Sun Quan

Sun Quan; named among Sun Jian's children at the start of the campaign.

Sun Quan; sixteen years old; rides with his brother on the southern conquest and survives the bandit attack thanks to Zhou Tai. Foreshadowed as Sun Ce's eventual successor.

Sun Quan; eighteen years old; succeeds Sun Ce as the lord of the South Land. Receives the deathbed mandate; weeps over his brother; immediately begins forming his own counsel circle with Zhou Yu's help.

Sun Quan; named in passing in the southern strategic roll.

Sun Quan; named in passing in the strategic roll.

Sun Quan; named in passing in the regional roll.

Refuses Cao Cao's demand for a hostage son on Zhou Yu's counsel, avenges his brother Sun Yi by ennobling Lady Xu's two dagger-generals, mourns his mother through her deathbed charge - serve Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao as teachers, honor her sister as a second mother, find his sister a husband - then breaks the mourning to strike Huang Zu, welcoming the pirate Gan Ning with a full pardon: 'with his help I could destroy Huang Zu.'

Sends his father's murderer's head home in a box for the shrine, then learns mercy's price: he pardons Su Fei against Gan Ning's pledged life, breaks up the banquet blood-feud between Ling Tong and Gan Ning, and separates them with postings. Following Zhang Zhao's counsel he gives up distant Jiangxia, sets his brother Sun Kuang over Wujun, and camps at Chaisang while Zhou Yu drills the fleet on Poyang Lake.

Sun Quan; named in passing - about to enter the Red Cliffs arc.

Sun Quan; sends Lu Su north as an overture - the southern alliance setup.

Reads Cao Cao's hunting-party letter to a chamber of surrender counsel, walks out silent, and hears Lu Su's arithmetic of submission - a servant keeps his office; a lord loses everything. Provoked by Zhuge Liang into rage, then into resolve ('I will never allow the land of Wu to be dictated to by another'), he wobbles again under Zhang Zhao's second assault - until his aunt recalls his mother's dying words: in Zhou Yu's counsels lies safety.

Hands Zhou Yu the contemptuous letter, hears the four points against Cao Cao, and rises with his oath - one of the two of them must go. The sword stroke that takes the corner off his writing table makes the policy irreversible: 'let any other person mention surrender, and he shall be served as I have served this table.' Yet that same night he confesses the one doubt left - the numbers - and sleeps only after Zhou Yu dissolves the million into sick men and doubtful loyalists.

Sun Quan; at Chaisang sending reinforcements.

Sun Quan; off-stage at Chaisang.

Anchors thirty miles off awaiting the word, backs Lu Xun's van toward Qichun, and holds the red-flag reinforcement signal Taishi Ci watches for.

Bars the Hefei road in person: seeing the fires that mean victory, he signals Lu Xun and closes the trap's northern jaw.

Invoked once: the disheartened officers propose retiring to the South Land to seek his opinion while their commander lies wounded.

Bogged down before Hefei - several battles without a victory - he recalls Zhou Yu's army from Jingzhou to reinforce the siege.

Dismounts to greet Lu Su by the roadside - 'was that manifestation enough for you?' - and is told no: only the imperial throne will do. Stung by Zhang Liao's letter he fights in gold helmet at the front, loses Song Qian to an arrow, takes Zhang Hong's rebuke ('it is not for you to exhibit prowess on the battlefield'), sanctions the night raid that kills Taishi Ci - and buries his second great leader on Beigu Hill.

Sends Lu Fan with the poisoned proposal - and is flayed by his mother when the whole town knows before she does. Forced to make the trap real, he posts assassins anyway, watches them scattered by the Dowager's wrath, and answers Liu Bei's boulder-omen with his own secret prayer over the same stone: Jingzhou recovered. Both halves split - 'thus fate then declared for the dynasties two.' The horse-race on the slope ends the day as brothers-in-law.

Builds the gilded cage - the redecorated Eastern Palace, the damsels, the gold - and sleeps drunk through the escape. Waking, he shatters his jade inkstone on the floor, sends Chen Wu and Pan Zhang, and then - warned that no officer dare face his sister - hands Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai his own sword: bring back the heads of my sister and Liu Bei both, or lose your own.

Takes Gu Yong's counsel over his own rage - the memorial that makes his rival Imperial Protector - then turns on his guarantor: 'you are the guarantor in the loan... I will not wait till old age has come to us all!' He is petitioned into backing Zhou Yu's borrowed-road march at the chapter's end.

Weeps aloud over the memorial ('whom have I to lean upon?'), honors the coffin at Wuhu, and provides for Zhou Yu's children - then throws away the successor Zhou Yu's equal: repelled by the bushy brows and turned-up nose, stung by 'mine is far greater', he dismisses Pang Tong with a vow never to employ him.

Target of the aborted expedition: Zhang Zhao's counsel routes the crisis through Lu Su's friendship to Liu Bei - and Zhuge Liang's letter makes the whole threat evaporate.

Sun Quan; named in passing.

His Jingzhou strike is vetoed by his mother from behind the screen, so he sends Zhou Shan's disguised traders instead — then drops everything when Cao Cao's 400,000 arrive: builds the Ruxu rampart on Lü Meng's advice, moves his seat to Jianye on Zhang Hong's dying advice, presses Cao Cao in person ('I am no rebel — I desire to capture you and reform the government'), and ends the campaign with the letter Cao Cao laughs at: 'no tranquillity for me while you live.'

Approves Zhang Zhao's two-letter scheme — one to make Liu Zhang suspect his guest, one to point Zhang Lu at Jingzhou — and later seeks the Zhang Lu league against Jiameng Pass that alarms Liu Bei.

Sun Quan; off-stage.

Hears Liu Bei holds all forty-one counties of the west and calls in Zhang Zhao and Gu Yong: the Jingzhou pledge is due — 'if it is not returned, I will take it by force.'

Runs the whole squeeze: stages the seizure of Zhuge Jin's family, sends officials to claim the three territories (chased out by Guan Yu), orders Lu Su's banquet trap over Kan Ze's protest — and is reaching for open war when Cao Cao's mustering army pulls every soldier north to Hefei and Ruxu.

Takes Huancheng before noon (arrows through his parasol during the reconnaissance), breaks up the Ling Tong–Gan Ning sword-and-halberd banquet feud in person — then rides into Zhang Liao's ambush at Xiaoyao Ford and escapes only by backing his horse thirty spans and leaping the broken bridge, Dilu-fashion, to Xu Sheng and Dong Xi's boat.

Backs Gan Ning's hundred-man boast and greets the raiders in person; ends the Ling Tong feud with one sentence about the arrow — then is himself carved out of the Ruxu encirclement by Zhou Tai, twice. Buries Chen Wu and Dong Xi, stages the wound-count banquet, and, stalemated after a month, takes Zhang Zhao and Gu Yong's advice: Bu Zhi carries the peace offer and a yearly tribute.

Weighs Cao Cao's carve-up offer, tries Zhuge Jin's marriage bridge to Guan Yu first and gets 'ruffianism' for answer, then adopts Bu Zhi's cold scheme: let Cao Ren bleed Guan Yu out of Jingzhou by land, and take the city when its master is gone.

Takes Cao Cao's bait on his own terms: hears out the Xuzhou alternative, accepts Lü Meng's Jingzhou logic, blesses the illness-and-flattery ruse, and — reminded of Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu — drops the joint command idea, giving Lü Meng sole charge with Sun Jiao on supplies. Enters Jingzhou to give rewards, sets Pan Jun over the province, frees Yu Jin back to Cao Cao, and sends Yu Fan to talk Gongan open.

Gifts the two turncoats and restores order, sends Zhuge Jin to talk Maicheng open and honors the refusal with 'he is indeed a loyal servant' — then has the Book of Changes cast, and hears from Lü Meng that the escaping dragon is already netted.

Springs Lü Meng's trap, tries one last time to win the captive over and takes 'green-eyed boy, purple-bearded rat' for answer — then orders the execution on Zuo Xian's warning. At the victory feast the dead man borrows Lü Meng's body to throw him to the floor; terror-stricken, he takes Zhang Zhao's counsel and ships the head to Cao Cao to redirect the storm.

Writes the letter that makes the dying prince laugh — 'thy servant Sun Quan' urging him to take the throne and promising fealty — 'is this youth trying to put me on a furnace?' Collects his wages anyway: General of the Flying Cavalry, Lord of Nanzhang, Imperial Protector of Jingzhou.

Named in passing — his submission to Wei is one of Liu Bei's stated reasons for wanting war.

Named in passing — the target of the new Emperor's vengeance vow.

Receives the assassins and the head — and with them a war: seven hundred fifty thousand marching under a grieving Emperor. His court turns pale until Zhuge Jin volunteers his life for a peace embassy.

Defends his absent envoy's honor, then swallows his own: styles himself 'Minister' to Cao Pi, accepts the Prince of Wu title over Gu Yong's protest with Liu Bang's precedent, and sends back jade and pearls. Laments the dead line of Zhou Yu, Lu Su, and Lü Meng — until the twenty-five-year-old Sun Huan steps forward — and, when Yiling is besieged, commissions the hundred-thousand-man relief.

Tries the full ransom first — Zhang Fei's head, the caged assassins, Jingzhou, Lady Sun — and when even that is spurned, stakes the state on Kan Ze's guarantee: gives young Lu Xun his own sword, an altar investiture, and the cleanest charter in the novel: 'domestic affairs belong to me; outer affairs are under your direction.'

Reads Lu Xun's letter naming the very day of victory and crows over the doubters — 'they all said he was a useless pedant, and only I knew better' — mustering the reserves to back him.

The fifth route on paper — promised territory to march a hundred thousand through the Three Gorges at Fucheng. Zhuge Liang reads him exactly: he will wait to see the other four fail, and an envoy with a ready tongue can turn him around entirely.

Takes his own era name, Yellow Might, stalls Wei's four-army offer on Lu Xun's advice — then meets Deng Zhi's nerve and converts entirely: 'I am not so well off as that little country of Shu, for Shu has Deng Zhi for an envoy.' Sends Zhang Wen back with him, and when the dragon fleet comes, backs Xu Sheng — and descends personally to save his hot-headed nephew from Xu Sheng's executioners.

Sun Quan; off-stage in Wu.

Sun Quan; off-stage.

Lays out Zhou Fang's secret memorial to his officers, takes Gu Yong's recommendation, and invests Lu Xun with everything short of the throne — the White Banners and Golden Axes, command of all state armies and the Imperial Guards, every officer subordinated — then stands beside him and holds his whip while he mounts. Comes out with a full cortege to meet the victors and has an imperial umbrella carried over Lu Xun's head. Notices Zhou Fang's missing hair and makes him Lord of the Gate Within: 'This deed of yours, and the sacrifice you made to attain it, will surely be written in the histories.'

Takes the imperial title, and the Three Kingdoms become three formal monarchies. Cannot make up his mind when his ministers urge an attack on Wei, and is argued onto the throne by Zhang Zhao's memorial of omens — a phoenix in the hills east of Wuchang, a yellow dragon in the Great River, virtue matching Kings Yu and Tang, understanding matching Kings Wen and Wu. Ascends an altar south of Wuchang on the 'tiger' day of the fourth month and takes 'Yellow Dragon' as the reign style (AD 229). Distributes the honours: Sun Jian the Martially Glorious Emperor, his mother Empress Wu, Sun Ce posthumously Prince of Changsha, Sun Deng Heir Apparent, Zhuge Ke and Zhang Xi the Heir's Left and Right Companions, Gu Yong Prime Minister, Lu Xun Regent Marshal. Delighted by the boy Zhuge Ke twice — the donkey label, which he rewards with the donkey, and the Lu Wang retort that makes Zhang Zhao drink. Then takes Zhang Zhao's second piece of advice and reforms instead of fighting, proposes the Shu treaty, accepts Shu's congratulations, and lets Lu Xun make only a show of raising an army. Returns to Jianye.

Named in passing only, as the object of the Cao Cao and Cao Pi campaigns Wang Su cites as precedents for abandoning an expedition.

Answers Zhuge Liang's letter with the largest commitment Wu makes in the whole alliance: three hundred thousand troops on three fronts at once - himself to Juchao to take Xincheng, Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin to camp at Miankou and Jiangxia and take Xiangyang, Sun Shao and Zhang Cheng into Guangling for Huaiyang - 'and they shall start at once.' Then, at the banquet, asks who is leading for Shu and delivers the chapter's second prophecy on hearing it is Wei Yan: 'A man brave enough, but ambitious. One day he will work a mischief unless Zhuge Liang is present. But surely Zhuge Liang knows.'

Present mostly through his generals. Lu Xun's captured memorial asks him to abandon the siege of Xincheng and turn on the Wei rear; Cao Rui's counter is to post Liu Shao specifically to hold Sun Quan off. When the deception withdrawal is run, 'the Ruler of Wu has marched back into his own country' — and it is the news of that retreat, brought by Fei Yi, that puts Zhuge Liang on the ground in a swoon.

Tests the envoy before he reassures him. Meets Zong Yu with an angry face and 'Wu and Shu are one house. Why has your master increased the guard at Baidicheng?', takes the answer in good part — 'As an envoy you seem no way inferior to Deng Zhi' — and then explains himself: he wept daily for Zhuge Liang, put his court into mourning, and reinforced Baqiu by ten thousand men because he feared Wei would attack Shu in its grief. Seals it by snapping a gold-tipped arrow in two: 'If I betray my oath, may my posterity be cut off!' Sends his own envoy back with incense and silk for the sacrifice.

His one move in this chapter is the overture that starts the whole disaster: two envoys, Zhang Mi and Xu Yan, with gold, gems and pearls, offering Gongsun Yuan the title of Prince of Yan. Gongsun Yuan takes the title later and kills the envoys first.

Dies in this chapter at seventy-one, after a reign of twenty-four years, the last of the three founding monarchs. His succession has already gone wrong twice over: Sun Deng named heir and dead in AD 241, Sun He named next and destroyed by Princess Quan's intrigues until 'Sun He died of mortification', and the third son Sun Liang left to inherit at a child's age. The death is preceded by the storm of the first of the eighth month, when the water stood eight feet over the low ground and the pines and cypresses of the imperial cemetery were torn up and driven into the South Gate of Jianye to stick there roots upward in the road - 'Sun Quan was frightened and fell ill.' Gives his last instructions to Zhuge Ke and Lu Dai, is posthumously styled Sun Quan the Great Emperor, and is buried at Jiangling. 'A hero, green-eyed and purple-bearded, / He called forth devotion from all.'

Named in passing only, and long dead, as the ruler who sent Lu Meng against Jingzhou in Wang Su's precedent for undermining Guanqiu Jian's army through its families.

Named in passing only, and long dead, as the descent that qualifies the new emperor: Sun Xiu is 'Prince of Langye, the sixth son of Sun Quan'.

Named in the closing elegy as one of the three whose kingdoms are now 'gone like a passing dream'.