courtesy name
A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...
Three Kingdoms
The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...
period of China. He served as the first Imperial Chancellor of Eastern Wu from 222 to 225. He was not related to the imperial family of Eastern Wu even though he shared the same family name as them.
Life
Described as a man about eight ''chi'' tall, Sun Shao was from
Beihai State
Beihai Commandery ( zh, 北海郡) was a historical commandery of China, located in present-day northern Shandong province.
Beihai was created during Emperor Jing of Han's reign. According to Zhou Zhenhe, Beihai was likely established on six count ...
(), a
commandery
In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...
centred around present-day
Weifang
Weifang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The city borders Dongying to the northwest, Zibo to the west, Linyi to the southwest, Rizhao to the south, Qingdao to the east, and looks out to the L ...
,
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
. He started his career as an Officer of Merit () in his home commandery sometime between 189 and 196, when
Kong Rong
Kong Rong () (153 – 26 September 208), courtesy name Wenju, was a Chinese poet, politician, and minor warlord. who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was a 20th generation descendant of Confucius. As he was once the Chance ...
was serving as Beihai State's Chancellor. Kong Rong called Sun Shao "a talent capable of serving in the imperial court".
In the mid-190s, Sun Shao left Beihai State and travelled south to the Jiangdong region, where he became a subordinate of
Liu Yao
Liu Yao (died 329), courtesy name Yongming, was the final emperor of the Xiongnu-led Han Zhao dynasty of China. He became emperor in 318 after most other members of the imperial Liu clan were massacred by Jin Zhun in a coup. However, the empir ...
, the Governor of
Yang Province
Yangzhou, Yangchow or Yang Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China mentioned in historical texts such as the ''Tribute of Yu'', ''Erya'' and ''Rites of Zhou''.
Name
There are four different theories regarding the origin of the ...
(which covered the Jiangdong region). In 200 CE, he came into the service of
Sun Quan
Sun Quan (, Chinese: 孫權) (183 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the Eastern Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime es ...
, the warlord who controlled the territories in Jiangdong. On several occasions, he advised Sun Quan to pay tribute and swear nominal allegiance to
Emperor Xian
Emperor Xian of Han (2 April 181 – 21 April 234), personal name Liu Xie (劉協), courtesy name Bohe, was the 14th and last emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. He reigned from 28 September 189 until 11 December 220.
Liu Xie was a so ...
( 189–220), the figurehead emperor of the
Eastern Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
. Sun Quan heeded his advice. Sun Shao also served as the Administrator () of Lujiang Commandery (廬江郡; around present-day
Lu'an
Lu'an (), is a prefecture-level city in western Anhui province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan to the northwest and Hubei to the southwest. As of the 2020 census, it had a total population of 4,393,699 inhabitants whom 1,752,537 liv ...
,
Anhui
Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...
) and as a Chief Clerk () under Sun Quan when the latter held the nominal appointment of General of Chariots and Cavalry () of the Han Empire.
Following the end of the Eastern Han dynasty in 220, Sun Quan initially swore allegiance to
Cao Pi
Cao Pi () ( – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the eldest son ...
state which replaced the Eastern Han. In return, Cao Pi made Sun Quan a
vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...
king and granted him the title "King of Wu" (). However, in 222, Sun Quan broke ties with Cao Pi and declared independence. He appointed Sun Shao as the Imperial Chancellor () of his kingdom and enfeoffed him as the Marquis of Yangxian (). Sun Shao also held the nominal appointment of General Who Awes Distant Lands (). When he held office as Imperial Chancellor, two officials, Zhang Wen and Ji Yan, wrote
memorial
A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...
s to Sun Quan to make accusations against him. It is not known what exactly Sun Shao was accused of. In response, Sun Shao requested Sun Quan to remove him from office, but Sun Quan pardoned him and ordered him to continue serving as Imperial Chancellor.
Sun Shao died sometime between 23 June and 22 July 225 at the age of 63 (by
East Asian age reckoning
Countries in the East Asian cultural sphere (China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and their diasporas) have traditionally used specific methods of reckoning a person's numerical age based not on their birthday but the calendar year, and what age one is ...
).(... 年六十三卒。) ''Wu Lu'' annotation in ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 47.
Why Sun Shao does not have a biography in the ''Sanguozhi''
, there is very little information about him recorded in history. For instance, unlike many other notable persons of his time, he does not have a biography in the third-century historical text ''
Records of the Three Kingdoms
The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...
'' (''Sanguozhi''), the authoritative source for the history of the Three Kingdoms period.
The ''Zhi Lin'' () recorded that Liu Shengshu (), a
polymath
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
, once attempted to explain why Sun Shao did not have a biography in the ''Sanguozhi''. Xiang Jun () and Ding Fu (), whom Sun Quan put in charge of writing the history of Eastern Wu, had already written a biography for Sun Shao. However, after coming to the throne, Sun Quan's successor
Sun Liang
Sun Liang (245–260), courtesy name Ziming, was the second emperor of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the youngest son and heir of Sun Quan, the founding emperor of Wu. He is also known as the Prince of ...
replaced Xiang Jun and Ding Fu with Wei Zhao, who was known to be close to Zhang Wen, one of the two officials who made accusations against Sun Shao. Liu Shengshu speculated that Wei Zhao probably removed the information about Sun Shao when he took over the job of writing the history of Eastern Wu from Xiang Jun and Ding Fu.(嘗問劉聲叔。聲叔，博物君子也，云：「推其名位，自應立傳。項竣、吴孚時已有注記，此云與張惠恕不能。後韋氏作史，蓋惠恕之黨，故不見書。」) ''Zhi Lin'' annotation in ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 47.
See also
*
Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms
The following are lists of people significant to the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of Chinese history. Their names in Mandarin pinyin are sorted in alphabetical order.
Fictional characters in the 14th-century historical novel ''Romance of ...
Records of the Three Kingdoms
The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...
Book of the Later Han
The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Later ...
Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms
Annotations to 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 leaving his native land, Pei ...