Sun Quan in the context of "Liu Bei"

Wu (Chinese: 吳; pinyin: Wú; Middle Chinese *ŋuo < Eastern Han Chinese: *ŋuɑ), known in historiography as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, was a dynastic state of China and one of the three major states that competed for supremacy over China during the Three Kingdoms period. It previously existed from 220 to 222 as a vassal kingdom nominally under its rival state Cao Wei but declared complete independence in November 222. It was elevated to an empire in May 229 after its founding ruler Sun Quan (Emperor Da) declared himself emperor.

The name Wu was derived from the place it was based in—the Jiangnan (Yangtze River Delta) region, which was also historically known as Wu. It was called Dong Wu ("Eastern Wu") or Sun Wu by historians to distinguish it from other Chinese historical states with similar names in that region, such as the Wu state of the Spring and Autumn period and the Wuyue kingdom of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was called Eastern Wu because it occupied most of eastern China in the Three Kingdoms period, and Sun Wu because the family name of its rulers was Sun.

The end of the (Eastern) Han dynasty was the period of Chinese history from 189 to 220 CE, roughly coinciding with the tumultuous reign of the Han dynasty's last ruler, Emperor Xian. It was followed by the Three Kingdoms era (220–280 CE). During the end of the Han dynasty, the country was thrown into turmoil by the Yellow Turban Rebellion (184–205). Meanwhile, the Han Empire's institutions were destroyed by the warlord Dong Zhuo and fractured into regional regimes ruled by various warlords, some of whom were nobles and officials of the Han imperial court. The warlord Cao Cao took control of Emperor Xian and his court in 196 and began gradually reunifying the empire. Cao Cao ostensibly operated under Emperor Xian's rule, though in reality the emperor was a hostage.

Cao Cao's efforts to reunify China were rebuffed at the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208–209, when his armies were defeated by the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei. The Han dynasty formally ended in 220 when Cao Cao's son and heir, Cao Pi, pressured Emperor Xian into abdicating in his favour. Cao Pi became the emperor of a new dynasty, Cao Wei. In response, Liu Bei established the Shu Han dynasty in 221 with himself as its emperor. Sun Quan founded the Eastern Wu dynasty in 222, first adopting the title of king and later declared himself emperor in 229. The period from the end of the Han dynasty in 220 to the reunification of China proper under the Western Jin dynasty in May 280 is known as the Three Kingdoms era in Chinese history.

Cao Cao (pronunciation; [tsʰǎʊ tsʰáʊ]; Chinese: 曹操; c. 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde, was a Chinese statesman, warlord, and poet who rose to power during the end of the Han dynasty (c. 184–220), ultimately taking effective control of the Han central government. He laid the foundation for the state of Cao Wei (220–265), established by his son and successor Cao Pi, who ended the Eastern Han dynasty and inaugurated the Three Kingdoms period (220–280). Beginning in his own lifetime, a corpus of legends developed around Cao Cao which built upon his talent, his cruelty, and his perceived eccentricities.

Cao Cao began his career as an official under the Han government and held various appointments including that of a district security chief in the capital and the chancellor of a principality. He rose to prominence in the 190s during which he recruited his own followers, formed his own army, and set up a base in Yan Province (covering parts of present-day Henan and Shandong). In 196, he received Emperor Xian, the figurehead Han sovereign who was previously held hostage by other warlords such as Dong Zhuo, Li Jue, and Guo Si. After he established the new imperial capital in Xuchang, Emperor Xian and the central government came under his direct control, but he still paid nominal allegiance to the emperor. Throughout the 190s, Cao Cao actively waged wars in central China against rival warlords such as Lü Bu, Yuan Shu, and Zhang Xiu, eliminating all of them. Following his triumph over the warlord Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu in 200, Cao Cao launched a series of campaigns against Yuan Shao's sons and allies over the following seven years, defeated them, and unified much of northern China under his control. In 208, shortly after Emperor Xian appointed him as Imperial Chancellor, he embarked on an expedition to gain a foothold in southern China, but was defeated by the allied forces of the warlords Sun Quan, Liu Bei, and Liu Qi at the decisive Battle of Red Cliffs.

Cao Pi (pronunciation) (c.late 187 – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the eldest son among all the children born to Cao Cao by his concubine (later wife), Lady Bian. According to some historical records, he was often in the presence of court officials in order to gain their support. He was mostly in charge of defence at the start of his career. After the defeat of Cao Cao's rival Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu, he took Yuan Xi's wife, Lady Zhen, as a concubine, but in 221 Lady Zhen died and Guo Nüwang became empress.

On 25 November 220, Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian, the last ruler of the Eastern Han dynasty, to abdicate in his favour, after which on 11 December 220 he proclaimed himself emperor and established the state of Cao Wei. Cao Pi continued the wars against the states of Shu Han and Eastern Wu, founded by his father's rivals Liu Bei and Sun Quan, respectively, but did not make significant territorial gain in the battles. Unlike his father, Cao Pi concentrated most of his efforts on internal administration rather than on waging wars against his rivals. During his reign, he formally established Chen Qun's nine-rank system as the base for civil service nomination, which drew many talents into his government. On the other hand, he drastically reduced the power of princes, stripping off their power to oppose him, but at the same time, rendering them unable to assist the emperor if a crisis arose within the state. After Cao Pi's death, his successor Cao Rui granted him the posthumous name "Emperor Wen" and the temple name "Gaozu".

A fire ship or fireship is a large wooden vessel set on fire to be used against enemy ships during a ramming attack or similar maneuver. Fireships were used to great effect against wooden ships throughout naval military history up until the advent of metal-hulled ships; they could also serve a considerable function in shock and awe strategies to harm the morale of enemy crews. Ships used for fireship tactics were typically purpose-built or retrofitted from surplus or obsolete vessels, either of which could be filled with gunpowder or other combustibles before a battle, but could also be improvised from warships in active combat purposely set on fire during engagements, such as if a vessel expended its munitions or had some other reason to be abandoned in battle.

Specialized fire ships included the massive Dutch hellburners, also called "explosion ships", which were fitted with large explosive stores designed to detonate upon contact with the enemy. Fireships were used to great effect by the outgunned English fleet against the Spanish Armada during the Battle of Gravelines, the Dutch in the raid on the Medway, Chinese warlord Sun Quan in the Battle of Red Cliffs, and the Greeks in their war of independence.

The Battle of Red Cliffs, also known as the Battle of Chibi, was a decisive naval battle in China that took place during the winter of AD 208–209. It was fought on the Yangtze River between the forces of warlords controlling different parts of the country during the end of the Han dynasty. The allied forces of Sun Quan, Liu Bei, and Liu Qi based south of the Yangtze defeated the numerically superior forces of the northern warlord Cao Cao. By doing so, Liu Bei and Sun Quan prevented Cao Cao from conquering any lands south of the Yangtze, frustrating Cao Cao's efforts to reunify the territories formerly held by the Eastern Han dynasty.

The allied victory at Red Cliffs ensured the survival of Liu Bei and Sun Quan and left them in control of the Yangtze, establishing defensible frontiers that would later serve as the basis for the states of Shu Han and Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280). Historians have arrived at different conclusions in their attempts to reconstruct the timeline of events at Red Cliffs. The location of the battlefield itself remains a subject of debate: most scholars consider either a location southwest of present-day Wuhan, or a location northeast of Baqiu in present-day Yueyang, Hunan as plausible candidate sites for the battle. The battle has been the subject of or influenced numerous poems, dramas, movies and games.

Sun Hao (242 – January or February 284), courtesy name Yuanzong, originally named Sun Pengzu with the courtesy name Haozong, was the fourth and last emperor of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was a son of Sun He, a one-time heir apparent of the founding emperor Sun Quan. He ascended the throne in September 264 after the death of his uncle, Sun Xiu (Emperor Jing), in light of the desire of the people to have an older emperor, considering the recent destruction of Wu's ally state Shu Han. However, he turned out to be a most unfortunate choice, as his cruelty, extravagance and inability to handle domestic matters doomed Wu, which was eventually conquered by the Jin dynasty in 280, ending the Three Kingdoms period.

Sun Hao is also known by other titles: Marquis of Wucheng (烏程侯), which he held before he became emperor; Marquis Guiming (歸命侯; literally "the Marquis who resigns to his fate"), the title given to him by the Jin dynasty after his surrender; Later Lord of Wu (吳後主) and Last Emperor of Wu (吳末帝), which were used by historians to refer to him.

Guan Yu ([kwán ỳ] ; d. January or February 220), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on most of his early exploits. Guan Yu played a significant role in the events leading up to the end of the Han dynasty and the establishment of Liu Bei's state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. While he is remembered for his loyalty towards Liu Bei, he is also known for repaying Cao Cao's kindness by slaying Yan Liang, a general under Cao Cao's rival Yuan Shao, at the Battle of Boma. After Liu Bei gained control of Yi Province in 214, Guan Yu remained in Jing Province to govern and defend the area for about seven years. In 219, while he was away fighting Cao Cao's forces at the Battle of Fancheng, Liu Bei's ally Sun Quan broke the Sun–Liu alliance and sent his general Lü Meng to conquer Liu Bei's territories in Jing Province. By the time Guan Yu learned about the loss of Jing Province after his defeat at Fancheng, it was too late. He was subsequently captured in an ambush by Sun Quan's forces and executed at Linju, Xiangyang Commandery (臨沮, present-day Nanzhang County, Xiangyang City, Hubei).

Guan Yu's life was lionised and his achievements were glorified to such an extent after his death that he was deified during the Sui dynasty. Through generations of storytelling—culminating in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms—his deeds and moral qualities were greatly emphasized, making Guan Yu one of East Asia's most celebrated paragons of loyalty and righteousness. He is remembered as a culture hero in Chinese culture and is still worshipped by many people of Chinese descent in China, Taiwan, and other countries today. In religious devotion, he is reverentially called the "Emperor Guan" (Guān Dì) or "Lord Guan" (Guān Gōng). He is a deity worshipped in Chinese folk religion, popular Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism, and small shrines to him are almost ubiquitous in traditional Chinese shops and restaurants.