Sun Fen

Sun Fen (before 235^[1] - 270), courtesy name Ziyang, was an imperial prince of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the fifth son of Sun Quan, the founding emperor of Eastern Wu.

Sun Fen 孫奮
Marquis of Zhang'an (章安侯)
Tenure	August or September 258–270
Prince of Qi (齊王)
Tenure	January or February 252 – 253
Born	between 224 and 235
Died	270
Spouse	Lady Yuan
Issue	five sons
Names Family name: Sun (孫) Given name: Fen (奮) Courtesy name: Ziyang (子揚)
House	House of Sun
Father	Sun Quan
Mother	Consort Zhong

In this Chinese name, the family name is Sun.

Life

Sun Fen was the fifth son of Sun Quan, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty and became the founding emperor of the Eastern Wu state in the Three Kingdoms period. His mother was Consort Zhong (仲姬), a concubine of Sun Quan.^[2] 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, Hubei).^[3][4]

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, Jiangxi). However, Sun Fen turned furious when he heard about it and refused to move out of Wuchang.^[5] 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.^[6]

Sun Fen became fearful after reading Zhuge Ke's letter so he meekly obliged and moved to Nanchang, 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, Anhui) and wanted to enter the imperial capital, Jianye (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu), 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.^[7] 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). However, in August or September 258,^[8] 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).^[9][10]

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, 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.^[11][12][13]

See also

• Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms
• Eastern Wu family trees

References

1. While Sun Fen's birth year was not recorded, he was older than Sun Xiu (who was born in 235) and younger than Sun He (who was born in 224)
2. (孫奮字子揚，霸弟也，母曰仲姬。) Sanguozhi vol. 59.
3. ([太元]二年春正月， ... 子奮為齊王，居武昌； ...) Sanguozhi vol. 47.
4. (太元二年，立為齊王，居武昌。) Sanguozhi vol. 59.
5. (權薨，太傅諸葛恪不欲諸王處江濵兵馬之地，徙奮於豫章。奮怒，不從命，又數越法度。) Sanguozhi vol. 59.
6. (恪上牋諫曰：「帝王之尊，與天同位， ... 是以不自知言至，願蒙三思。」) Sanguozhi vol. 59.
7. (奮得牋懼，遂移南昌，游獵彌甚，官屬不堪命。及恪誅，奮下住蕪湖，欲至建業觀變。傅相謝慈等諫奮，奮殺之。) Sanguozhi vol. 59.
8. According to Sun Liang's biography in Sanguozhi, Sun Fen was made Marquis of Zhang'an in the 7th month of the 3rd year of the Taiping era. This corresponds to 17 Aug to 14 Sep 258 in the Julian calendar. [(太平三年)秋七月，封故齐王奋为章安侯。] Sanguozhi vol. 48.
9. (坐廢為庶人，徙章安縣。太平三年，封為章安侯。) Sanguozhi vol. 59.
10. (江表傳載亮詔曰：「齊王奮前坐殺吏，廢為庶人，連有赦令，獨不見原，縱未宜復王，何以不侯？又諸孫兄弟作將，列在江渚，孤有兄獨爾云何？」有司奏可，就拜為侯。) Jiang Biao Zhuan annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 59.
11. (建衡二年，孫皓左夫人王氏卒。皓哀念過甚，朝夕哭臨，數月不出，由是民間或謂皓死，訛言奮與上虞侯奉當有立者。奮母仲姬墓在豫章，豫章太守張俊疑其或然，掃除墳塋。皓聞之，車裂俊，夷三族，誅奮及其五子，國除。) Sanguozhi vol. 59.
12. (江表傳曰：豫章吏十人乞代俊死，皓不聽。奮以此見疑，本在章安，徙還吳城禁錮，使男女不得通婚，或年三十四十不得嫁娶。奮上表乞自比禽獸，使男女自相配偶。皓大怒，遣察戰齎藥賜奮，奮不受藥，叩頭千下，曰：「老臣自將兒子治生求治，無豫國事，乞丐餘年。」皓不聽，父子皆飲藥死。) Jiang Biao Zhuan annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 59.
13. (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.

• Chen, Shou (3rd century). Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi).
• Pei, Songzhi (5th century). Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi zhu).