Sun Lü (213 – February or March 232),

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 ...

Zizhi, was a noble and military general of the state of

Eastern Wu Wu ( Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' <

Eastern Han Chinese

: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in h ...

in the

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 was the second son 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 founding emperor of Eastern Wu.

Life

Sun Lü was the second son of

, a warlord who lived in the late

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 ...

and became the founding emperor of the

Eastern Wu Wu ( Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' <

Eastern Han Chinese

: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in h ...

state in the

period. As a child, he was intelligent and multi-talented, so his father was particularly fond of him. In April or May 228, a 15-year-old Sun Lü was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Jianchang (建昌侯), with his marquisate in Jianchang County (建昌縣; west of present-day

Fengxin County Fengxin County () is a county in the northwest of Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the P ...

Jianchang Jianchang () is a county of Huludao City in the southwest of Liaoning province, China. It is the largest division of Huludao, with an area of , and population of 600,000, located in mountainous terrain west of that city, serviced by China Natio ...

). He married

Pan Jun Pan Jun (died 239), courtesy name Chengming, was a minister and military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Originally a minor official serving under the warlords Liu Biao and later Liu Bei in Jing Pro ...

's daughter.( ��女配建昌侯孫慮。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 61. In 229, after Sun Quan declared himself emperor and moved the imperial capital to Jianye (present-day

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

), he left behind his eldest son and heir apparent, Sun Deng, along with his other sons and relatives in Wuchang (武昌; present-day

Ezhou Ezhou () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hubei Province, China. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 1,079,353, of which 695,697 lived in the core Echeng District. The Ezhou - Huanggang built-up (''or metro'') area was home ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

). At the time, Sun Lü enjoyed watching duck fights, so he had a small shed built in front of the main hall of his residence to stage duck fights.

Lu Xun Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. W ...

, the general whom Sun Quan left in charge of Wuchang, heard about it and he sternly reprimanded Sun Lü for his behaviour. Lu Xun told Sun Lü, "Marquis, you should be spending time reading the classics and enriching yourself with knowledge. Why are you doing this?" Sun Lü immediately had the shed torn down. In 230,

Gu Yong Gu Yong (168 – November or December 243), courtesy name Yuantan, was a minister and the second Imperial Chancellor of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in the late Eastern Han dynasty in the Jiangdong r ...

, the Imperial Chancellor (丞相), wrote a

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 ...

to Sun Quan, pointing out that Sun Lü showed great potential with his brilliance and urging the emperor to elevate Sun Lü to the status of a prince in the same way the

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 ...

emperors did with their sons. Sun Quan refused. Some time later, the Supervisor of the Masters of Writing (尚書僕射) wrote a memorial to Sun Quan, recommending the emperor to entrust Sun Lü with greater responsibilities by appointing him as a military general. Sun Quan approved, granted Sun Lü imperial authority, and appointed him as Senior General Who Guards the Army (鎮軍大將軍). Sun Lü was also allowed to set up his own office with a personal staff at his headquarters in Banzhou (半州; west of present-day

Jiujiang Jiujiang (), formerly transliterated Kiukiang or Kew Keang, is a prefecture-level city located on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. It is the second-largest prefecture-level city ...

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

). Sun Quan also issued an imperial decree to Sun Lü, stating his high hopes and expectations for his second son to become a great military leader. At the time, many people were worried that Sun Lü, given his noble status and young age, might not be suitable for the job. However, Sun Lü not only proved them wrong, but also exceeded their expectations as he took his role seriously, faithfully followed the laws and rules, and treated his colleagues and seniors respectfully.(慮以皇子之尊，富於春秋，遠近嫌其不能留意。及至臨事，遵奉法度，敬納師友，過於衆望。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 59. Sun Lü died in February or March 232 at the age of 20 (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 ...

). As he had no son to succeed him when he died, his marquisate was abolished and converted back into a county.(年二十，嘉禾元年卒。無子，國除。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 59.(嘉禾元年春正月，建昌侯慮卒。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 47.

Notes

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

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''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

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 ...

'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Lü 213 births 232 deaths Eastern Wu imperial princes Family of Sun Quan

Life

See also

Notes

References