Sun Quan (182-252 AD) grew up in one of China's most tumultuous eras, The Three Kingdoms period. At birth, no one expected anything of him or his family. Yet, this chaotic period, filled with rebellions, plagues, and civil war, offered his father the chance to catapult his family into the limelight.
For the first 18 years of Sun Quan's life, his father, and later his elder brother, dominated the battlefields. They attracted talented followers with their magnetic personalities, but both fought with reckless abandon and died at early ages.
This gave Sun Quan control over an increasingly influential realm at age 18. Unlike his father and elder brother, he lacked the talent for tactics or melee combat. Where he did excel though, was in the hiring of and delegating to talented individuals. His success and longevity enabled him to almost seize the emperor's throne, making the self-inflicted demise of him and his family all the more tragic.
In this supersized episode, you'll learn not just about Sun Quan, but about the Three Kingdoms period from its most unsung side. This era would later influence one of China's four great classical novels, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, by Luo Guanzhong. In modern times, this has led to dozens of video games like Dynasty Warriors and TV/Film adaptations like Red Cliff. And I'll cover all of that as well, because to understand Sun Quan's life, you'll need to understand the context surrounding it.
Want to read more about this episode's characters or aren't sure about their spelling? Here's a list of this episode's major characters (with my rough English phonetics as necessary):
Sun Leaders and Subordinates
Sun Quan (Sooh'in Chu'win) - our protagonist
Wentai AKA Sun Jian - Sun Quan's father
Lady Wu - Sun Quan's mother
Sun Ce (Sooh'in Tsuh) - Sun Quan's elder brother
Zhang Zhao (Jang Jao) - Sun Quan's Chief Clerk
Zhou Yu (J'oe You) - Sun Ce's BFF and Sun Quan's first lead general
Lu Su - Sun Quan's second lead general
Lü Meng - Sun Quan's third lead general
Lu Xun (Loo Shoon) - Sun Quan's fourth lead general and eventual chancellor
Sun He (Sooh'in Huuh) - Sun Quan's third son
Rival Clans
Yuan Shu - loser warlord that Sun Jian and Sun Ce briefly served
Liu Bei (Lee'oh Bay) - Southwestern China warlord and ally/rival of Sun Quan
Guan Yu - Liu Bei's top general and China's best beard
Cao Cao (T'ao T'ao) - Northern China warlord and chief Sun Quan antagonist
Cao Pi (T'ao Pee) - Cao Cao's son
Sima Yi - Regent for Cao Cao's grandson
Credits
Host: C.J. Weiss
Music: Bobby Hall
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