At seventeen, Sun Jian was traveling by boat with his father from Fuchun to Qiantang when a gang of pirates looted merchants and divided the spoils on the shore. The terrified boatmen refused to move forward. Sun Jian declared, "I can drive those bandits away!" Ignoring his father's protests, he leaped onto the bank, brandishing his sword and gesturing as if commanding troops. The pirates, convinced that patrols were closing in and a young officer was deploying soldiers from the boats, whistled in alarm, abandoned their loot, and fled in all directions.
During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the imperial court dispatched General of Chariots and Cavalry Huangfu Song and Colonel Zhu Jun to suppress the uprising. Zhu Jun appointed Sun Jian as his assistant military commander. During the assault on Wancheng, Sun Jian was the first to scale the city walls, earning great merit and promotion to Separate Commandant, where he began commanding his own troops.
Sun Jian defeated the rebel Ou Xing in Changsha, and the imperial court promoted him to Marquis of Wucheng, granting him his own fiefdom.
Sun Jian led his army north to denounce the tyrant Dong Zhuo
Sun Jian's heroic reputation shook the realm. Yuan Shu appointed him General Who Breaks the Enemy and Governor of Yu Province, ordering a celebratory banquet outside the city walls. As they drank, Dong Zhuo's army of tens of thousands suddenly arrived, drums thundering without cease. Sun Jian calmly ordered his troops to march into the city in formation, raised his cup to urge his officers to drink, and remained utterly composed as he brought up the rear, entering the city last.
When Dong Zhuo's forces besieged the city, Sun Jian wrapped his head in a red scarf, flung open the gates, and charged into battle—the crimson scarf fluttering as he cut through enemy lines without resistance, personally slaying Dong Zhuo's commander Hua Xiong in the melee.
Fearing Sun Jian's ferocity, Dong Zhuo sent an envoy to negotiate peace, offering to appoint Sun Jian's sons and brothers as provincial governors and commandery administrators as terms of the truce. Sun Jian refused, ordering a swift advance on Dong Zhuo's stronghold in Luoyang. Dong Zhuo then burned Luoyang and retreated through the Hangu Pass.
In the third year of Emperor Xian's Chuping era, Yuan Shu ordered Sun Jian to attack Liu Biao in Jingzhou. Liu Biao sent Huang Zu to resist. Sun Jian defeated Huang Zu, crossed the Han River, and besieged Xiangyang. Huang Zu's general, Lü Gong, stationed troops at Xian Mountain. Sun Jian personally led his cavalry up the mountain to scout the terrain. The mountain was thick with bamboo and trees, and Lü Gong's archers, hidden in the brush, shot a volley of arrows that struck Sun Jian in the forehead, killing him instantly.
Sun Jian's eldest son, Sun Ce, gathered his father's remains and returned to bury him south of the Yangtze River, while Sun Jian's troops were absorbed into Yuan Shu's forces.
Zhang Hong of Danyang was a remarkable scholar of the time. Sun Ce went to see him and said, "My father was determined to aid the distressed and quell chaos, but unexpectedly fell victim to Huang Zu. Though I am young and inexperienced, I am resolved to fulfill my father's legacy, avenge this disgrace, and become a loyal vassal of the court. May I ask what strategy you would propose?"
Zhang Hong advised him to follow Sun Jian's path: first recruit soldiers and horses, then gather his forces to join his uncle Wu Jing, the governor of Danyang, to build momentum, then attack and seize Jingzhou and Yangzhou, using the Jiangnan region as his base.
"By eliminating traitors and pacifying the people, your achievements can rival those of Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin—how could you confine yourself to being merely a regional warlord?" Zhang Hong encouraged him.
Yuan Shu returned Sun Jian's troops to Sun Ce
"Revenge and wipe out a disgrace" means to avenge a grievance and wash away shame.
Source: *Records of the Three Kingdoms*, "Book of Wu: Biography of Sun Jian"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "报仇雪耻" came to describe how to avenge a grievance and wash away shame.