Novel scene
Sun Hao Surrenders: the Three Kingdoms Reunited 降孫皓三分歸一統
About this event
This scene is the episode named in the chapter title of Chapter 120 of the Romance, "Sun Hao surrenders, and the realm divided in three returns to unity," the passage at the end of the Conquest of Wu by Jin in which, when Wang Jun enters Shitoucheng, Sun Hao, the Lord of Wu, binds himself and surrenders, becomes Marquis Who Returned to Allegiance at Luoyang, and the Three Kingdoms pass to Sima Yan of Jin. The Romance says that Wu's four provinces, forty-three commanderies and three hundred and thirteen counties all passed to Jin. Romance, Ch. 120 §54–56 · 60–61
Chen Shou recorded Sun Hao's surrender in the Biographies of the Three Successor Rulers, Records of Wu 3. On the renshen day of the 3rd month of the 4th year of Tianji (280), Wang Jun arrived first and received Sun Hao's surrender, and Sun Hao, made Marquis Who Returned to Allegiance, reached Luoyang in the 5th month of the 1st year of Taikang. Records, Wu 3 §85
In the Romance
In Chapter 120 of the Romance, as the Jin land and water forces pour in, the soldiers and people of Wu surrender at the mere sight of their banners, and the officials, declaring that every calamity is Cen Hun's fault, hack him to pieces without waiting for Sun Hao's order. Tao Jun, who had said that with large ships and twenty thousand men he could defeat the enemy, sets out with Zhang Xiang at the head of the navy, but a northwest wind blows down their banners and the soldiers scatter and flee. Wang Jun braves the wind and waves, passes Sanshan and advances on Shitoucheng, and Zhang Xiang, having surrendered, opens the city gate to let the Jin troops in. Romance, Ch. 120 §51–54
Told that the Jin troops have entered the city, Sun Hao is about to cut his own throat, but when the Prefect of the Palace Secretariat Hu Chong and the Superintendent of the Imperial Household Xue Ying tell him to follow the example of Liu Shan, Duke of Anle, he carries a coffin on a cart, binds himself, and leads the civil and military officials to Wang Jun's camp to surrender. Wang Jun unties his bonds, burns the coffin, and treats him with the courtesy due to a king. Sima Yan raises his cup, saying this is Yang Hu's achievement and lamenting that he did not live to see it, and Sun Xiu (孫秀) faces south and wails. Romance, Ch. 120 §55 · 57–58
When Sun Hao comes to Luoyang and Sima Yan tells him that he set out this seat and has long been waiting for him, Sun Hao replies that he too set out this seat in the south and was waiting for His Majesty. To Jia Chong, who asks why in the south he gouged out people's eyes and flayed their faces, he answers that it was the punishment for subjects who killed their lord and for the treacherous and disloyal, putting Jia Chong to shame. Sun Hao becomes Marquis Who Returned to Allegiance, and the Romance concludes that with this the Three Kingdoms passed to Sima Yan of Jin, laying the foundation of unification, closing with the words, "The great trend of the realm is that what has long been united must divide, and what has long been divided must unite." Romance, Ch. 120 §59–61
Where the Romance differs
Sun Hao's surrender: In Chapter 120 of the Romance, when the Jin troops enter the city, Sun Hao is about to kill himself but, at the words of Hu Chong and Xue Ying, binds himself and goes to Wang Jun's camp. In the Biographies of the Three Successor Rulers in the Records, as Wang Jun was about to arrive and Sima Zhou and Wang Hun were also approaching the border, Sun Hao, following the plan of Xue Ying, Hu Chong and others, sent envoys separately to the three men to present letters of surrender, and on the renshen day Wang Jun, arriving first, received the surrender. Sima Zhou, on the grounds that Sun Hao had sent his seal and ribbon to him, sent envoys to escort him. Romance, Ch. 120 §55Records, Wu 3 §83 · 85
Sun Hao's death: Chapter 120 of the Romance says that Sun Hao, the Lord of Wu, died in the 4th year of Taikang. The Biographies of the Three Successor Rulers in the Records record that Sun Hao died at Luoyang in the 5th year of Taikang. Romance, Ch. 120 §61Records, Wu 3 §86
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.