Lady Sun 孫妃, in fiction known as Sun Shangxiang 孫尚香, was the daughter of Sun Jian 孫堅 and Lady Wu 吳妃 and younger sister of Sun Ce 孫策 and Sun Quan 孫權. She was part of a marriage pact with Liu Bei, but later fled back to Wu.
Biography[]
Lady Sun was the sister of Wu's first emperor, Sun Quan, and the only recorded daughter of Sun Jian and Lady Wu. Although history records no given name for Lady Sun (or her sisters), she is commonly referred to by the name Sun Shangxiang in legends. She was a woman of strong personality as shown in events throughout her life. Fa Zheng's biography in Records of Three Kingdoms compares her courage and energy to that of her brothers.
Marriage pact with Shu[]
In 209, she was given to Liu Bei in marriage as part of an alliance between Sun Quan and Liu Bei. At the time Lady Sun was a little over twenty years old and a woman of pleasant appearance and unique character, but as a result of the marriage she took general control over his household along with guardianship over his son and heir apparent, Liu Shan 劉禪. This is because both of Liu Bei’s former wives, Lady Gan 甘 and Lady Mi 糜, had already died of natural causes. Because Lady Sun preferred to be accompanied by more than a hundred female attendants, all of whom were capable of bearing arms, whenever Liu Bei visited her he trembled for his life. It is said that because Lady Sun was the younger sister of Sun Quan, she acted arrogant and haughty. She invited soldiers and officials from Wu and allegedly "went about lawlessly" with them. Liu Bei tasked Zhao Yun to keep a close eye on her.[1] They are not recorded as having had any children.
Return to Wu[]
However, two years later in 211, the Sun-Liu alliance was badly weakened due to disputes over Jing province. It was at this time, after being contacted by an agent from Wu, that Lady Sun returned to her brother's court. According to Zhao Yun's secondary biography, the Zhao Yun biezhuan, Lady Sun attempted to take Liu Shan with her but was stopped by Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei 張飛 who were sent by Zhuge Liang. It was through heavy negotiations that Lady Sun surrendered the young heir to the two generals before she journeyed downriver to the southlands.[2] With Lady Sun's return to Wu, the marriage and alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan effectively ended.
Family[]
- Parents
- Sun Jian - father
- Lady Wu - mother
- Husband
- Liu Bei - 209-211
- Brothers
- Sisters
- Lady Sun (married to Pang Yi) - half-sister
- Lady Sun (married to Hong Zi) - half-sister
Art gallery preview[]
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Qing Dynasty edition
Qing Dynasty edition
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Notes[]
- Lady Sun is sometimes referred to as Sun Ren 孫仁 or Sun Li, those names too are fictional.
- Her archery skills have been mentioned in historical records, but she never used them in battle.
Fact vs. Fiction[]
- Historically, Sun Shang Xiang did not commit suicide in 221 A.D. upon hearing of Liu Bei's defeat at Yiling.
References[]
- ↑ 《雲別傳》曰：先是，與夏侯惇戰於博望，生獲夏侯蘭。蘭是雲鄉里人，少小相知，雲白先主活之，薦蘭明於法律，以為軍正。雲不用自近，其慎慮類如此。先主入益州，雲領留營司馬。此時先主孫夫人以權妹驕豪，多將吳吏兵，縱橫不法。先主以雲嚴重，必能整齊，特任掌內事。權聞備西征，大遣舟船迎妹，而夫人內欲將後主還吳，雲與張飛勒兵截江，乃得後主還。Chen Shou. "Biography of Zhao Yun" in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, cited by Pei Songzhi.
- ↑ 先主入益州，吳遣迎孫夫人。夫人欲將太子歸吳，諸葛亮使趙雲勒兵斷江留太子，乃得止。Chen Shou. "Biography of the Mu Empress" in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, cited by Pei Songzhi.
Sources[]
- Chang Qu 常璩 (c.291–c.361). Huayang guo zhi 華陽國志 [Records of the Countries to the South of Mount Hua].
- Chen Shou 陳壽 (233-297). Sanguo zhi 三國志 [Records of the Three Kingdoms], annotated by Pei Songzhi 裴松之.
- Cutter, Robert Joe and William Gordon Crowell. Empresses and Consorts - Selections from Chen Shou's Records of the Three States with Pei Songzhi's Commentary. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1999.
- De Crespigny, Rafe. A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms. Leiden, BRILL: 2007
- —. Generals of the South. Canberra: Faculty of Asian Studies, The Australian National University, 1996.