Sun Ce faction 孫策

When Sun Jian died, Sun Ce buried his father at Qu'e and crossed the river to live at Jiangdu. Because Tao Qian, Governor of Xu Province, resented him, he moved his mother to Qu'e and, together with Lü Fan and Sun He (孫河), went to his maternal uncle Wu Jing, Administrator of Danyang, and gathered several hundred men. When he joined Yuan Shu in the 1st year of Xingping (194), Yuan Shu, thinking him remarkable, returned Sun Jian's retainers to him. Zhu Zhi, who had followed Sun Jian, helped Sun Ce and went with him to rely on Yuan Shu, and Cheng Pu also followed Sun Ce in Huainan. Records, Wu 1 §24–25Records, Wu 11 §3Records, Wu 10 §3

Yuan Shu promised to make Sun Ce Administrator of Jiujiang but then appointed someone else; he sent him to attack Lu Kang (陸康), Administrator of Lujiang, who had refused to supply grain, promising him Lujiang, but when Sun Ce attacked Lu Kang and took the city, Yuan Shu again made his former subordinate Liu Xun (劉勳) the administrator. Sun Ce was all the more disappointed. Records, Wu 1 §26–27

At that time Liu Yao, Inspector of Yang Province, since Yuan Shu had occupied Shouchun, crossed the river and set up his seat at Qu'e, drove out Wu Jing and Sun Ben, whom Yuan Shu had appointed, and stationed Fan Neng and others at the Hengjiang ford and Zhang Ying at the mouth of the Dangli to hold off Yuan Shu. When Yuan Shu had Wu Jing and Sun Ben attack Zhang Ying and the others but they could not win for more than a year, Sun Ce asked to help Wu Jing and the others pacify Jiangdong. Yuan Shu made him Commandant Who Breaks Assaults (zhechong xiaowei) and acting General Who Exterminates Bandits (tiankou jiangjun), but he had barely a thousand or so soldiers and a few dozen horses, with several hundred guests wishing to follow him. By the time he reached Liyang his following numbered five or six thousand. The Annals of Emperor Wu record that Sun Ce, on Yuan Shu's orders, crossed the river and within a few years took possession of Jiangdong. Records, Wu 1 §28–29Records, Wu 4 §5Records, Wei 1 §27

When Zhou Yu, receiving a letter from Sun Ce on his arrival at Liyang, came to meet him with troops, Sun Ce took Hengjiang and Dangli, crossed the river, defeated Ze Rong and Xue Li at Moling, and by way of Husu and Jiangcheng entered Qu'e. Liu Yao abandoned his army and fled, the administrators of the various commanderies also abandoned their cities, and Sun Ce's following reached several tens of thousands. Chen Shou wrote that Sun Ce was receptive to the words of others and skilled at employing men, so that the gentry and commoners who met him were glad to give their lives for him, and that his military orders were strict, so that the common people were drawn to him. Records, Wu 9 §3Records, Wu 1 §29–30

Yan Baihu of Wu County and others had gathered here and there, each with a following of more than ten thousand. Wu Jing and the others wanted to attack them first, but Sun Ce, saying that they were bandits without great ambition who would be captured in the end, crossed the Zhe River and made for Kuaiji. When Wang Lang, Administrator of Kuaiji, held him off at Guling and Sun Ce could not win despite crossing the water to fight several times, he followed the plan of his uncle Sun Jing, set out rows of jars at night and lit fires as a ruse, then attacked the camp at Gaoqian by the Zhadu road, beheaded Zhou Xin, who came out to oppose him, and pacified Kuaiji. Wang Lang, who had fled by sea, was pursued and presented himself to Sun Ce. Sun Ce massacred Dongye and then attacked and defeated Yan Baihu and the others. Records, Wu 1 §30–31Records, Wu 6 §2–4Records, Wei 13 §45–46

Sun Ce replaced all the senior officials, himself taking the post of Administrator of Kuaiji, and made Wu Jing Administrator of Danyang, Sun Ben Administrator of Yuzhang, Sun Ben's younger brother Sun Fu Administrator of Luling Commandery, which was split off from Yuzhang, and Zhu Zhi Administrator of Wu Commandery. Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Qin Song, Chen Duan and others became his chief advisers. He personally captured Taishi Ci, who had followed Liu Yao and was gathering the Shanyue in the mountains, and made him Commander of the Gate Guard (menxia du), and he again made Yu Fan, who had been Wang Lang's Officer of Merit, his Officer of Merit. Records, Wu 1 §31Records, Wu 4 §29–30Records, Wu 12 §3

When Yuan Shu usurped the imperial title, Sun Ce sent him a letter of reproach and broke off relations, and when Yuan Shu cut off the river crossings, Wu Jing, who had been serving under Yuan Shu as Administrator of Guangling, abandoned his commandery and returned east. Cao Cao submitted a memorial making Sun Ce General Who Attacks Rebels and enfeoffing him as Marquis of Wu. Since Yuan Shao was then powerful, Cao Cao, wishing to placate Sun Ce, married his younger brother's daughter to Sun Ce's youngest brother Sun Kuang and took Sun Ben's daughter as wife for his son Cao Zhang. Records, Wu 1 §32–33 · 35Records, Wu 5 §4

After Yuan Shu's death, when Liu Xun, Administrator of Lujiang, intercepted Zhang Xun and others, who were bringing Yuan Shu's followers to join Sun Ce, Sun Ce feigned friendship with Liu Xun and urged him to attack the clan settlers of Shangliao, and while Liu Xun was away he raced there day and night and took Lujiang. Liu Xun's followers all surrendered, and Liu Xun went over to Cao Cao. This was in the 4th year of Jian'an (199), and Sun Ce went on to attack Huang Zu at Shayi. The Biography of Zhou Yu records that Zhou Yu followed Sun Ce in taking Wan, defeated Liu Xun near Xunyang, attacked Jiangxia, and on returning pacified Yuzhang and Luling. Records, Wu 1 §34Records, Wu 2 §3Records, Wu 9 §5–6

In the 5th year of Jian'an (200), when Cao Cao faced Yuan Shao at Guandu, Sun Ce secretly prepared his troops to raid Xu and take the Han emperor into his keeping, but before he set out he was attacked by the retainers of Xu Gong, whom he had earlier killed. As his wounds worsened, Sun Ce told Zhang Zhao and the others to give his younger brother good support, and, fastening the seal and ribbon on Sun Quan, told him that in leading the host of Jiangdong to contend with the realm Sun Quan was not his equal, but in raising up worthy men to hold Jiangdong he was not Sun Quan's equal; that night he died at the age of twenty-six. Records, Wu 1 §36–38

When Sun Quan took over affairs, the Sun family held only Kuaiji, Wu Commandery, Danyang, Yuzhang and Luling, and even there the remote and rugged areas had not all submitted. Zhang Zhao, Zhou Yu and others, believing they could achieve a great enterprise together with Sun Quan, served him wholeheartedly. After Sun Quan proclaimed himself emperor, he posthumously named Sun Ce King Huan of Changsha. Records, Wu 2 §3–4Records, Wu 1 §39

In his assessment, Chen Shou said that Sun Ce's heroic spirit was outstanding and his valor and keenness foremost in his age, that he gathered remarkable talents far and wide and that his ambitions reached over the Central Plains, but that, like Sun Jian, he was rash and hasty and lost his life. Yet he wrote that the division and holding of Jiangdong rested on the foundation Sun Ce had laid, and that Sun Quan fell short in honoring him, so that his son rose no higher than the rank of marquis, which by the standard of what was right was a meager return. Records, Wu 1 §41