Sun Sheng (302–373),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Anguo, was a Chinese historian and politician of the

Jin dynasty Jin may refer to: States Jìn 晉 * Jin (Chinese state) (晉國), major state of the Zhou dynasty, existing from the 11th century BC to 376 BC * Jin dynasty (266–420) (晉朝), also known as Liang Jin and Sima Jin * Jin (Later Tang precursor) ...

. He was a native of Pingyao County,

Jinzhong Jinzhong, formerly Yuci, is a prefecture-level city in east central Shanxi province of the People's Republic of China, bordering Hebei province to the east. As of the 2020 census, its total population was 3,379,498 inhabitants of whom 1,226,61 ...

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

. He was described to be very studious, and was never seen without holding a book in his hand from his youth to his old age.

Life

Sun Sheng's father Sun Xun (孫恂) was Grand Administrator of Yingchuan (潁川), in present-day

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

and

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

. He was killed by bandits when Sun Sheng was nine, and the rest of the family fled to safety across the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

. In his young adulthood, Sun Sheng achieved fame as a serious scholar of the ''

I Ching The ''I Ching'' or ''Yijing'' ( ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. The ''I Ching'' was originally a divination manual in ...

'', composing an essay which some of the leading luminaries of the time, including Yin Hao, Wang Meng, and Xie Shang were unable to debate with him. Parts of the essay, "''The Symbols of the Book of Changes are More Subtle than the Visible Shapes of Nature''", survive and have been translated by Richard B. Mather. After entering politics, Sun Sheng served under

Tao Kan Tao Kan () (259 – 30 July 334), courtesy name Shixing (), formally Duke Huan of Changsha (), was a Chinese military general and politician during the Jin dynasty (266–420), Jin dynasty. He was the great-grandfather of the Jin Dynasty poet Tao ...

Yu Liang Yu Liang (庾亮; 289 – 14 February 340), courtesy name Yuangui (元規), formally Marquess Wenkang of Duting (都亭文康侯), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Jin dynasty who impressed many with his knowledge but whose ina ...

, and

Huan Wen Huan Wen (桓溫) (312 – 18 August 373), courtesy name Yuanzi (元子), formally Duke Xuanwu of Nan Commandery (南郡宣武公), was a general and regent of the Jin dynasty (266–420), as well as the leader of Huan clan of Qiaoguo (谯国桓� ...

, accompanying the latter into

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 ...

. On campaign, Huan Wen had taken his infantry to attack, and Sun Sheng was in charge of the weak, the elderly, and the baggage train, when they were suddenly set upon by thousands of bandits. The rearguard managed to rise to the occasion and drive them away. Huan Wen appointed Sun Sheng Marquis of Anhuai, in present-day

Pingnan County, Guangxi Pingnan (; ) is a county in the east of Guangxi, China. It is both the easternmost and northernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the China ...

, and he was attached to Huan Wen's household as a travelling secretary. Following Huan Wen's first two northern campaigns, Sun Sheng was enfeoffed as Marquis of Wuchang (in present-day Pingjiang County,

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 appointed Grand Administrator of

Changsha Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. It is the 15th most populous city in China with a population of 10,513,100, the Central China#Cities with urban area over one million in population, third-most populous city in Central China, and the ...

. The poverty of his family drove him to engage secretly in trade; but although this breach of etiquette was discovered, he was not impeached, because of the great esteem in which he was held.''Book of Jin'', chapter 82, p 2148 He left Huan Wen's service under strained conditions, and ended his life in the position of Supervising Censor.

Works

Sun Sheng wrote the ''Wei Shi Chunqiu'' (; ''Chronicles of the Clans of Wei'') and ''Jin Yangqiu'' (; ''Annals of Jin''). A number of other works quoted by

Pei Songzhi Pei Songzhi (372–451), courtesy name Shiqi, was a Chinese historian and politician who lived in the late Eastern Jin dynasty and the Liu Song dynasty. His ancestral home was in Wenxi County, Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanizati ...

in his

annotation An annotation is extra information associated with a particular point in a document or other piece of information. It can be a note that includes a comment or explanation. Annotations are sometimes presented Marginalia, in the margin of book page ...

of ''

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 ...

'' are attributed to Sun Sheng, including ''Yitong Zaji'' (; ''Miscellaneous Records of Similarities and Differences''), ''Shu Shi Pu'' (; ''Genealogy of Shu''), and ''Wei Shiji'' (; ''Records of the House of Wei''). All of his works have been lost, and survive now only in quotations.

Titles and Appointments Held

* Adjutant () * Marquess of Anhuai County () * Marquess of Wuchang County () * Grand Administrator of Changsha () * Supervising Censor ()

Family

:::*Great-great-grandfather: Sun Zi (d 251) ::*Great-grandfather: Sun Hong () :*Grandfather: Sun Chu () (d 293) *Father: Sun Xun () (d 311) *Children: **Sun Qian () **Sun Fang ()

Notes

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Sheng 302 births 373 deaths 4th-century Chinese historians Historians from Shanxi Jin dynasty (266–420) government officials Jin dynasty (266–420) historians Politicians from Jinzhong