RNo direct record — estimated from his naval advanceWu 3 §83
NBroke the iron spikes and chains with rafts of straw men and torchesCh. 120 §44Ch. 120 §45Ch. 120 §30
Wang Jun 王濬
| Occupation | RNGeneral · General Who Soars Like a Dragon | Faction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appears | RN | Biography in | |
| Existence | Historical | Mentions | R9 |
Profile
Wang Jun was General Who Soars Like a Dragon under Jin. In the winter of the 3rd year of Tianji (279), when Jin attacked Wu along several routes, he sailed east down the Yangtze together with Tang Bin, General Who Broadens Martial Might, and in the spring of the following year the Wu forces collapsed like crumbling earth wherever he arrived. Records, Wu 3 §74 · 78 · 81
On the renshen day of the 3rd month of the 4th year of Tianji (280) he was the first to arrive, accepted Sun Hao's surrender, untied his bonds and burned his coffin. He has no biography of his own in the Records; his name appears in the Biographies of the Three Successor Rulers, the Biographies of Zhang, Yan, Cheng, Kan and Xue, and the Biography of Lu Xun in the Records of Wu. Chen Shou's text does not record his courtesy name, his origins or his death. Records, Wu 3 §82 · 85Records, Wu 8 §61Records, Wu 13 §88–89
In the Romance he appears only in Chapter 120, and his name does not feature in the chapter title. As Inspector of Yi Province he submits a memorial asking to attack Wu, breaks with rafts and great torches the iron chains that Wu has stretched across the river and the iron spikes it has planted underwater, and once the Jin troops have entered the Stone City, accepts the surrender of Sun Hao, who comes before his camp. Romance, Ch. 120 §29 · 44–45 · 54–55
In the Records
In the winter of the 3rd year of Tianji (279), Jin sent Sima Zhou, Grand General Who Guards the East, toward Tuzhong; Wang Hun, General Who Pacifies the East, and Zhou Jun, Inspector of Yang Province, toward Niuzhu; Wang Rong, General Who Establishes Might, toward Wuchang; Hu Fen, General Who Pacifies the South, toward Xiakou; and Du Yu, General Who Guards the South, toward Jiangling. It had Wang Jun, General Who Soars Like a Dragon, and Tang Bin, General Who Broadens Martial Might, sail east down the Yangtze, and made the Grand Commandant Jia Chong Grand Commander. Tao Jun, Wu's Area Commander of Xuling, reached Wuchang, but on hearing that the northern armies had come out in force he halted and did not advance. Records, Wu 3 §74 · 76 · 78
In the spring of the 4th year of Tianji (280), wherever Wang Jun and Tang Bin arrived, the defenders collapsed like crumbling earth and shattering tiles, and no one could resist them. Du Yu beheaded Wu Yan, Area Commander of Jiangling, and Wang Hun beheaded the Chancellor Zhang Ti, the Administrator of Danyang Shen Ying and others. Records, Wu 3 §81
The Biography of Lu Xun records this together with Lu Kang's memorial. When he fell ill, Lu Kang had submitted a memorial warning that Xiling and Jianping lay downstream, so that if the enemy launched boats and came down with the current, their prows and sterns would stretch for a thousand li and they would arrive in an instant. In the 4th year of Tianji (280), when the Jin army attacked Wu, Wang Jun, General Who Soars Like a Dragon, came east down the river and took every place he reached, so that in the end things turned out just as Lu Kang had feared. On the renxu day of the 2nd month, Lu Kang's son Lu Yan was killed by a detached force under Wang Jun. Records, Wu 13 §84 · 88–89
On the wuchen day of the 3rd month, Tao Jun returned from Wuchang, and when Sun Hao asked him for news of the river forces he replied, 'The boats of Shu are all small; if I obtain 20,000 troops and fight from large ships, that will be ample to crush them.' Sun Hao assembled his men and gave Tao Jun the insignia of command, but on the night before they were to set out the next day, the men all ran away. Meanwhile Wang Jun was about to arrive with the current, and Sima Zhou and Wang Hun had both drawn close to the border. Records, Wu 3 §82–83
Following the plan of Xue Ying, Minister of the Household, Hu Chong, Prefect of the Palace Writers, and others, Sun Hao sent envoys separately to present letters to Wang Jun, Sima Zhou and Wang Hun. The letter said that the great Jin had risen like a dragon while he himself had failed to grasp the Mandate of Heaven, and that he was sending Zhang Kui, the Minister of Ceremonies he had privately appointed, and others to present the seal and ribbon he wore, submitting himself and begging for his life. The Biography of Xue Ying records that Xue Ying composed this letter. Records, Wu 3 §83–84Records, Wu 8 §61
On the renshen day, Wang Jun was the first to arrive and accepted Sun Hao's surrender; he untied his bonds, burned his coffin and then received him for a meeting. Sima Zhou, claiming that Sun Hao had sent the seal and ribbon to him, sent envoys to escort Sun Hao, and Sun Hao moved west with his entire household, reaching the capital on the dinghai day of the 5th month of the 1st year of Taikang (280). Chen Shou's text does not record Wang Jun after this. Records, Wu 3 §85
In the Romance
In Chapter 120 of the Romance, when Ding Feng and Lu Kang of Wu have both died and Sun Hao is flaying the faces of his ministers and gouging out their eyes, Wang Jun, Inspector of Yi Province for Jin, submits a memorial asking to attack Wu. He argues that if Sun Hao dies and a worthy ruler takes his place, Wu will become a strong enemy; that it is seven years since he began building ships and some are rotting and breaking down every day; and that he is seventy years old and may die at any time, so that if any one of these three goes wrong, the conquest will be hard to achieve. The ruler of Jin declares, 'Lord Wang's argument tacitly agrees with the view of Commander Yang,' and makes up his mind. Romance, Ch. 120 §29–30
The ruler of Jin makes Du Yu Grand Commander and sends out troops along several routes, ordering Wang Jun, General Who Soars Like a Dragon, and Tang Bin, General Who Broadens Martial Might, to float their ships east down the river. Sun Hao worries that Wang Jun, leading tens of thousands of troops with a full fleet of warships, is coming down with the current with a very sharp vanguard, and on Cen Hun's advice he stretches iron chains across the key points of the river and plants tens of thousands of iron spikes underwater. Romance, Ch. 120 §33–34 · 36–37
Hearing his scouts' report, Wang Jun laughs heartily. On dozens of large rafts he has straw bound into the shapes of men, dressed in armor and holding weapons, and sends them floating downstream. The Wu soldiers take them for living men and flee first, and the underwater spikes stick into the rafts and are all pulled away. He also builds great torches on the rafts, more than ten zhang long and more than ten arm-spans thick, soaked in hemp oil, and sets them alight whenever they meet the iron chains, so that in a moment the chains are all severed. Romance, Ch. 120 §44–45
After the victory at Niuzhu, when Wang Jun sends word of the triumph, Jia Chong proposes recalling the army, while Zhang Hua objects that recalling it now would throw away the merit already won. Sima Yan, the ruler of Jin, after also reading Du Yu's memorial, orders an advance, and Wang Jun and the others advance together by land and water, so that the people of Wu surrender at the mere sight of their banners. Romance, Ch. 120 §49–51
As Wang Jun passes Sanshan, his boatmen say the wind and waves are too rough and urge him to wait for the wind to die down; he draws his sword and rebukes them, 'I mean to take the Stone City at once. What talk is this of stopping?' and advances to the beat of drums. When the Wu general Zhang Xiang asks to surrender, Wang Jun tells him that if his surrender is genuine he should serve in the vanguard and earn merit, and Zhang Xiang goes to the foot of the Stone City, has the gates opened and lets the Jin troops in. When Sun Hao, carrying a coffin on a cart and having bound himself, comes before Wang Jun's camp to surrender, Wang Jun unties his bonds, burns the coffin and treats him with the courtesy due to a king. Romance, Ch. 120 §54–55
Sima Zhou and Wang Rong, arriving the next day, see that Wang Jun has achieved a great feat and rejoice inwardly, and Wang Jun submits a memorial reporting the victory. Withdrawing his army, Wang Jun takes Sun Hao to Luoyang for an audience with the emperor, and the emperor enfeoffs Sun Hao as Marquis Who Returned to Allegiance and makes Wang Jun Grand General Who Supports the State. Romance, Ch. 120 §57 · 59–60
Where the Romance differs
The memorial for the campaign: In Chapter 120 of the Romance, Wang Jun, as Inspector of Yi Province, submits a memorial urging an attack on Wu, citing 'seven years of shipbuilding and an age of seventy.' The entries on Wang Jun in Chen Shou's text contain no such memorial and say only that in the winter of the 3rd year of Tianji (279) Jin had Wang Jun, General Who Soars Like a Dragon, and Tang Bin, General Who Broadens Martial Might, sail east down the Yangtze. Romance, Ch. 120 §29–30Records, Wu 3 §78 · 81–85Records, Wu 13 §88–89
Iron chains and iron spikes: In Chapter 120 of the Romance, iron chains and iron spikes are placed in the river on Cen Hun's advice, and Wang Jun breaks through them with rafts and great torches. The Biographies of the Three Successor Rulers in the Records have no such episode and say only that wherever Wang Jun and Tang Bin arrived, the defenders collapsed like crumbling earth and shattering tiles and no one could resist them. In the Records, Cen Hun appears as a minister who loved to launch construction works and labor levies, to the misery of the people. Romance, Ch. 120 §37 · 44–45Records, Wu 3 §80–81
Small boats: In Chapter 120 of the Romance, Tao Jun asks for 20,000 troops and large ships, saying, 'The warships I command are all small.' In the Biographies of the Three Successor Rulers in the Records, what Tao Jun called small were 'the boats of Shu,' in his reply to Sun Hao, who had asked him for news of the river forces. Romance, Ch. 120 §52Records, Wu 3 §83
Zhang Xiang at the Stone City: In Chapter 120 of the Romance, after Wang Jun rebukes his boatmen and presses on, the Wu general Zhang Xiang surrenders and opens the gates of the Stone City. Neither this episode nor Zhang Xiang appears in Chen Shou's text. Romance, Ch. 120 §54Records, Wu 3 §83–85
Who sent Sun Hao on: In Chapter 120 of the Romance, Wang Jun takes Sun Hao to Luoyang as he withdraws his army. In the Biographies of the Three Successor Rulers in the Records, Wang Jun was the first to arrive and accepted the surrender, but Sima Zhou, claiming that Sun Hao had sent the seal and ribbon to him, sent envoys to escort Sun Hao. Romance, Ch. 120 §59Records, Wu 3 §85
His later office: In Chapter 120 of the Romance, the emperor makes Wang Jun Grand General Who Supports the State. Chen Shou's text does not record the office Wang Jun received after Wu surrendered. Romance, Ch. 120 §60Records, Wu 3 §85
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.
Abilities
The Records score (Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms, main text) is the baseline. Each ability compares how the Romance redrew the same person, and the evidence from both sources explains the difference.
Records total505 / 1000Rank 235 of 996 · Top 24%Romance total571 / 1000Rank 34 of 1,113 · Top 4%
Romance adaptation index+66Romance total − Records total
- LEA8084+4
- STR4248+6
- INT5276+24
- POL4545±0
- CHA5050±0
- VIR5860+2
- ADP5268+16
- SCH3840+2
- DIP4858+10
- DIS4042+2
Abilities shaped by the Romance — where it differs from the Records Differences of 10 or more
RNo direct record — estimated from his deedsWu 3 §85
NResolved to advance on the Stone City without stopping despite wind and wavesCh. 120 §54
RReceived Sun Hao's letter of surrender and accepted his surrenderWu 3 §85Wu 8 §61
NMoved the ruler of Jin with a memorial arguing that the time had come to attack WuCh. 120 §29Ch. 120 §30
7 similar abilities — show evidence
RSailed down the river unopposed and was the first to arriveWu 3 §81Wu 3 §85
NLed the river fleet, cut the iron chains and advanced to the Stone CityCh. 120 §44Ch. 120 §45Ch. 120 §54
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as commander of the river fleetWu 3 §81
NNo direct record — only a record of drawing his sword to press the advanceCh. 120 §54
RNo direct record — none recordedWu 3 §78
NNo direct record — estimated from his title of Inspector of Yi ProvinceCh. 120 §29
RNo direct record — none recordedWu 3 §81
NNo direct record — none recordedCh. 120 §51
RUntied the surrendered Sun Hao's bonds, burned his coffin and received himWu 3 §85
NUntied the surrendered Sun Hao's bonds, burned his coffin and treated him with courtesyCh. 120 §55
RNo direct record — none recordedWu 3 §78
NNo direct record — nothing recorded beyond his memorialCh. 120 §29
RNo direct record — none recordedWu 3 §78
NNo direct record — accepted Zhang Xiang's surrender and used him as his vanguardCh. 120 §54
Special — talents Records +10 · Romance +20
-
Naval warfare
RNSkilled +10 Led the river fleet down the river and defeated WuWu 3 §81Ch. 120 §44
-
Shipbuilding & engineering
NSkilled +10 Spent seven years building ships and made great rafts and torchesCh. 120 §30Ch. 120 §45
Records Romance Unverified No direct record; scored from their actions (evidence grade C)
3KDEX scoring — the Records use the main text of Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms; the Romance uses the 120-chapter Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Click a source tag to open that passage in the reader.
Romance chapters (1)
AppearsNot present Chapter list →
Related events (2)
- Conquest of Wu by Jin 279~280 · Command
- Sun Hao Surrenders: the Three Kingdoms Reunited 280 · Appears (Romance scene)
Includes automatic matching from Wikipedia infoboxes and source keywords (unverified).