Eastern Wu
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- This article is about the Three Kingdoms state occupying modern southeastern China. For the Spring and Autumn state, see Wu (state). For the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms states with "Wu" as part of their names, see Wu (Ten Kingdoms) and Wuyue.
- For the Republic of China (Taiwan) university whose Chinese name is the same as Eastern Wu, see Soochow University (Taiwan).
Eastern Wu (Chinese: 東吳, pinyin: dōng wú), also known as Sun Wu (Traditional Chinese: 孫吳, pinyin: sūn wú) and (misleadingly) in English as the Kingdom of Wu, refers to a historical state in a region of China. During its existence, its capital was largely at Jianye (建業, modern Nanjing), but at times was at Wuchang (武昌, in modern Ezhou, Hubei -- not Wuhan, as the name might suggest).
Image:WuJar.JPG From 222 to 280, Eastern Wu was one of the Three Kingdoms competing for control of China after the fall of the Han Dynasty. During the decline of the Han dynasty, the region of Wu - a region in the south of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang), surrounding 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 the Kingdom of Wei and Liu Bei of the Kingdom of Shu each declared themselves to be the Emperor, Sun Quan decided to follow suit in 229, claiming to have founded the Wu Dynasty.
Under the rule of Eastern Wu, southern China, 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 States, the development of Southern China 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 term Southern China as used here does not include Guangdong and other provinces in the far south, which were not incorporated into China proper until the Tang Dynasty and remained for the most part economically and culturally backward until the late 19th century.
The island of Taiwan may have been first reached by the Chinese during the Three Kingdoms period. Contacts with the native population and the dispatch of officials to an island named "Yizhou" (夷州) by the Eastern Wu navy might have been to Taiwan, but what Yizhou was is open to dispute; some historians believe it was Taiwan, while others believe it was the Ryukyu Islands.
Eastern Wu was finally conquered by the first Jin emperor, Sima Yan, in 280. It was the longest-lived of the three kingdoms.
Important figures:
- Sun Jian (孫堅)
- Sun Ce (孫策),
- Sun Quan (孫權)
- Huang Gai (黃蓋)
- Gan Ning (甘寧)
- Taishi Ci (太史慈)
- Zhou Yu (周瑜)
- Zhou Tai (周泰)
- Ling Tong (凌 統)
- Lu Su (魯肅)
- Lü Meng (呂蒙)
- Lu Yi (Xun) (陸遜)
- Zhang Zhao (張昭)
- Zhang Hong (張紘)
- Zhuge Jin (諸葛謹)
- Dong Xi (董袭)
- Xu Sheng (徐盛)
- Chen Wu (陈武)
List of sovereigns
| Posthumous Names ( Shi Hao 諡號) | Personal names | Year(s) of Reigns | Era Names (Nian Hao 年號) and their range of years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Convention: use personal name | |||
| Da Di (大帝 dà dì) | Sun Quan (孫權 sūn quán) | 222-252 |
Huangwu (黃武 huáng wǔ) 222-229 |
| Kuaiji Wang (會稽王 kuaì jī wáng) | Sun Liang (孫亮 sūn liàng) | 252-258 |
Jianxing (建興 jiàn xīng) 252-253 |
| Jing Di (景帝 jǐng dì) | Sun Xiu (孫休 sūn xiū) | 258-264 | Yong'an (永安 yǒng ān) 258-264 |
| Wucheng Hou (烏程侯 wū chéng hóu) or Guiming Hou (歸命侯; gūi mìng hóu) |
Sun Hao (孫皓 sūn haò) | 264-280 |
Yuanxing (元興 yuán xīng) 264-265 |
fr:Royaume de Wu ko:오 (삼국) id:Dong Wu ms:Dong Wu ja:呉 (三国) ru:У (царство) fi:Wu-kuningaskunta zh:東吳