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 Theob ...
Longguang (龍光), formally the Marquess of Le'an (樂安侯), was an official of the Chinese
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
It is not known when Sun Wo was born. His family claimed to be descended from the ruling house of the
Zhou dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by ...
state Wey, from which a branch became the ruling house of the
Three Kingdoms Period
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 Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the We ...
state Eastern Wu, although Sun Wo was not from that branch. Sun Wo's traceable ancestors included officials of
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 ...
Jin Dynasty (266–420)
The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had pr ...
Later Yan
Yan, known in historiography as the Later Yan (; 384 – 407 or 409) was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xianbei people, located in modern-day northeast China, during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms.
All rulers of the Later Yan declared them ...
Tang Dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
. Sun Wo's grandfather Sun Qi () served as a county magistrate, while his father Sun Jingshang () served as the military governor (''
Jiedushi
The ''jiedushi'' (), or jiedu, was a title for regional military governors in China which was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissioner", " legate" ...
'') of Tianping Circuit (天平, headquartered in modern
Tai'an
Tai'an () is a prefecture-level city in Western Shandong Province of the People's Republic of China. Centered on Mount Tai, the city borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Zibo to the east, Linyi to the southeast, Liaocheng to ...
, Shandong). Sun Wo had at least four older brothers — Sun Bei (), Sun Chu (), Sun Pi (), and Sun Jian () — and two younger brothers — Sun Gang () and Sun Yi () — who also served as Tang officials. (Because one of Sun Wo's ancestors, Sun Yi (), who lived during Jin Dynasty, moved his family to Wuyi (武邑, in modern
Hengshui
Hengshui () is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Shandong to the southeast. At the 2010 census its population was 4,340,373 inhabitants whom 522,147 lived in the built-up (''or metro'') are ...
,
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...
),'' New Book of Tang'', vol. 7 /ref> Sun Wo was referred in historical accounts as "from Wuyi," although it is unclear whether he actually lived there.)''
Zizhi Tongjian
''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song (960–1127), Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959&n ...
imperial examination
The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...
s in the ''Jinshi'' () class, and served in a number of prominent offices — although the list is lost to history.''New Book of Tang'', vol. 183.
As chancellor
In late 895 — during a campaign featuring the imperial government, under Emperor Zhaozong, and
Li Keyong
Li Keyong () (October 24, 856 – February 24, 908) was a Chinese military general and politician of Shatuo ethnicity, and from January 896 a Prince of Jin (, ''Jin Wang''), which would become an independent state after the fall of the Tang dyn ...
the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) on one side, and
Li Maozhen
Li Maozhen (; 856 – May 17, 924), born Song Wentong (), courtesy name Zhengchen (), formally Prince Zhongjing of Qin (), was the only ruler of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Qi (901–924). He had become a powerful w ...
the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern
Baoji
() is a prefecture-level city in western Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China. Since the early 1990s, Baoji has been the second largest city in Shaanxi.
Geography
The prefecture-level city of Baoji had a population of 3,321,853 accord ...
,
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...
) and
Wang Xingyu Wang Xingyu () (d. 895) was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who controlled Jingnan Circuit (靜難, headquartered in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi) from 887 to his death in 895. At his prime, he and his ally Li Maozhen the military g ...
the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (靜難, headquartered in modern
Xianyang
Xianyang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now integrated into the Xi'an metrop ...
,
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...
) on the other — Emperor Zhaozong made Sun Wo, who was then the mayor of Jingzhao Municipality (京兆, i.e., the region of the imperial capital
Chang'an
Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin S ...
) the deputy minister of defense (兵部侍郎, ''Bingbu Shilang'') and chancellor with the designation ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (). (Sun's subsequent involvement in the campaign, if any, is not recorded in history.) Later in the year, shortly after a chancellor, Cui Zhaowei, was executed for conspiring with Li Maozhen and Wang. By the end of the year, Li Keyong had defeated Wang, who was then killed by his own subordinates in flight. Li Maozhen and another ally, Han Jian the military governor of Zhenguo Circuit (鎮國, headquartered in modern
Weinan
Weinan () is a prefecture-level city in the east central Shaanxi province, China. The city lies on the lower section of the Wei River confluence into the Yellow River, about east of the provincial capital Xi'an, and borders the provinces of S ...
,
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...
), then outwardly submitted to the imperial government. Emperor Zhaozong therefore ordered Li Keyong to end the campaign and return to Hedong. At some point, Sun was created the Marquess of Le'an.
However, by summer 896, the relationship between the imperial government and Li Maozhen had broken down again, and Li Maozhen launched his army to threaten Chang'an. Emperor Zhaozong and the imperial officials decided to flee Chang'an, initially resolving to head to Hedong. However, due to the distance involved and due to Han's avowal of his loyalty, Emperor Zhaozong headed for Han's capital Hua Prefecture () instead. While there, he declared a general campaign against Li Maozhen, putting Sun in charge of the campaign and making the general Li Sijian () Sun's deputy. However, with Han having a long-time alliance with Li Maozhen, Han interfered with the operation, which, as a result, was never actually launched. By 897, with Han having seized control of the imperial guards that Emperor Zhaozong had previously put several imperial princes in command of, the campaign was cancelled entirely.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 261.
Soon thereafter, Han falsely accused two close associates of Emperor Zhaozong's — the astronomer Ma Daoyin () and the physician Xu Yanshi () of crimes and had them executed. With another chancellor, Zhu Pu, being regarded as sheerly incompetent, Han further accused Sun and Zhu of associating with Ma and Xu. As a result, both Sun and Zhu were removed from their chancellor posts, with Sun initially keeping his secondary post as the minister of rites (禮部尚書, ''Libu Shangshu''). Later in the year, Sun was demoted and exiled to be the military advisor to the prefect of Nan Prefecture (南州, in modern Chongqing). He died in exile, with the date of his death lost to history.
As chancellor, Sun was described to be understanding and frugal. He paid little attention to his outward appearance, once stating, "A gentleman has proper ways to act. One needs not compare his appearance to the appearance to another's; rather, he should act in clear ways so as to contrast with another's murky ways." It was said that whenever he had guests, if his servants had arguments among themselves, he would not rebuke them — stating that if he took time to rebuke them, he would merely be distracting himself.
Zizhi Tongjian
''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song (960–1127), Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959&n ...
'', vols.
260
__NOTOC__
Year 260 ( CCLX) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Saecularis and Donatus (or, less frequently, year 1013 ''Ab ...