kingdom · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Eastern Wu

222 CE – 280 CE · capital Jianye

The Three Kingdoms state of the Sun family in the lower Yangtze, which held the south with river fleets for six decades and laid the base of Nanjing as a capital.

Origins

Sun Ce, son of Sun Jian, a general against the Yellow Turbans, conquered the region south of the Yangtze in the 190s. Sun Ce's brother Sun Quan defeated Cao Cao at Red Cliffs with Liu Bei in 208, took Jing province from Guan Yu in 219 and beat Liu Bei at Yiling in 222. He declared himself emperor in 229, with his capital at Jianye (Nanjing).

Rule and society

Wu relied on powerful southern clans and large navies, with military colonies developing the Yangtze delta and the far south. Sun Quan sent fleets to the island of Yizhou and envoys such as Zhu Ying and Kang Tai to Funan in South-East Asia. Northern refugees and settlers spread farming southwards.

Decline and legacy

After Sun Quan's death in 252, succession struggles weakened the state, and the last emperor, Sun Hao, became notorious for cruelty. In 280 Western Jin fleets descended the Yangtze from Sichuan and Sun Hao surrendered, reuniting China.

Connections (2)

  • Eastern Wu was a vassal of Cao Wei221 CE – 222 CE
  • Eastern Wu was conquered by Western Jin280 CE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Eastern Wu. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eastern-wu
MLA
“Eastern Wu.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eastern-wu. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Eastern Wu.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eastern-wu.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Eastern Wu’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/eastern-wu (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻