The fall of Wu (东吴灭亡) in 280 CE was the conquest of Eastern Wu by the Jin dynasty, which had replaced Cao Wei in 266. After the fall of Shu in 263, Wu was the last of the three kingdoms. Sima Yan (Emperor Wu of Jin) assembled a large army and fleet to cross the Yangtze and end Wu’s independence.
The campaign
Jin forces advanced from the north and from the upper Yangtze. Wang Jun led the river fleet downstream; land armies under Du Pre and others captured key fortresses. Wu’s defences, weakened by internal strife and the long reign of Sun Hao, collapsed. Jin troops entered Jianye (modern Nanjing); Sun Hao surrendered.
Reunification
With Sun Hao’s surrender, the Three Kingdoms period came to an end. The Han had fractured after the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the warlord era; Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu had divided China for decades. The Jin dynasty now ruled a reunified China — though the peace would prove brief before the upheavals of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the north–south division.