Sun Ce 孫策

When Sun Jian first raised a righteous army, Sun Ce took his mother and moved to live in Shu County, where he befriended Zhou Yu and gathered men of the gentry around him, so that the people between the Yangtze and the Huai all inclined their hearts toward him. According to the Biography of Zhou Yu, the two were the same age; Zhou Yu gave up a large house south of the road for Sun Ce to live in, and ascended the hall to pay his respects to Sun Ce's mother. When Sun Jian died, Sun Ce returned and buried him at Qu'e, and then crossed the river to live in Jiangdu County. Records, Wu 1 §24Records, Wu 9 §2

Because Tao Qian, Governor of Xu Province, deeply resented him, Sun Ce moved his mother to Qu'e and, together with Lü Fan and Sun He, went to his maternal uncle Wu Jing, Administrator of Danyang, where he gathered several hundred men. In the 1st year of Xingping (194) he followed Yuan Shu, who returned Sun Jian's troops to Sun Ce, and the Grand Tutor Ma Midi submitted a memorial appointing him Commandant Who Cherishes Righteousness (Huaiyi Xiaowei). Yuan Shu often sighed, "If only I had a son like Sun Lang, what regret would I have even in death!" When one of Sun Ce's cavalrymen committed an offense and hid in the stables of Yuan Shu's camp, Sun Ce sent men to behead him and then apologized to Yuan Shu; because of this the army feared him all the more. Records, Wu 1 §25–26

Yuan Shu promised to make Sun Ce Administrator of Jiujiang but then appointed Chen Ji instead. Later he sent Sun Ce to attack Lu Kang, 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 the administrator, and Sun Ce was all the more disappointed. Records, Wu 1 §26–27

When Liu Yao, Inspector of Yang Province, set up his seat at Qu'e and drove out Wu Jing and Sun Ce's elder cousin Sun Ben, Sun Ce asked Yuan Shu to let him help Wu Jing and the others pacify Jiangdong. Yuan Shu submitted a memorial making him Commandant Who Breaks Assaults (Zhechong Xiaowei) and acting General Who Exterminates Bandits (Tiankou Jiangjun); he had barely a thousand soldiers and a few dozen horsemen, but by the time he reached Liyang his following had grown to five or six thousand. When Zhou Yu, on receiving his letter, came to meet him with troops, Sun Ce said with delight, "Now that I have you, all will go as I wish." After crossing the river he defeated the enemy wherever he fought, and his military orders were so strict that the common people were drawn to him. Records, Wu 1 §28–29Records, Wu 9 §3

Chen Shou wrote that Sun Ce was handsome and fond of laughter and conversation, and that, being broad-minded, receptive to advice and skilled at employing men, he made all who met him willing to give their lives for him. At Shenting he encountered Taishi Ci, whom Liu Yao had sent out to reconnoiter, and the two fought hand to hand: Sun Ce stabbed Taishi Ci's horse and snatched the hand halberd tucked at the back of his neck, while Taishi Ci seized Sun Ce's helmet. Liu Yao abandoned his army and fled. Records, Wu 1 §30Records, Wu 4 §27–29

Wu Jing and the others wanted to attack Yan Baihu of Wu Commandery first, but Sun Ce, saying that these were mere bandits who would be captured in the end, crossed the Zhe River and went to Kuaiji. Wang Lang, Administrator of Kuaiji, held him off at Guling, and Sun Ce could not win despite crossing the water to fight several times; following the plan of his uncle Sun Jing, he set out rows of jars at night and lit fires among them as a ruse, then entered by the Zhadu road and raided the camp at Gaoqian, beheaded Zhou Xin, who came out to oppose him, and pacified Kuaiji. When he pursued and defeated Wang Lang, who had fled by sea, Wang Lang presented himself, and Sun Ce, regarding him as a refined scholar, only reproached him and did him no harm. He 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 Fu Administrator of Luling and Zhu Zhi Administrator of Wu Commandery, while Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong and others became his chief advisers. He made Zhang Zhao his Chief Clerk, ascended the hall to pay respects to Zhang Zhao's mother, and entrusted him with all civil and military affairs; and when he heard that letters from northern gentlemen gave the credit to Zhang Zhao, he laughed and said that, as with Duke Huan of Qi, who employed Guan Zhong, the achievement and fame belonged to himself. Yu Fan, who had been Wang Lang's Officer of Merit, he again made his Officer of Merit and treated with the courtesy due to a friend. Records, Wu 1 §31Records, Wu 7 §3–4Records, Wu 12 §3

When he personally attacked and captured Taishi Ci, who had been gathering the Shanyue at Jing County, Sun Ce untied his bonds, took his hand and asked what Taishi Ci would have done had he caught Sun Ce at Shenting, and made him Commander of the Gate Guard (menxia du). When Liu Yao died in Yuzhang, Sun Ce sent Taishi Ci to pacify Liu Yao's followers; when those around him said Taishi Ci would not return, he replied, "If Ziyi abandons me, with whom else would he go?" and Taishi Ci came back within the sixty days he had promised. Records, Wu 4 §29–30

When Yuan Shu usurped the imperial title, Sun Ce sent him a letter of reproach and broke off relations. Cao Cao submitted a memorial making him General Who Attacks Rebels and enfeoffing him as Marquis of Wu. After Yuan Shu died, Liu Xun, Administrator of Lujiang, seized his followers; Sun Ce feigned friendship with Liu Xun and urged him to attack Shangliao, and while Liu Xun was away he raced day and night to Lujiang, took it by surprise and seized it. At this time, on capturing Wan County, he obtained the two daughters of Lord Qiao: Sun Ce took Daqiao as his wife and Zhou Yu took Xiaoqiao. This was in the 4th year of Jian'an (199), and he went on to attack Huang Zu at Shaxian. 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 §32–35Records, Wu 9 §5–6Records, Wu 2 §3

Sun Ce loved to gallop about hunting. When Yu Fan remonstrated with him about going out lightly escorted and incognito, he agreed, but said that when he had matters to think over, sitting still made him restless, and so he went out. Cao Cao's adviser Guo Jia reckoned that Sun Ce was rash and unguarded, so that if an assassin lay in wait and sprang upon him he would be no more than an enemy for a single man, and that he was sure to die at the hands of a common fellow. Records, Wu 12 §4Records, Wei 14 §34–35

In the 5th year of Jian'an (200), when Cao Cao faced Yuan Shao at Guandu, Sun Ce secretly planned to raid Xu and take the Han emperor into his keeping, readying his troops and assigning his generals. Before he set out, the young son and retainers of Xu Gong, the former Administrator of Wu Commandery whom Sun Ce had earlier killed, lay hidden by the river; they came upon Sun Ce when he rode out alone and wounded him. As his wounds worsened, Sun Ce asked 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 employing worthy men and holding Jiangdong he was not Sun Quan's equal. He died that night at the age of twenty-six. After Sun Quan proclaimed himself emperor, he posthumously named him King Huan of Changsha. Records, Wu 1 §36–39

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. Yet, like Sun Jian, he was rash and impetuous, lost his life and came to failure; and although the division and holding of Jiangdong rested on the foundation Sun Ce had laid, 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