The Sima Ascendancy and the Fall of Wei
After decades of consolidating power, Sima Zhao – de facto ruler of Cao Wei – was enfeoffed as King of Jin and appointed Chancellor. Though courtiers urged him to usurp the throne, he declined, instead appointing his son Sima Yan as Deputy Chancellor, a clear signal of dynastic intent.
When Sima Zhao died in 265 AD, Sima Yan inherited both titles – and unlike his cautious father, acted swiftly. By year’s end, he compelled the puppet Emperor Cao Huan (formerly Cao Mao’s successor) to abdicate. Thus, 45 years after Cao Pi had ended the Han, the Wei dynasty surrendered its mandate to the Sima clan.
Sima Yan proclaimed himself emperor, founding the Jin Dynasty (Western Jin), and took the title Emperor Wu of Jin (Jin Wudi). His ultimate goal: reunify the fractured empire by conquering Eastern Wu.
Strategic Patience: Postponing the Invasion of Wu
Despite his ambition, Jin Wudi recognized that internal instability – particularly uprisings by non-Han tribes in the western provinces – made immediate war unwise. Instead, he adopted a policy of diplomatic appeasement toward Wu.
When Ding Zhong, a Wu envoy, arrived in Luoyang to mourn Sima Zhao’s death, Jin Wudi received him with exceptional courtesy. Flattered, Ding Zhong returned to Wu boasting of Jin’s “weakness” and urged Emperor Sun Hao – Sun Quan’s tyrannical grandson – to launch a surprise attack on Yiyang (in modern Henan).
But Lu Kai, the General Who Pacifies the West and nephew of the famed strategist Lu Xun, objected:
“Jin has just conquered Shu and treats us with restraint – not out of fear, but to bide time. Attacking now is folly.”
Sun Hao heeded this advice and abandoned the raid, though he severed diplomatic ties with Jin – a move that only hastened his isolation.
Sun Hao’s Tyranny and the Erosion of Wu’s Foundations
Sun Hao’s reign was marked by extravagance, paranoia, and brutality. He relocated the capital from Jianye to Wuchang, forcing the people of Yangzhou to bear the immense logistical burden of supplying the court upstream – a hardship so severe that folk rhymes declared: “Better to drink Jianye’s water than eat Wuchang’s fish; better to die in Jianye than live in Wuchang.”
Under pressure from Lu Kai, Sun Hao eventually moved the capital back. But his excesses continued: he ordered construction of the Zhaoming Palace, a 500zhang-square complex so lavish it drained the treasury. Officials below the rank of 2,000-dan salary were conscripted to supervise logging crews.
His cruelty knew no bounds. When a judicial officer named Chen Sheng lawfully punished a palace eunuch who had seized goods from merchants, Sun Hao – egged on by a concubine – had Chen executed by sawing his head off with a red-hot blade. Other victims were torn apart by chariots, kicked like balls after decapitation, or flayed and blinded during drunken banquets.
Fear replaced loyalty. Even Sun Hao sensed the hatred – but responded not with reform, but with ill-fated military adventures against Jin at Xiangyang and Hefei, both ending in defeat.
The Soft Power of Yang Hu: Winning Hearts Without War
Meanwhile, Yang Hu, Jin’s frontier commander at Xiangyang, pursued a radically different strategy. Believing Wu could not be conquered by force alone, he waged a campaign of moral persuasion:
- He refused ambushes, always declaring battle dates openly.
- He compensated Wu farmers in silk for any crops his troops accidentally harvested.
- He returned hunted game that strayed into Jin territory.
- He drank wine sent by Wu general Lu Kang without suspicion.
- When Lu Kang fell ill, Yang Hu sent medicine – which Lu Kang took without hesitation, saying:
“Would Yang Hu ever harm a man?”
Over time, even Wu soldiers began saying:”The Jin are true friends.” Lu Kang himself warned:
“They win hearts through righteousness; we lose them through cruelty. Victory will be theirs – even without fighting.”
By the late 270s, Wu’s collapse was inevitable.
The Final Campaign: Seven Armies and the Fall of Jianye
In 279 AD, with both Yang Hu and Lu Kang dead, Jin Wudi launched the grand invasion. Over 200,000 troops advanced in seven columns, led by:
- Du Yu (General Who Pacifies the South),
- Wang Hun (General Who Calms the East),
- Wang Jun (Dragon-Crested General), commanding the naval fleet from former Shu.
Wang Jun’s fleet faced Wu’s formidable Yangtze River defenses: submerged iron cones and massive iron chains stretched across the river to impale or block ships.
Undeterred, Wang Jun devised ingenious countermeasures:
- Giant rafts (100+ paces long) with straw dummies floated ahead, snagging the iron cones like burrs on cloth.
- Behind them came fire rafts loaded with oil-soaked timber. Set ablaze, they melted the iron chains, clearing the path.
With the river open, Wang Jun’s fleet swept downstream, capturing Xiling, Danyang, Jingmen, and Yidao, then joining Du Yu’s forces. Du Yu marched south to Guangzhou; Wang Jun pressed east toward Jianye, chasing Wu troops “like ducks down a stream.”
The End of Wu and the Birth of a Unified Empire
By early 280 AD, Jin warships passed Sanshan (Three Peaks Mountain near Nanjing). Panic gripped Jianye. Sun Hao’s generals surrendered or fled before battle. Desperate, he shouted at his silent ministers:
“Is it true your men won’t fight? Speak!”
Finally, one replied:
“Why not follow Liu Shan of Shu?”
Realizing all was lost, Sun Hao surrendered. Jin Wudi granted him the ironic title “Marquis Who Submits to Destiny” (Guiming Hou).
Thus, 51 years after Sun Quan declared himself emperor, Eastern Wu fell. The Three Kingdoms era (220–280 AD) – born from the ashes of the Han – ended. For the first time in nearly a century, China was reunified under the Jin Dynasty.
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