Lady Sun (180s - 211), also known as Sun Ren in the 14th-century historical novel ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

'' and Sun Shangxiang in

Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...

and modern popular culture, was a Chinese noblewoman who lived during the late

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

. She was a daughter of the warlord

Sun Jian Sun Jian () () (155–191?), courtesy name Wentai, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He allied himself with Yuan Shu in 190 when warlords from eastern China formed a ...

, and her (known) older brothers were the warlords

Sun Ce Sun Ce () () (175 – 5 May 200), courtesy name Bofu, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the eldest child of Sun Jian, who was killed during the Battle of Xian ...

and

Sun Quan Sun Quan (; 182 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumous name, posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by hi ...

, who founded the state of

Eastern Wu Wu (Chinese language, Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, was a Dynasties of China, dynastic state of China and one of the three major sta ...

in the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

period. Sometime in 209, she married the warlord

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a China, Chinese warlord in the late Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty who later became the founding Emperor of China, emperor of Shu Han, one of the Three Kingdoms of ...

to strengthen an alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan. Around 211, she returned to Sun Quan's domain when Liu Bei left

Jing Province Jingzhou or Jing Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China referenced in early Chinese texts such as the ''Yu Gong, Tribute of Yu'', ''Erya'', and ''Rites of Zhou''. Jingzhou became an administrative division during the reign of E ...

(covering present-day

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

and

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

) and settled in

Yi Province Yizhou (益州), Yi Province or Yi Prefecture, was a ''Zhou (country subdivision), zhou'' (province) of ancient China. Its capital city was Chengdu.de Crespigny, p. 256. During the Han dynasty, it included the commanderies Hanzhong Commandery, Han ...

(covering present-day

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

and

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

Life

Lady Sun was the daughter of

; her mother's identity is not recorded. She had four brothers who were born to Lady Wu –

Sun Yi Sun Yi (c. 184–204), courtesy name Shubi, was Chinese military general and politician who was a younger brother of Sun Quan, the founding emperor of the state of Eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the husband of Lady ...

and

Sun Kuang Sun Kuang (after 184- before 210?), courtesy name Jizuo, was a younger brother of Sun Quan, a Chinese warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and became the founding emperor of the state of Eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms period. ...

. Her personal name was not recorded in history. Also, the birth order of her and her brothers Sun Yi and Sun Kuang is unknown. During 209, Lady Sun married the warlord

to strengthen an alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan. The marriage probably took place at Gong'an County because it was the provincial capital of

and Liu Bei was nominally serving as the provincial governor at the time. Lady Sun was known to be talented and bright. She was also bold and extremely fierce in character, with a personality reminiscent of her elder brothers. She had more than a hundred female servants who carried swords and stood guard outside her room. Liu Bei was also suspicious and fearful of Lady Sun. Liu Bei's adviser

Zhuge Liang Zhuge Liang () (181September or October 234), also commonly known by his courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman, strategist, and inventor who lived through the End of the Han dynasty, end of the Eastern Han dynasty ( 184–220) and t ...

once said: "When our lord iu Beiwas in Gong'an, he dreaded

Cao Cao Cao Cao (; ; ; 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde, was a Chinese statesman, warlord, and poet who rose to power during the end of the Han dynasty (), ultimately taking effective control of the Han central government. He laid the foundation f ...

's influence in the north and feared Sun Quan's presence in the east. Even in home territory he was afraid that Lady Sun would cause trouble." In 211,

Fa Zheng Fa Zheng (176–220), courtesy name Xiaozhi, was a key adviser to the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Born in a family of high social status and of noble descent, Fa Zheng travelled to Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan ...

was sent by Liu Zhang to form an alliance with Liu Bei against the future threat posed by Cao Cao in Hanzhong. While he was in Jing Province, he met Lady Sun, who left quite an impression on him since he urged Liu Bei to have her sent back to Wu. Lady Sun saw herself as the sister of a powerful warlord, and not only acted in an arrogant, unbridled manner, but also allowed her bodyguards and personal staff to behave lawlessly in Jing Province. For this reason, Liu Bei specially appointed his general Zhao Yun, whom he deemed a serious and conscientious person, to oversee domestic affairs in Jing Province and maintain law and order. Around 211, Liu Bei left Jing Province on a campaign to attack the warlord Liu Zhang in Yi Province while Lady Sun remained behind in Jing Province. When Sun Quan heard that Liu Bei had travelled to Yi Province, he sent a ship to fetch her. Lady Sun attempted to bring Liu Bei's son

Liu Shan Liu Shan (, 207–271), courtesy name Gongsi, was the second and last emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. As he ascended the throne at the age of 16, Liu Shan was entrusted to the care of the Chancellor Zhuge Liang ...

(who was born to Liu Bei's other wife, Lady Gan) with her to Sun Quan's territory. However, Zhao Yun and

Zhang Fei Zhang Fei () (; died July or August 221 AD), courtesy name Yide (益德), was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord Liu Bei in the late Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period ...

, another of Liu Bei's generals, led their men to intercept her along the way and to retrieve Liu Shan.(漢晉春秋云：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。) ''Han Jin Chunqiu'' annotation in ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 34. Nothing was recorded in history about what happened to Lady Sun after she returned home.

Family tree

Names

Other names of Lady Sun include: * Sun Ren (), in the 14th-century historical novel ''

''.(吳夫人之妹，即為孫堅次妻，亦生一子一女：子名朗，字早安；女名仁。) ''Sanguo Yanyi'' ch. 7. * Sun Shangxiang (), in drama and popular culture. * Xiao Ji (), nickname in popular culture. * Gongyao Ji (), nickname in the Japanese translation of ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' by Eiji Yoshikawa.

In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''

Lady Sun appears as a character in the 14th-century historical novel ''

'', which romanticizes the historical events before and during the

period. Her name was Sun Ren (孫仁) in the novel, which depicts her as a fiery, determined woman skilled in martial arts. Fictitious events in the novel include her betrothal to Liu Bei being part of Zhou Yu's scheme and her subsequent suicide when she heard false news of his death.

In popular culture

Lady Sun is a playable character in Koei's ''

Dynasty Warriors is a series of Japanese hack and slash action video games created by Omega Force and Koei (now Koei Tecmo). The series is a spin-off of Koei's turn-based strategy '' Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' series, based upon the Chinese novel of ...

'' video game series. She also appears in ''

Warriors Orochi is a hack and slash video game for PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox se ...

'', a crossover between ''Dynasty Warriors'' and ''

Samurai Warriors is the first title in the series of hack and slash video games created by Koei's Omega Force team based closely around the Sengoku ("Warring States") period of Japanese history and is a sister series of the ''Dynasty Warriors'' series, releas ...

''. She is referred to as "Sun Shang Xiang" in the first seven installments of the series, and as "Sun Shangxiang" from the eighth installment onwards. In Koei's '' Kessen 2'' she is named "Sun Li" and is one of Liu Bei's many love interests. Chinese actress

Zhao Wei Zhao Wei (; born 12 March 1976), also known as Vicky Zhao or Vicki Zhao, is a Chinese nationality law, Chinese actress, singer, filmmaker, and businesswoman. Regarded as one of China's Four Dan Actresses, she rose to pan-Asian fame for her rol ...

portrayed Sun Shangxiang in the 2008 Chinese epic war film '' Red Cliff'' directed by

John Woo John Woo Yu-sen ( zh, t= ; born 22 September 1946) is a Hongkongers, Hong Kong film director known as a highly influential figure in the action film genre. The recipient of various accolades, including a Hong Kong Film Awards, Hong Kong Film Award ...

. In the first part, she and her all-female bodyguards lure Cao Cao's troops into an ambush. In the second part, she infiltrates Cao Cao's camp and draws a map of the enemy formation. Lady Sun was portrayed by Pets Tseng in the 2009 Taiwanese idol drama series '' K.O.3an Guo'', which spoofs ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' in a present-day high school setting. In the drama, Sun is the love interest of Xiu, who is the Iron Dimension counterpart of Liu Bei. In the game '' Total War: Three Kingdoms'' she is named Sun Ren. Initially appearing as a child in the family tree of Sun Jian's campaign, Sun Ren becomes a playable character later in the game when she is an adult.

Notes

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' is a Chinese official history written by Chen Shou in the late 3rd century CE, covering the end of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE). It is regard ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). *

Chang Qu Chang Qu (291–361), courtesy name Daojiang, was a Chinese historian of the Cheng-Han dynasty during the Sixteen Kingdoms period and the Jin dynasty (266–420). Chang Qu is best known for his magnum opus, the '' Chronicles of Huayang'' or ''Re ...

(4th century). ''

Chronicles of Huayang The ''Chronicles of Huayang'' or ''Huayang Guo Zhi'' ( zh, t=華陽國志, s=华阳国志, first=t, l=Records of the Lands South of Mt. Hua) is the oldest extant gazetteer of a region of China. It was compiled by Chang Qu during the Jin dynast ...

'' (''Huayang Guo Zhi''). * * * Luo, Guanzhong (14th century). ''

'' (''Sanguo Yanyi''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotated Records of the Three Kingdoms ''Annotated Records of the Three Kingdoms'' () by Pei Songzhi (372–451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After the fall of the Eastern Jin ...

'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). * Sima, Guang (1084). ''

Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Lady 2nd-century births 3rd-century Chinese women 3rd-century Chinese people Year of death unknown Family of Liu Bei Family of Sun Quan