Sun Luban (fl. 229–258), courtesy name Dahu, was an imperial princess of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. She was the elder daughter of Sun Quan, the founding emperor of Wu, and his concubine Bu Lianshi. She is also a grand princess (長公主)[2] a title given to the emperor's favorite daughter (or sister),[3] and was also Princess Quan (全公主/全主)[4] because of her marriage to Quan Cong.
| Sun Luban 孫魯班 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princess Quan (全公主) | |||||
| Born | Unknown[1] | ||||
| Died | Unknown | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue |
| ||||
| |||||
| House | House of Sun | ||||
| Father | Sun Quan | ||||
| Mother | Bu Lianshi | ||||
Early life and marriages
editSun Luban was the elder daughter of Sun Quan, the founding emperor of Eastern Wu, and his concubine Bu Lianshi. She had a younger sister, Sun Luyu. The sisters' courtesy names, Dahu (大虎) and Xiaohu (小虎), respectively mean "big tiger" and "small tiger". Sun Luban initially married Zhou Xun (周循), Zhou Yu's son, but Zhou Xun died early.[5] In 229, she married again, this time to Quan Cong, a general serving under her father.[6][7][8] Sun Luban had two sons with Quan Cong: Quan Yì (全懌)[a][9] and Quan Wu (全吳).[10]
Life during Sun Quan's reign
editSun Luban bore a grudge against Lady Wang, one of her father's concubines. She also disliked her half-brother, Sun He, who was born to Lady Wang. In 242, after Sun Quan designated Sun He as Crown Prince, he wanted to make Lady Wang the Empress. However, Sun Luban strongly objected and repeatedly spoke ill of Lady Wang in front of her father and managed to persuade him to drop the idea.[11]
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[12] 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 (張太子妃), 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 favour with his father.[13]
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,[14] but died in 249[15] before the power struggle ended. In 250, the power struggle came to an end when Sun Quan forced Sun Ba to commit suicide and deposed Sun He from his position as Crown Prince. Many of the officials involved in the power struggle were executed, exiled or removed from office.[16]
Earlier on, Sun Luban noticed that her father increasingly favoured 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 (全尚), 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.[17]
Life during Sun Jun's regency
editIn 252, Sun Liang became the second emperor of Eastern Wu following the death of his father. As Sun Liang was only nine years old then, Zhuge Ke served as regent and ruled on his behalf. In 253, Sun Jun staged a coup d'état against Zhuge Ke and killed him, and then became the new regent. Sun Jun had a secret affair with Sun Luban;[18] the affair probably started after her husband Quan Cong died in 249.[15] 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 (新都郡; around present-day Yi County, Anhui) and then sent an emissary to force him to commit suicide.[19]
Earlier on during her father's reign, when Sun Luban took Sun Ba's side in the succession struggle against Sun He, she sought support from her younger sister, Sun Luyu. She became estranged from her sister after the latter refused to support her. In 255, Sun Yi (孫儀) and others plotted to overthrow Sun Jun from his position as regent, but were discovered and executed before they could carry out their plan. Sun Luban seized the opportunity to falsely accuse Sun Luyu of being involved in the plot, and instigated Sun Jun to have her executed as well.[20][4]
Life during Sun Chen's regency
editAfter Sun Jun died in 256, his cousin Sun Chen succeeded him as the regent for the Wu emperor Sun Liang. Sometime between 256 and 258, Sun Liang suspected that Sun Luban had something to do with Sun Luyu's death, so he summoned his half-sister and questioned her. A fearful Sun Luban lied to him, "I really don't know. I heard it from Zhu Ju's sons, Zhu Xiong (朱熊) and Zhu Sun (朱損)." Sun Liang thought that Zhu Xiong and Zhu Sun betrayed Sun Luyu to Sun Jun – especially since Zhu Sun married Sun Jun's younger sister – so he ordered Ding Feng to execute Zhu Xiong and Zhu Sun.[21][22]
Sun Liang also became increasingly wary of Sun Chen, who seemed likely to usurp the throne from him, so in 258 he plotted with Sun Luban, Quan Shang (全尚) and Liu Cheng (劉承) to eliminate Sun Chen. As one of Sun Liang's concubines was a cousin of Sun Chen, she overheard the plot and warned Sun Chen about it. Sun Chen quickly took action to preempt them: he sent his men to capture Quan Shang, sent his brother Sun En (孫恩) to kill Liu Cheng, and then led his soldiers to surround the palace. Later, he removed Sun Liang from the throne and replaced him with Sun Xiu, Sun Quan's sixth son. He also had Sun Luban exiled to Yuzhang Commandery (豫章郡; around present-day Nanchang, Jiangxi).[23] It is not known what happened to Sun Luban after that.
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Not to be confused with his similarly named relatives Quan Yī (全禕) and Quan Yí (全儀).
References
edit- ^ While Lady Sun's birth year is not recorded, her mother joined Sun Quan's harem after 199 (Sun Ce's invasion of Lujiang). In addition, her marriage to Quan Cong was her second one. Thus, her birth year should be between 199 and 215.
- ^ (時長公主壻衞將軍全琮子寄為霸賔客，寄素傾邪，譚所不納。) Sanguozhi vol. 52.
- ^ Lee, Lily; Wiles, Sue, eds. (2015). Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women. Vol. II. Routledge. p. 609. ISBN 978-1-317-51562-3.
An emperor's [...] sister or a favorite daughter was called a grand princess (zhang gongzhu); and his aunt or grand-aunt was called a princess supreme (dazhang gongzhu).
- ^ a b ([高貴鄉公正元二年（乙亥、二五五年）]秋，七月，吳將軍孫儀、張怡、林恂謀殺孫峻，不克，死者數十人。全公主譖朱公主於峻，曰「與儀同謀」。峻遂殺朱公主。) Zizhi Tongjian vol. 76.
- ^ (男循尚公主，拜騎都尉，有瑜風，早卒。) Sanguozhi vol. 54. It is unknown if this marriage took place before or after her half-brother Sun Deng's marriage to Zhou Xun's sister, which took place in 225.
- ^ (黃龍元年，遷衞將軍、左護軍、徐州牧，尚公主。) Sanguozhi vol. 60.
- ^ (吳主權步夫人， ... 生二女，長曰魯班，字大虎，前配周瑜子循，後配全琮；少曰魯育，字小虎，前配朱據，後配劉纂。) Sanguozhi vol. 50.
- ^ (男循尚公主，拜騎都尉，有瑜風，早卒。) Sanguozhi vol. 54.
- ^ (全懌母，孫權女也， ...) Jin Shu vol. 2.
- ^ (小子吳，孫權外孫，封都鄉侯。) Wu Shu annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 60.
- ^ (步氏薨後，和立為太子，權將立夫人為后，而全公主素憎夫人，稍稍譖毀。) Sanguozhi vol. 50.
- ^ (吳主長女魯班適左護軍全琮， ... 全公主與太子母王夫人有隙，吳主欲立王夫人為后，公主阻之；恐太子立怨己，心不自安，數譖毀太子。) Zizhi Tongjian vol. 74.
- ^ (是後王夫人與全公主有隙。權嘗寢疾，和祠祭於廟，和妃叔父張休居近廟，邀和過所居。全公主使人覘視，因言太子不在廟中，專就妃家計議；又言王夫人見上寢疾，有喜色。權由是發怒，夫人憂死，而和寵稍損，懼於廢黜。) Sanguozhi vol. 59.
- ^ (殷基通語曰：初權旣立和為太子，而封霸為魯王，初拜猶同宮室，禮秩未分。 ... 自侍御賔客造為二端，仇黨疑貳，滋延大臣。丞相陸遜、大將軍諸葛恪、太常顧譚、驃騎將軍朱據、會稽太守滕胤、大都督施績、尚書丁密等奉禮而行，宗事太子，驃騎將軍步隲、鎮南將軍呂岱、大司馬全琮、左將軍呂據、中書令孫弘等附魯王，中外官僚將軍大臣舉國中分。) Tongyu annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 59.
- ^ a b ([赤烏]十二年卒， ...) Sanguozhi vol. 60.
- ^ (時全寄、吳安、孫奇、楊笁等陰共附霸，圖危太子。譖毀旣行，太子以敗，霸亦賜死。) Sanguozhi vol. 59.
- ^ (姊全公主嘗譖太子和子母，心不自安，因倚權意，欲豫自結，數稱述全尚女，勸為亮納。赤烏十三年，和廢，權遂立亮為太子，以全氏為妃。) Sanguozhi vol. 48.
- ^ (峻素無重名，驕矜險害，多所刑殺，百姓囂然。又姦亂宮人，與公主魯班私通。) Sanguozhi vol. 64.
- ^ (孫亮即位，孫峻輔政。峻素媚事全主，全主與和母有隙，遂勸峻徙和居新都，遣使賜死，嫡妃張氏亦自殺。) Sanguozhi vol. 50.
- ^ (初，孫和為太子時，全主譖害王夫人，欲廢太子，立魯王，朱主不聽，由是有隙。五鳳中，孫儀謀殺峻，事覺被誅。全主因言朱主與儀同謀，峻枉殺朱主。) Sanguozhi vol. 50.
- ^ (太平中，孫亮知朱主為全主所害，問朱主死意？全主懼曰：「我實不知，皆據二子熊、損所白。」亮殺熊、損。損妻是峻妹也，) Sanguozhi vol. 50.
- ^ (亮內嫌綝，乃推魯育見殺本末，責怒虎林督朱熊、熊弟外部督朱損不匡正孫峻，乃令丁奉殺熊於虎林，殺損於建業。) Sanguozhi vol. 64.
- ^ (綝入諫不從，亮遂與公主魯班、太常全尚、將軍劉承議誅綝。亮妃，綝從姊女也，以其謀告綝。綝率衆夜襲全尚，遣弟恩殺劉承於蒼龍門外，遂圍宮。使光祿勳孟宗告廟廢亮， ... 典軍施正勸綝徵立琅邪王休，綝從之， ... 綝遣將軍孫耽送亮之國，徙尚於零陵，遷公主於豫章。) Sanguozhi vol. 64.
- Chen, Shou (3rd century). Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi).
- Fang, Xuanling (648). Book of Jin (Jin Shu).
- Pei, Songzhi (5th century). Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi zhu).
- Sima, Guang (1084). Zizhi Tongjian.