Editing Sun Ce (section)

==Early life and career==
Born in 175, Sun Ce was the eldest son of [[Sun Jian]], a military general serving under the Eastern Han dynasty. In 190, a year after [[Emperor Ling of Han|Emperor Ling]] died, the warlord [[Dong Zhuo]] usurped power, placing in the throne the puppet [[Emperor Xian of Han|Emperor Xian]]. Regional warlords in eastern China then launched a [[campaign against Dong Zhuo]]. Sun Jian rendered his service to [[Yuan Shu]], one of the leaders of the coalition. The attempt to oust Dong Zhuo soon failed and China slid into a series of massive civil wars. In the next year, Sun Jian was sent by Yuan Shu to attack [[Liu Biao]], governor of [[Jing Province]], but he was killed in an ambush.

Sun Ce brought his father's body to Qu'e (曲阿; present-day [[Danyang, Jiangsu]]) for burial and settled his mother down before heading for [[Dangtu County|Danyang]], where his maternal uncle [[Wu Jing (Han dynasty)|Wu Jing]] was the governor. There he raised a small militia a few hundred in strength. This small force was far from sufficient for him to establish his own power so in 194 Sun Ce went to Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu was very impressed with Sun Ce and often lamented that he had no son like him. He also returned Sun Jian's former division of troops to Sun Ce.

Initially, Yuan Shu promised to appoint Sun Ce the governor of [[Jiujiang]] but eventually gave the governorship to Chen Ji (陳紀). Later, when Yuan Shu was denied a large loan of grains from the governor of [[Lujiang Commandery|Lujiang]], he sent Sun Ce to attack the latter, promising to make Sun Ce the governor of Lujiang should he succeed. When Sun Ce did, however, Yuan Shu again went back on his words and appointed someone else instead. The disappointed Sun Ce then began to contemplate leaving.

Meanwhile, [[Liu Yao (warlord)|Liu Yao]], who was by imperial decree the governor of [[Yang Province]], occupied Qu'e as the regional seat [[Shouchun]] was already occupied by Yuan Shu. He then forced Wu Jing back west across the [[Yangtze River]] to Liyang (歷陽; present-day [[He County]], Anhui). However, Yuan Shu claimed to be the rightful governor and sent Wu Jing and Sun Ce's cousin [[Sun Ben]] to attack Liu Yao. After they were unable to break down Liu Yao's defences for more than a year, Sun Ce requested to lead forces to assist the effort.