Sun Ce then broke away from his father's overlord, Yuan Shu, and headed to the Jiangdong region in southern China to establish his own power base there.

With the help of several people, such as Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu, Sun Ce managed to lay down the foundation of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period.

One detractor named Xu Gong, in a letter to Emperor Xian, compared Sun Ce to Xiang Yu, the warrior-king who overthrew the Qin dynasty.

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.

Initially, Yuan Shu promised to appoint Sun Ce the governor of Jiujiang but eventually gave the governorship to Chen Ji (陳紀).

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.

He then launched an offensive across the Yangtze River and successfully occupied the strategic position of Niuzhu (牛渚; southwest of present-day Ma'anshan, Anhui) in 195.

After suffering initial defeat in the hands of the aggressor, Ze Rong fell back in defence and refused to engage in battle.

Although Xue Li soon gave up the city and escaped, Liu Yao's subordinate Fan Neng (樊能) and others had regrouped their forces and launched a renewed attack on Niuzhu.

After all the surrounding areas were taken over by Sun Ce, Liu Yao gave up the city and escaped south to Nanchang, capital of Yuzhang Commandery, where he died later.

He then pushed his force deeper into Yang Province and conquered Kuaiji along the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay, whose governor Wang Lang surrendered.

Sun Ce made Kuaiji his base city and struck out at the wandering bandit army led by Yan Baihu.

Sun Ce then appointed his relatives and a trusted subject to govern Danyang and Yuzhang, from which he divided a new commandery named Luling (廬陵).

He Qi became a highly successful general later; truly, his appointment by Sun Ce was the first important step to Wu's eventual subjugation of the Shanyue.

As Liu Xun had insufficient food supplies in his realm to support the additional troops, he led a force south to pillage Haihun (海昏; east of present-day Yongxiu County, Jiangxi).

Hearing that his base city had been taken, Liu Xun headed west and sought help from Huang Zu, who sent a 5,000-strong naval force to assist him.

Preparations were underway for the military excursion when Sun Ce ran into three former servants of Xu Gong during a solo hunting trip.

He believed that although Sun Ce was a rising power, he was threatened in the west by Huang Zu, who was defeated but not eliminated, in the north by Chen Deng, governor of Guangling Commandery, and in the south by indigenous tribes yet to be assimilated.

Pei Songzhi, who annotated the Records of the Three Kingdoms, rebutted Sun Sheng, arguing that Huang Zu was newly broken and had yet to recollect his forces while the indigenous tribes were scattered and not much of a threat.

Pei Songzhi believed that the first objective of Sun Ce's planned northward excursion was to attack Chen Deng, which would provide a platform for capturing Xuchang.

A historically implausible legend regarding Sun Ce's death involves a highly respected Taoist priest of his time, Gan Ji (干吉), whom he condemned as a sorcerer due to his popularity.

In the 1983 Shaw Brothers Studio film The Weird Man, Sun Ce has Yu Ji executed and the sorcerer becomes a vengeful ghost.

The 1993 Hong Kong film Ninja in Ancient China is also adapted from this story except Yu Ji's apprentices try to avenge him.

In the anime Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi, Sun Ce fights alongside his father against Dong Zhuo and is befriended by Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, with whom he trains to become a hero.

In the anime Kōtetsu Sangokushi, Sun Ce is portrayed as a once kind-hearted and virtuous hero who was corrupted by the power of the Imperial Seal, causing him to kill its protector.

Sun Ce appears as a recruitable ally in Team Ninja's Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, also published by Koei.