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Jianye

Records

Sun Quan’s base on the Yangzi, and Wu’s capital after he became emperor in 229. Later Jinling and Nanjing grew on the same site.

Drawn from the Records of the Three Kingdoms and Pei Songzhi’s notes. Famous novel scenes are not stated as fact.

Modern site
Modern Nanjing, Jiangsu
Region
Yang province

Sun Quan’s early base was in Wu and Kuaiji. In 211 he moved to Moling, and the next year renamed it Jianye, shifting the center from the Taihu plain to the Yangzi. When he became emperor in 229, Jianye was the formal capital. The court also sat at Wuchang for a time, but Jianye was the more lasting seat.

The city holds the lower Yangzi. Red Cliffs kept Cao Cao from taking it. Yiling kept Liu Bei from pressing downriver. The repeated campaigns toward Hefei left from Jianye toward the Huai, not from Jing province.

When Jin conquered Wu, Wang Jun’s towers of ships came down from the upper river, and Sun Hao surrendered in Jianye. The last court of the three states ended in this city. The novel spends little time in its palaces. In the histories it is the geographic reason Wu lasted fifty years.