Zhuge Jin, Wu Strategist

When Zhuge Jin proposed the marriage of Guan Yu's daughter and Sun Quan's heir, Guan Yu's arrogant refusal led to disaster.

Zhūgé Jǐn (AD 174 – 241) , courtesy name Ziyu (Wade-Giles: Tzŭ-yu) (子瑜) , was a minister for the Kingdom of Wu during the Three Kingdoms era of China. He was the elder brother of the famous Shu strategist , Zhuge Liang. He was greatly trusted by Sun Quan. His most important accomplishment was in smoothing relations between Wu and Shu. His son Zhuge Ke succeeded him, and became a great Wu general , but later failed as a regent, leading to the destruction of the Zhuge clan.

Zhuge Jin also had another son named Zhuge Qiao , who was adopted by his brother Zhuge Liang and Liang's wife , Huang Yueying.

Zhou Yu, Chief Commander

"After making me, Zhou Yu, did you have to make Kongming?" -Zhou Yu crying to heaven on his deathbed

Zhou Yu (Chinese : 周瑜; pinyin: Zhōu Yú) (175-210) was a famous and one of the most capable military strategists for Sun Ce and his successor Sun Quan during the Three Kingdoms era ; the turbulent years leading to the end of Han Dynasty in China.

Life

Zhou Yu was born in Lujiang District. Zhou Yu was born into a cultured family that produced many officials , and when Sun Jian was attacking Dong Zhuo, he moved his family to live together with Zhou Yu's family. Sun Jian's son Sun Ce and Zhou Yu studied together and became lifelong friends. Soon , Zhou Yu's uncle became the governor of Danyang, and the whole family relocated to Danyang , where they served Yuan Shu.

Sun Ce , under a commission from Yuan Shu , entered Yangzhou in order to aid his relatives , Wu Jing and Sun Ben , who were attacked by Liu Yao. Zhou Yu and his uncle , Zhou Shang, were among the first to join Sun Ce's army, superseded only by a fellow officer of Yuan Shu , Lü Fan , and the former retainers of Sun Jian. After Sun Ce defeated Liu Yao and his allies , Zhou Yu and his uncle were summoned to return to Yuan Shu while Sun Ce continued his conquests.

In 197 , confident that he had Sun Ce's support, Yuan Shu declared himself Emperor. Sun Ce , citing loyalty to Emperor Xian, declared independence and allied with Lü Bu , Cao Cao , and Liu Bei to oppose his former master. It was at this time that Zhou Yu returned to Sun Ce's army , this time bringing a wealthy merchant named Lu Su , who would go on to serve the Sun family as Zhou Yu's successor.

It was around this time that Zhou Yu and Sun Ce wed the Two Qiaos , daughters of Qiao Xuan, a famed scholar and critic. Very soon afterwards , Sun Ce and Zhou Yu pacified most of Yangzhou Province south of Yangtze and extended their power both south into the native Yue area and north into the Huai River region , defeating Liu Xun and the remnant forces of Yuan Shu in the north as well as Huang Zu and the forces of Liu Biao to the west.

Lu Xun, Scholar General

Lu Xun (183 – 245) was an officer of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms era of China. He was instrumental in causing Guan Yu's downfall , but is most famous for defeating Liu Bei in the celebrated Battle of Yiling.

Life

Lu Xun was born into one of the four most prestigious and richest families in the Wu district (Zhu , Lu , Gu , Zhang). Lu Xun began his career as a minor official under Sun Ce who was then still a general and provincial warlord. Lu Xun was soon given a minor post as commandant and civil officer , where he distinguished himself as both a skilled civil leader , and as a military commander. As a military commander , he pacified south eastern tribes of Yue and brought them within the Chinese influence. As a civil official, he was successful in integrating northern refugees and minorities into the social and economic structure of Wu.

Lu Meng, Wu General

As the Wu chief commander, Lu Meng conquered Shu-held Jingzhou in 219 by disguising soldiers as merchants on boats filled with hiding troops.

Lü Meng (178 - 219) was a renowned officer under Sun Quan during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He served as the commanding general in the invasion of Jing Province that led to the death of Guan Yu.

Life

Lü Meng was born in Fupo (富坡) of Runan (Present-day Fuyang , Anhui) in 178. Lü Meng's family migrated south of the Yangtze River when Lü Meng was young, and he lived with his brother-in-law Deng Dang (鄧當) , who served under Sun Ce. When Lü Meng was 15 or 16 , he would often follow Deng Dang in his expeditions against the Shanyue secretly against Deng Dang's wishes. When Deng told Lü Meng's mother about this, she was furious, but Lü Meng said : "It is difficult to survive in poverty ; if we can prove ourselves through hard work , then wealth would come eventually. How can we get the tiger's cub if we don't enter the tiger's den?" Lü Meng's mother was so touched at his words that she forgave him and did not punish him.

At the time, an official despised Lü Meng for his age , and often insulted him with words like : "What can he do? His behaviour would only feed himself to the tigers. " Eventually , Lü Meng could not hold his anger and slew the official. Lü Meng soon turned himself in to Yuan Xiong (袁雄) , who pleaded with Sun Ce to spare his life. Sun Ce granted Lü Meng an audience with him , and he was very impressed with Lü Meng , so he acquitted Lü Meng of his crimes and made him an officer.

A few years later, Deng Dang died , and Zhang Zhao recommended Lü Meng to take his place. When Sun Quan succeeded Sun Ce, he planned to merge smaller troops into larger garrisons. When Lü Meng heard of this, he collected funds to decorate his troops with brilliant armour. When Sun Quan came to review his troops, he was very impressed by Lü Meng's troops and added more soldiers under Lü Meng's command, thus saving Lü Meng's men from being merged into another officer's command.

Lady Sun

Sister to Sun Quan and wife to Liu Bei, Lady Sun often felt her loyalty to both tested.

Lady Sun, or more famously Sun Shangxiang (traditional Chinese : 孫尚香 ; simplified Chinese : 孙尚香 ; pinyin : Sūn Shàngxiāng) as she is called in Chinese opera and in contemporary culture , lived during the Three Kingdoms era of China. She was the daughter of the warlord , Sun Jian. She had five brothers , the most notable being the two eldest , Sun Ce and Sun Quan , both of whom subsequently became warlords south of the Yangtze River. She is often depicted as a tomboy, as she received extensive martial arts training and her maidservants all wielded weapons , which was strange for her time.

She was wed to Liu Bei as his third wife , supposedly to secure the alliance between Sun Quan and Liu Bei. When Liu Bei turned west to attack the land of Sichuan , Sun Quan sent ships to bring her back.

Life

Sister of the founding Emperor of Eastern Wu (Sun Quan) , Lady Sun was the only recorded daughter of Sun Jian and Lady Wu. Sun Jian had two other daughters bore by consorts , older than Sun Shangxiang , who were recorded. One daughter was married to Hong Zi and highly respected the abilities of Zhuge Jin. The other was bore by a Lady Chen , who possibly was a concubine , and married Pan Mi.

Although history never recorded the given name of Lady Sun (or any of her sisters) , in legends , she is commonly referred by the name Sun Shangxiang. She was a woman of strong personality and this is shown in events throughout her life. The biography of Fa Zheng tells that she had the courage and energy of her brothers.

In 209 , she was given to Liu Bei to marry as a part of an alliance between Eastern Wu and Shu Han. At the time, Lady Sun was a little over twenty years of age but because of the marriage , she took general control over his household as well as guardianship over his son and heir Liu Shan. This is because both of Liu Bei’s former wives had already died of natural causes. Because Lady Sun was accompanied by more than a hundred female attendants, all of whom were capable of bearing arms , whenever Liu Bei visited her , he was scared. No children are recorded between them.

Two years later , however , in 211 , there was tension within the Wu-Shu Alliance over the affairs of Jingzhou. It was at this time when Sun Shangxiang returned to her brother’s court. According to Zhao Yun’s biography, Lady Sun attempted to take Liu Shan with her but was stopped by Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun himself. Through negotiations by the two generals , Lady Sun surrendered the young heir before she journeyed downriver to Jiangdong. It is through this event that the marriage and alliance effectively ended. She never met Liu Bei again , and presumedly never remarried.

Lu Su, Wu Advisor

Lu Su served as an intermediary between the Wu and Shu kingdoms until Zhou Yu's death in 210, when he became Wu's supreme commander.

Lu Su (172 - 217) , styled Zijing(子敬) , was an advisor for the Kingdom of Wu during the Three Kingdoms era of China. He took control of the military after the death of Zhou Yu. During the Battle of Red Cliffs , Lu Su served as a close advisor to Zhou Yu and a liaison with Liu Bei's forces.

Upon Zhou Yu's death , Lu Su was put in charge of Sun Quan's army and was head advisor until his own death. He was succeeded by Lü Meng. Lu Su felt that it would be beneficial for Wu to maintain diplomatic relations with the neighboring Kingdom of Shu.

In the actual recorded history of the Three Kingdoms era , and in contrast to his unremarkable depiction in the fictionalised novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Lu Su played a prominent role as advisor and strategist during the Battle of Red Cliffs against the invading armies of the northern warlord Cao Cao in 208. In fact , before Zhuge Liang's famous view of the formation of the Three Kingdoms era, Lu Su foresaw the formation of Three Kingdoms (Cao Family , Sun Family and Liu Biao of Jing Zhou) and a possible Northern and Southern Han (Wei and Wu , divided by the Chang Jiang River).

Sun Quan, Lord of Wu

"One score and four he reigned, the Southland king: A dragon coiled, a tiger poised below the mighty Yangtze."

Sun Quan (traditional Chinese: 孫權 ; simplified Chinese : 孙权 ; pinyin : Sūn Quán ; Wade-Giles : Sun Chuan) (182 - 252) , son of Sun Jian , courtesy name Zhòngmóu (仲謀) , formally Emperor Da (the Great) of (Eastern) Wu was the founder of Eastern Wu , during the Three Kingdoms period , in China. He ruled from 222 to 229 as Wu Wang (King/Prince of Wu) and from 229 to 252 as Emperor of the Wu Dynasty.

In his youth Sun Quan spent time in his home county of Fuchun , and after his father's death in the early 190s , at various cities on the Lower Yangtze River. His elder brother Sun Ce carved out a warlord state in the region , based on his own followers and a number of local clan allegiances. When Sun Ce was assassinated by the retainers of Xu Gong , whom Sun Ce had killed in battle several years prior , in 200, the eighteen-year-old Sun Quan inherited the lands southeast of the Yangtze River from his brother. His administration proved to be relatively stable in those early years. Sun Jian and Sun Ce's most senior officers , such as Zhou Yu , Zhang Zhao , Zhang Hong , and Cheng Pu remained loyal ; in fact it was mentioned in Romance of the Three Kingdoms that Sun Ce had at his deathbed reminded Sun Quan that "in internal matters , consult Zhang Zhao , in external matters , consult Zhou Yu." Thus throughout the 200s Sun Quan under the tutelage of his able advisors continued to build up his strength along the Yangtze River. In early 207 , his forces finally won complete victory over Huang Zu , a military leader under Liu Biao , who dominated the Middle Yangtze.

In winter of that year , the northern warlord Cao Cao led an army of some 200,000 to conquer south to complete the reunification of China. Two distinct factions emerged at his court on how to handle the situation. One , led by Zhang Zhao , urged surrender whilst the other , led by Zhou Yu and the young diplomat Lu Su , opposed capitulation. In the finality, Sun Quan decided to oppose Cao Cao in the Middle Yangtze with his superior riverine forces. Allied with the warlord Liu Bei and employing the combined strategies of Zhou Yu and Huang Ga i, they defeated Cao Cao decisively at the Battle of Red Cliffs.

In 220 , Cao Pi , son of Cao Cao , seized the throne and proclaimed himself to be the Emperor of China, ending the nominal rule of the Han Dynasty. At first Sun Quan nominally served as a Cao Wei vassal with the Cao Wei-created title of Prince of Wu, but after Cao Pi demanded that he send his son Sun Deng as a hostage to the Cao Wei capital Luoyang and he refused , in 222 , he declared himself independent by changing era name. It was not until the year 229 that he formally declared himself to be emperor.

Because of his skill in gathering important , honourable men to his cause, Sun Quan was able to delegate authority to capable figures. This primary strength served him well in gaining the support of the common people and surrounding himself with capable generals.

Sun Quan died in 252 at the age of 70. He enjoyed the longest reign among all the founders of the Three Kingdoms. He was succeeded as Emperor of Eastern Wu by his son Sun Liang.

Sunce, Young Conquerer

Sun Ce (175 – 200) was a military general and warlord during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era in ancient China. He was the eldest of five sons and one daughter of Sun Jian , who was killed in battle when Sun Ce was only sixteen. Sun Ce then broke away from his father's former overlord Yuan Shu and headed into Southeastern China to establish his own power base there. With the help of several capable men , including Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu , Sun Ce managed to lay down the foundation of the later Eastern Wu , of which his younger brother Sun Quan eventually became the first emperor. After Sun Quan declared himself emperor , he posthumously honored Sun Ce with the title Prince Huan of Changsha (長沙桓王 , literally "the diligent prince").

In 200, when the rising warlord Cao Cao was away battling Yuan Shao in the decisive Battle of Guandu , Sun Ce was rumored to be plotting an attack against Cao Cao's capital of Xuchang. However, he was assassinated before he could carry out the plan.

The Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms describes Sun Ce as handsome and full of laughter. He was also a generous and receptive man who could employ people according to their abilities. Thus his subjects were willing to risk their lives for him. One detractor named Xu Gong, in a letter to Emperor Xian , likened Sun Ce to Xiang Yu , the general renowned for overthrowing Qin Dynasty . As Xiang Yu was often referred to as the Conqueror of Chu, Sun Ce henceforth became known as the Little Conqueror in popular culture.

Reference