page_title: Eastern Wu
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Eastern Wu / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: 中文: 朱然墓，阶梯式墓道。
context_page_description: Wu, commonly known as Dong Wu or Sun Wu, was one of the three major states that competed for supremacy over China in the Three Kingdoms period. It previously existed from 220–222 as a vassal kingdom nominally under Cao Wei, its rival state, but declared independence from Wei and became a sovereign state in 222. It became an empire in 229 after its founding ruler, Sun Quan, declared himself emperor. Its name was derived from the place it was based in — the Jiangnan region, which was also historically known as "Wu". It was referred to as "Dong Wu" or "Sun Wu" by historians to distinguish it from other Chinese historical states with similar names which were also located in that region, such as the Wu state in the Spring and Autumn period and the Wuyue kingdom in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was called "Eastern Wu" because it occupied most of eastern China in the Three Kingdoms period, and "Sun Wu" because the family name of its rulers was "Sun". During its existence, Wu's capital was at Jianye, but at times it was also at Wuchang.
context_section_description: 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 centres of China. The achievements of Wu in the south marked the coming of Chinese civilization to the farthest southern reaches of the empire.
  In 230, the island of Taiwan was reached by the Chinese during the Three Kingdoms period under the reign of Sun Quan. 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. Wu merchants also may have reached Southern Vietnam and Cambodia. Failed protection of Gongsun Yuan also was in existence when the latter rebelled against Wei. This was because of the waterway's difficulties. Such things cost Wu, and the achievements supposedly gained within Taiwan did not cover this problem and Sun Quan lost his vassal.
  Later on in the existence of Wu, the once great military was turned to an unimpressive one. It was most likely an easy task to take Hefei from Wei, but Wu could not do so. Since the 230s, this task was made harder due to the "New City", a heavily fortified castle built at Hefei by Wei. One of the greatest failures to accomplish something later on in Wu's reign was during 255 and during the last few years of the 250s. When Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin rebelled against Wei, Wu promised to help the two in Shouchun (around present-day Shou County, Anhui). However, the Wu forces never made it in time before the rebellion was quashed by Sima Shi and the Wei forces. When Zhuge Dan launched a massive full-scale rebellion, the Wu forces suffered a great defeat as they lent a great quantity of manpower to Zhuge Dan's cause. Shouchun was quickly regained by Wei under Sima Zhao's command.
  During the conquest of Shu by Wei in 263, Wu could not fully lend support to their allies due to a revolt in Vietnam.
  The decline of Wu was long in existence since the death of Lu Xun in 245 and the death of Sun Quan in 252. Sun Quan's successors could do little for the empire. Zhuge Ke was assassinated by Sun Jun in 253 after a failed invasion of Hefei following the Wu victory over an invading Wei force at Dongxing. Ding Feng also ended up killing Sun Chen under orders from Sun Xiu. Corruption plagued Wu, which led to an easy conquest of Wu by the Jin dynasty in 280.
caption: Entrance to the tomb of Zhu Ran (182-249) in Anhui province, Eastern Wu period
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot SX210 IS", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Microsoft Windows Photo Viewer 6.1.7600.16385", "Image DateTime": "2012:05:01 22:32:12", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "2364", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "7726", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4203", "EXIF ExposureTime": "3/10", "EXIF FNumber": "31/10", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:05:01 11:37:48", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:05:01 11:37:48", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "7/4", "EXIF ApertureValue": "13/4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "13/4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3240", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4320", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "4320", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "3240", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "7552", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "160000/9", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1620000/91", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Landscape", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "4208"}