Sun Ce

  • Zhou Yu

    Zhou Yu (175–210 CE) was a renowned general of the state of Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. His courtesy name was Gongjin, and he was from Shu County, Lujiang Commandery (in present-day southwestern Lujiang County, Anhui). At age 21, he joined Sun Ce in pacifying the Jiangdong region and helped lay the foundation…

  • The rise of Sun Ce [Three Kingdoms]

    After Sun Jian drove Dong Zhuo from Luoyang, he turned south to attack Liu Biao in Jing Province – but was ambushed and killed by Huang Zu, one of Liu Biao’s generals. His eldest son, Sun Ce, buried his father and traveled alone to Shouchun to seek help from Yuan Shu.

  • Rise of Cao Cao [Three Kingdoms]

    In 195 CE, the fragile alliance among Dong Zhuo’s former generals – Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji, and Fan Chou – collapsed into violent infighting.

  • Guo Jia: Cao Cao’s peerless strategist [Three Kingdoms]

    Among the brilliant minds who shaped the Three Kingdoms era, none captured Cao Cao’s trust – or foresaw the future with such uncanny precision – as Guo Jia, styled Fengxiao.

  • Why did Xu You betray Yuan Shao? [Three Kingdoms]

    Cao Cao’s triumph over Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu was not solely due to superior tactics – it relied heavily on a series of irreplicable strokes of luck. For instance, Zhang Xiu had previously rejected Yuan Shao’s overtures and instead surrendered to Cao Cao for the second time after the Battle of…

  • The opening phase of the Battle of Guandu [Three Kingdoms]

    The Battle of Guandu (200 CE) – the decisive confrontation between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao – did not unfold in isolation. Even as the two warlords marshaled their forces along the Yellow River, a cascade of events across the empire shaped the conflict’s trajectory.

  • The grain that built an alliance: Lu Su vs Zhou Yu [Three Kingdoms]

    In the chaotic landscape of the late Eastern Han dynasty, survival often depended not on wealth alone, but on strategic foresight and timely alliances. Few episodes illustrate this better than the famous encounter between Lu Su and Zhou Yu, immortalized in both historical records like the Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi) and dramatized…

  • The hidden politics behind Sun Ce’s execution of Xu Gong [Three Kingdoms]

    The assassination of Sun Ce, the “Little Conqueror” of Jiangdong, is often attributed to a simple act of vengeance: his killing of Xu Gong, the former Administrator of Wu Commandery, led to retaliation by Xu’s loyal retainers.

  • Why Sun Ce should not kill Yu Ji? [Three Kingdoms]

    Sun Ce’s execution of the revered Daoist healer Yu Ji is often remembered in Romance of the Three Kingdoms as a tale of supernatural retribution—but historically, it was a grave political miscalculation rooted in impulsiveness, insecurity, and a failure to understand soft power. Far from eliminating a threat, Sun Ce’s public killing of Yu…