Lady Sun

Lady Sun

A Qing dynasty illustration of Lady Sun
Born (Unknown)[1]
Died (Unknown)[1]
Names
Traditional Chinese 孫夫人
Simplified Chinese 孙夫人
Pinyin Sūn Fūrén
Wade–Giles Sun Fu-jen
Other names see this section
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Sun.

Lady Sun, known as Sun Shangxiang in Chinese opera and contemporary culture, was a noble lady who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. She was a daughter of Sun Jian and a younger sister of the warlords Sun Ce and Sun Quan, who laid the foundation for the state of Eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms period. She was wed to the warlord Liu Bei sometime in 209 as Liu's third wife, supposedly to strengthen an alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan. However, around 211, she returned to Sun Quan's domain when Liu Bei left Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan) and travelled to Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing).

Life

Lady Sun was the only daughter of Sun Jian and Lady Wu. She had four brothers who were also born to Lady Wu – Sun Ce, Sun Quan, Sun Yi and Sun Kuang.[2][3] Her personal name was not recorded in history.

Sometime in 209,[4] Lady Sun married the warlord Liu Bei to strengthen an alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan. The marriage probably took place at Gong'an (公安; present-day Gong'an County, Hubei), and Lady Sun was sent there to marry Liu Bei because Liu was serving as the Governor (牧) of Jing Province then and his provincial capital was at Gong'an.[5] Lady Sun was known to be wise and shrewd, and tough and fierce in character, very much like her brother Sun Quan. She had more than a hundred female servants, all of whom carried swords and stood guard outside her room. Whenever Liu Bei entered her room, he felt a chill in his heart.[6] Liu Bei was also suspicious and fearful of Lady Sun. Liu Bei's adviser Zhuge Liang once said, "When our lord (Liu Bei) was in Gong'an, he was wary of Cao Cao's influence in the north, feared Sun Quan's presence in the east, even in home territory he was afraid that Lady Sun might stir up trouble."[7]

Around 211,[8] when Liu Bei left Jing Province on a campaign to attack the warlord Liu Zhang in Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing) while Lady Sun remained in Jing Province. Liu Bei knew that his general Zhao Yun was a serious and orderly person, so he specially put Zhao in charge of internal affairs (in Jing Province). When Sun Quan heard that Liu Bei had travelled to Yi Province, he sent a ship to fetch his sister back to his domain. Lady Sun attempted to bring Liu Bei's son Liu Shan, who was born to Liu Bei's first wife Lady Gan, with her back to Sun Quan's territory. However, Liu Bei's generals Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei led their men to intercept her on the way and retrieved Liu Shan.[9] Nothing was recorded in history about what happened to Lady Sun after she returned home.

Family tree

Names

Other names of Lady Sun include:

In fiction

Lady Sun appears as a character in the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, which romanticises the historical events before and during the Three Kingdoms period. In the novel, her name was "Sun Ren" (孫仁) – possibly a corruption of her name "Sun Renxian" (孫仁獻) as recorded in the historical text Hanjin Chunqiu (漢晉春秋). In the novel, she is depicted as a very fiery and determined woman; however, the footnotes of the novel state that she was considered a handful to deal with and Liu Bei's followers had to keep an eye on her to make sure she did not run amok.

See the following for some fictitious stories in Romance of the Three Kingdoms involving Lady Sun:

Modern references

Lady Sun is one of the first female playable characters to make a debut in Koei's Dynasty Warriors video game series. She also appears in Warriors Orochi, a crossover between Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors. She is referred to as "Sun Shang Xiang" in the first seven instalments in the series, and as "Sun Shangxiang" from the eighth instalment 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 portrayed Sun Shangxiang in the 2008 Chinese epic war film Red Cliff directed by John Woo. In the first part, she and her all-female bodyguards lured 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 is referenced in the game and anime series Koihime Musō in which she is named "Sonshōkō" (or "Shaoren"). She charges out of the kingdom to fight against the Hongo Faction who are falsely accused of betraying the Go faction. After being captured by Hongo Faction and clearing up the misunderstanding, she likes Kazuto and enjoys playing around with him.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 de Crespigny, Rafe (2007). A biographical dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD). Brill. p. 763. ISBN 978-90-04-15605-0.
  2. ↑ (孫破虜吳夫人，吳主權母也。 ... 生四男一女。) Sanguozhi vol. 50.
  3. ↑ (志林曰：堅有五子：策、權、翊、匡，吳氏所生；少子朗，庶生也，一名仁。) Zhi Lin annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 46.
  4. ↑ (權以妹妻備。妹才捷剛猛，有諸兄風，侍婢百餘人，皆執刀侍立，備每入，心常凜凜。) Zizhi Tongjian vol. 66.
  5. ↑ Liu Bei's biography in the Sanguozhi mentioned that Sun Quan feared Liu's influence after the latter became Governor of Jing Province, so he arranged a marriage between his sister and Liu. Quote from Sanguozhi vol. 32: (琦病死，群下推先主為荊州牧，治公安。權稍畏之，進妹固好。) Sun Quan's biography in the Sanguozhi stated that Liu Bei took up the governorship of Jing Province in the 14th year of Jian'an (209), so Lady Sun most probably married Liu Bei in 209. Quote from Sanguozhi vol. 47: (十四年， ... 劉備表權行車騎將軍，領徐州牧。備領荊州牧，屯公安。)
  6. ↑ (初，孫權以妹妻先主，妹才捷剛猛，有諸兄之風，侍婢百餘人，皆親執刀侍立，先主每入，衷心常凜凜；亮又知先主雅愛信正，故言如此。) Sanguozhi vol. 37.
  7. ↑ (亮荅曰：「主公之在公安也，北畏曹公之彊，東憚孫權之逼，近則懼孫夫人生變於肘腋之下； ...) Sanguozhi vol. 37.
  8. ↑ (孫權聞備西上，遣舟船迎妹，而夫人慾將備子禪還吳，張飛、趙雲勒兵截江，乃得禪還。) Zizhi Tongjian vol. 66.
  9. ↑ (雲別傳曰： ... 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。權聞備西徵，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。) Yun Biezhuan annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 36.
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