the dispatch of officials to an island named "Yizhou" (夷州) by the Wu navy might have been to Taiwan, but the location of Yizhou is open to dispute; some historians believe it was Taiwan, while others believe it was the Ryukyu Islands.

List of territories

List of sovereigns

Gallery

See also

• Shu Han
• Cao Wei
• Three Kingdoms
• List of people of the Three Kingdoms
• Timeline of the Three Kingdoms period
• Romance of the Three Kingdoms
• Records of Three Kingdoms

Notes

References