Sun Fen (before 235 - 270),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Ziyang, was an imperial prince of the state of

Eastern Wu Wu (Chinese language, Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, was a Dynasties of China, dynastic state of China and one of the three major sta ...

during the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

period of China. He was the fifth son of

Sun Quan Sun Quan (; 182 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumous name, posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by hi ...

, the founding emperor of Eastern Wu.

Life

Sun Fen was the fifth son of

, a warlord who lived in the late

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

and became the founding emperor of the

state in the

period. His mother was Consort Zhong (仲姬), a concubine of Sun Quan. In late January or February 252, he received the noble title "Prince of Qi" (齊王) and took up residence in Wuchang (武昌; present-day

Ezhou Ezhou ( zh, s= ) 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 w ...

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

). Following Sun Quan's death in May 252, the Grand Tutor Zhuge Ke, who had been appointed regent for Sun Quan's youngest son and successor, Sun Liang, proposed to the imperial court to move the nobles away from areas with a heavy military presence. He thus relocated Sun Fen from Wuchang to Yuzhang Commandery (豫章郡; around present-day

Nanchang Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi, China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east by Poyang Lake. Because of its strate ...

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

). However, Sun Fen turned furious when he heard about it and refused to move out of Wuchang. Zhuge Ke wrote a long letter to Sun Fen to warn him about the perils of not knowing his place and to remind him of the downfall of his fourth brother, Sun Ba, the Prince of Lu. Sun Fen became fearful after reading Zhuge Ke's letter so he meekly obliged and moved to

, the capital of Yuzhang Commandery. While he was in Yuzhang Commandery, he led such a carefree and extravagant lifestyle that the officials around him could not stand him. When he heard that Zhuge Ke had been ousted from power in a ''coup d'état'' in 253, he travelled to Wuhu County (蕪湖縣; east of present-day

Wuhu Wuhu () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province of China, province, China. Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei City to the n ...

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

) and wanted to enter the imperial capital, Jianye (present-day

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

), to observe the situation in the imperial court. When a senior official Xie Ci (謝慈) tried to dissuade him from doing so, Sun Fen had him executed. Sun Fen was subsequently stripped of his noble title and reduced to commoner status as punishment for executing a senior official without permission from the imperial court. He was also relocated to Zhang'an County (章安縣; present-day Jiaojiang District,

Taizhou, Zhejiang Taizhou is a city located at the middle of the East China Sea coast of Zhejiang province. It is located south of Shanghai and southeast of Hangzhou, the provincial capital. It is bordered by Ningbo to the north, Wenzhou to the south, and Shao ...

). However, in August or September 258, the emperor Sun Liang issued an imperial decree to pardon Sun Fen for his earlier offence and restore him to noble status as the Marquis of Zhang'an (章安侯). In 270, the emperor Sun Hao was deeply grieved when his favourite concubine, Lady Wang, died of illness, so he remained indoors for many months and refused to meet his subjects. At the time, there were rumours that Sun Hao was dead and that either Sun Fen or Sun Feng (孫奉; a grandson of

Sun Ce Sun Ce () () (175 – 5 May 200), courtesy name Bofu, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the eldest child of Sun Jian, who was killed during the Battle of Xian ...

, via Ce's son Sun Shao) would become the new emperor. Zhang Jun (張俊), the Administrator of Yuzhang Commandery, believed the rumours and hoped that Sun Fen would become the new emperor, so he sent his men to clean up the tomb of Lady Zhong (Sun Fen's mother) in Yuzhang Commandery in an attempt to please Sun Fen. When Sun Hao found out, he was so angry that he had Zhang Jun arrested and executed by dismemberment. Zhang Jun's family members were also put to death. Sun Fen and his family were implicated, arrested and condemned to death. When he pleaded with Sun Hao to spare him and his five sons and allow them to live the rest of their lives as beggars, Sun Hao refused and forced them to commit suicide by consuming poison.(臣松之案：建衡二年至奮之死，孫皓即位，尚猶未乆。若奮未被疑之前，兒女年二十左右，至奮死時，不得年三十四十也。若先已長大，自失時未婚娶，則不由皓之禁錮矣。此雖欲增皓之惡，然非實理。) Pei Songzhi's annotation in ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 59.

References

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

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' is a Chinese official history written by Chen Shou in the late 3rd century CE, covering the end of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE). It is regard ...

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

Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms ''Annotated 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 the fall of the Eastern Jin ...

'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Fen Year of birth unknown 270 deaths Eastern Wu imperial princes Suicides in Eastern Wu Family of Sun Quan

Life

See also

References