Sun Quan

Sun Quan
Name:	Sun Quan
Game:	Total War: Three Kingdoms
Culture:	Han
Starting Faction:	The Sun Clan of Wu
Faction Leader:	No
Style Name:	Zhongmou
Title:	General who Exterminates Caitiffs, Emperor Da of Wu
Class:	Commander
Legendary:	Yes

Sun Quan is a unique character in the Total War: Three Kingdoms grand campaign.

Historical Background

The second son of Sun Jian and Lady Wu, Sun Quan was born in 182 CE, right before the start of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Bookish and reserved compared to his combative and headstrong brother, Sun Quan had little fame outside of scholarship until his brother was assassinated in 200 CE. Due to Sun Ce’s children being too young, leadership of his fledgling state was given to Sun Quan. While neither an administrative genius nor a good general, Sun Quan was known as a leader with a keen eye for talent and was excellent at gaining the loyalty and mediating between his subordinates.

He carefully built upon his brother’s conquests, gaining new subjects and further securing his hold on Jiangdong until Cao Cao began his southern advance in 208 CE. Despite the huge power gap, Sun Quan refused Cao Cao’s demand to surrender, negotiated an alliance with Liu Bei and Liu Qi, and sent Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu to stop Cao Cao at Chibi. In the famous upset, Zhou Yu destroyed Cao Cao’s fleet and ended any chance of Wei crossing the Yangtze into Jiangdong.

Sun Quan then focused on going West, attacking Jing Province to claim its fertile land and extend his defenses. However, the rewards were paltry, and while his armies slowly pushed Cao Cao out of central Jing, Liu Bei co-opted the scattered powers of southern Jing without a fight. Liu Bei then threatened to turn on him if he invaded Yi Province further to the west on account of it being the domain of his relative, Liu Zhang, which soured their alliance. The alliance was further soured when Liu Bei invaded Yi himself.

Sun Quan maintained the alliance while continuing to strengthen his domain to resist invasions. Despite failing in his northern strike against Hefei, his subordinates pacified the mostly non-Chinese lands of Guangdong further to the south and forced Shi Xie of Jiao Province to accept his suzerainty. Then, his general Lu Meng pulled off two masterstrokes, first capturing half of Jing with barely any bloodshed in 215 CE, then capturing the other half of Jing and executing Guan Yu in 219 CE. Liu Bei attempted to retake the province, but was stopped at Xiaoting by Lu Xun in 222 CE.

Sun Quan accepted the nominal suzeranity of Cao Cao for a few years, but formally quit the empire not long after Cao Cao’s death and succession by Cao Pi. He successfully defended his borders from Cao Pi during the Great River Campaign and continued his project to pacify the southern hinterlands, which included the destruction of the Shi family. He declared himself Emperor of Wu in 229 CE, building up his capitol of Jianye, making the lands south of the Yangtze self-sustaining economically, and fortifying the length of the Yangtze against any northern invasions.

Near the end of his life, Sun Quan became erratic and increasingly controlled by his relatives, most notably his eldest daughter, Sun Luban, as his two eldest sons quarreled over succession. The chain of events after 245 CE saw him disgrace his chancellor and advisor Lu Xun, depose and exile his eldest son Sun He as crown prince, force his second son Sun Ba to kill himself, and nominate his youngest son Sun Liang (still a child) as crown prince instead. His son-in-law, Zhu Jun, objected to this, and was forced to kill himself as well. Right before his death, he attempted to recall Sun He to be crown prince again, but was stopped by Sun Luban. He died in 252 CE, at the age of 70.

Start Location

Sun Quan starts as a part of the family tree of The Sun Clan of Wu as a minor

Start Overview

Background:

Traits:

Guanxi

Total War: Three Kingdoms Portal

On the forum: Three Kingdoms Discussion | Three Kingdoms Review | Three Kingdoms Mods | Mod Workshop