Sun Quan — Emperor Da of Wu
孫權 · 大帝
简体 孙权 · 大帝
“Outlasted everyone, and wrecked his own succession at the end”
He inherited the Yangtze from his brother at eighteen and held it for fifty-two years against both his neighbours, winning at Red Cliffs and again at Yiling. He declared himself emperor last of the three, in 229, and spent his final decade destroying his own court in a fight over which son would follow him.
Wu under him pushed south into what is now Guangdong and Vietnam and sent fleets to Taiwan — the first recorded Chinese expedition there.
He never settled the position of empress: the woman he loved was refused the title by his officials, and it went unfilled for most of the reign. The Eastern Wu silk gathers the women of the state's four reigns together.
The empress of this reign
Painted on silk in gemstone mineral pigments by Xiang Li.
About this page
Written for this site to place Sun Quan's reign around the paintings. For the full biography, the dynastic histories and the scholarship behind them, start at Wikipedia.