Luban Sun

Background

Sun Luban was the elder daughter of Sun Quan, the founding emperor of Wu, and his concubine Bu Lianshi. There is no exact information about the place and the date of her birth.

Career

Sun Luban was married to Zhou Xun. Unfortunately, he died soon and in 229 Sun Luban married again to Quan Cong. Sun Luban and her younger sister Sun Luyu became deeply involved in court politics, supporting opposing sides in the lethal struggle to secure a successor to their aging father from among their half-brothers. Sun Quan initially appointed his eldest son, Sun Deng, as heir apparent, but after the latter’s death, he appointed his next surviving son, Sun He. This young man was the son of Lady Wang, Sun Quan’s second favorite consort and the woman he intended to install as empress.

As Sun Luban was worried that Sun He would take revenge against her after he became emperor, she frequently spoke ill of him in front of their father in the hope that Sun He would be deposed. On one occasion, Sun Quan could not attend a ceremony at the imperial ancestral temple because he was sick, so he ordered Sun He to take his place. Zhang Xiu, an uncle of Sun He's wife Crown Princess Zhang, lived near the imperial ancestral temple so he invited Sun He to stay at his residence during that period. Sun Luban sent her servants to spy on Sun He and reported to her father that Sun He was not in the imperial ancestral temple and was instead staying with his in-laws and plotting something. She also used the opportunity to further speak ill of Sun He's mother, Lady Wang, by telling Sun Quan that Lady Wang expressed glee when she heard that he was sick. Sun Quan believed his daughter and became furious with Lady Wang. Lady Wang later died in distress, while Sun He lost favor with his father.

Sometime in the 240s, a power struggle broke out between Sun He and his fourth brother, Sun Ba, who wanted to seize the position of Crown Prince from him. The power struggle had a polarising effect on Sun Quan's subjects; two opposing factions, each supporting either Sun He or Sun Ba, emerged from among them. During this time, Sun Luban's husband, Quan Cong, supported Sun Ba but died in 249 before the power struggle ended. Earlier on, Sun Luban noticed that her father increasingly favored his youngest son, Sun Liang, and wanted to replace Sun He with Sun Liang as Crown Prince. Eager to gain Sun Liang as a political ally, she advised her father to arrange a marriage between Sun Liang and Quan Huijie, the daughter of Quan Shang, a younger relative of her husband Quan Cong. Sun Quan heeded his daughter's advice and arranged for Sun Liang to marry Quan Huijie. In 250, after deposing Sun He, Sun Quan made Sun Liang the new Crown Prince, while Quan Huijie became Crown Princess.

In 252, Sun Liang became the second emperor of Eastern Wu following the death of his father. In 253, Sun Jun staged a coup d'état against the regent of Sun Liang and killed him. Then he became the new regent. Sun Jun had a secret affair with Sun Luban. Making use of her special relationship with Sun Jun, Sun Luban instigated him to help her get rid of her half-brother Sun He, the former Crown Prince. In 253, Sun Jun had Sun He relocated to Xindu Commandery and then sent an emissary to force him to commit suicide.

However, Sun Jun died the following year and his cousin Sun Lin took up the reins of power as regent. However, as the young emperor began to take more interest in affairs of state, Sun Lin feared his excesses would be revealed and he attempted to avoid attending court. The emperor conspired with his half-sister Sun Luban to unseat Sun Lin but was himself dethroned, in 258. Sun Luban protested that she knew nothing of the plot against Sun Lin, shifting the blame onto her sister Sun Luyu’s two stepsons, who were duly executed. Sun Luban appears to have been banished. Sun Luyu’s body, which was placed in an unmarked grave after she was murdered in 255, was later re-interred.

Achievements

• Sun Luban was known in Chinese history as a woman who played an active role in politics. However, she assumed the role of the aggressor in order to survive and seize power.

Personality

Sun Luban appears to have been an influential and ruthless woman.

Connections

Sun Luban initially married Zhou Xun, but he died early.

In 229, she married again, this time to Quan Cong. Sun Luban bore Quan Cong two sons.

Father:

Sun Quan

Sun Quan was the founder of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period.

Mother:

Lianshi Bu

Bu Lianshi was a concubine of Sun Quan, the founding emperor of the state of Eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms period of China.

late-husband:

Zhou Xun

Zhou Xun served as a Cavalry Commandant in Eastern Wu.

husband:

Quan Congress

Quan Cong was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China.

Son:

Quan Yì

Quan Yì, the elder son of Quan Cong and Sun Luban, succeeded his father as the next Marquis of Qiantang and inherited control over the military units that used to be under his father's command.

Son:

Quan Wu

Quan Wu was enfeoffed as a Marquis of a Chief District by the Wu government.

Sister:

Sun Luyu

Sun Luyu was an imperial princess of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China.

References

• Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui, 1600 B.C.E. - 618 C.E This new volume of the "Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women" spans more than 2,000 years from antiquity to the early seventh century. It recovers the stories of more than 200 women, nearly all of them unknown in the West.
  1998
• Empresses and Consorts: Selections from Chen Shou's Records of the Three States With Pei Songzhi's Commentary By Chen Shou. Translated by Robert Joe Cutter and William Gordon Crowell.
  1999