The Fragile Succession: Eastern Wu’s Political Instability

The Eastern Wu dynasty (229–280 CE), one of the Three Kingdoms competing for supremacy after the Han collapse, faced a crisis when Crown Prince Sun Deng—renowned for his virtue—died prematurely in 241 CE. His death triggered a contentious succession as Sun Quan, Wu’s founding emperor, controversially appointed his third son Sun He as heir despite factional opposition. This decision destabilized the realm, compounded by the deaths of four pivotal figures—Zhang Zhao (236 CE), Zhuge Jin (241 CE), Gu Yong (243 CE), and Lu Xun (244 CE)—who had formed the dynasty’s backbone through military and civil leadership. These men represented powerful aristocratic clans like the Lu and Gu families, later immortalized in Zuo Si’s Ode to the Three Capitals.

The Regency Crisis and Zhuge Ke’s Rise

In 250 CE, Sun He’s deposition as crown prince triggered widespread purges, weakening the state. When Sun Quan died in 252 CE, he entrusted power to Zhuge Ke—son of strategist Zhuge Jin—as regent for the child emperor Sun Liang (aged nine). Zhuge Ke initially showed promise, abolishing oppressive surveillance systems (xiaoshi spies) and reducing taxes to win public support. His cleverness was legendary: as a youth, he famously defused Sun Quan’s jest comparing his long-faced father to a donkey by adding two characters to the insult, turning it into “Zhuge Ziyu’s donkey”—a witty retort that earned him the animal as a gift.

However, Zhuge Ke’s suppression of the Sun clan’s power backfired. In 253 CE, he was assassinated by Sun Jun, plunging Wu into further turmoil. By 258 CE, Sun Liang—attempting to assert authority—was deposed. The throne eventually passed to Sun Hao, son of the disgraced Sun He, whose reign would seal Wu’s fate.

Sun Hao: The Tyrant Who Doomed Wu

A complex figure, Sun Hao combined talent with brutality, foreshadowing later despotic rulers like Emperor Yang of Sui. He alienated the Jiangnan elite by favoring obscure officials over established clans like the Yangzhou aristocracy. His capricious cruelty—including flaying dissenters and forcing ministers to witness executions—eroded loyalty. By 280 CE, weakened by internal strife, Wu fell to the Jin dynasty’s massive invasion.

Notably, Sun Hao’s court included Meng Zong, a model filial son from the Twenty-Four Exemplars of Filial Piety. Stories of Meng catching fish for his mother and miraculously finding winter bamboo shoots (later depicted in Kyoto’s Gion Festival floats) circulated even in Japan, reflecting cross-cultural admiration for Confucian virtues amid political decay.

Cultural Legacy: From History to Romance of the Three Kingdoms

This era was immortalized in Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms (3rd century CE), later expanded by Pei Songzhi’s annotations blending history and folklore. By the Tang dynasty, storytellers embellished these accounts, culminating in the 14th-century Sanguozhi Pinghua and Luo Guanzhong’s literary masterpiece Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The novel’s enduring appeal is evidenced by figures like Mao Zedong, who read it covertly as a student, and its adaptation into Peking Opera (where Cao Cao wears a white villain’s face, while Guan Yu sports a legendary beard).

In Japan, the 1689 translation Tsūzoku Sangokushi by Kainan Bunzan, illustrated by Katsushika Hokusai’s disciples, popularized the saga during the Edo period. Kabuki plays like Zhuge Liang’s Military Chronicles (1724) further cemented its cultural impact.

The Jin Unification: A Revolution by Another Name

The Jin dynasty’s rise mirrored Wu’s decline. Sima Yi’s coup (249 CE) began the Sima clan’s ascent, finalized in 265 CE when Sima Yan (Emperor Wu of Jin) accepted the Wei emperor’s “abdication”—a ritualized power transfer (chanrang) mimicking ancient sage-kings. This theatrical “revolution” (geming), rooted in the Mandate of Heaven, lacked European-style upheaval but legitimized dynastic change for centuries.

Jin’s conquest of Wu in 280 CE reunited China, yet its flawed policies—like disbanding regional armies and the extravagant Hu Tiao land system—planted seeds for the devastating War of the Eight Princes (291–306 CE). The empire’s collapse under decadent elites (e.g., Shi Chong and Wang Kai’s grotesque wealth contests) and infighting between Empress Jia Nanfeng and the Yang clan exemplified how personal rivalries could unravel a dynasty.

Conclusion: Echoes of an Era

Eastern Wu’s trajectory—from Sun Quan’s capable rule to Sun Hao’s despotism—highlights how succession crises and factionalism destabilized even robust regimes. Its legacy endured through literature and moral parables, serving as both warning and inspiration across East Asia. The interplay of filial piety (Meng Zong), political intrigue (Zhuge Ke), and cultural synthesis (Three Kingdoms lore) makes this period a timeless study of power’s fragility and storytelling’s enduring might.