Sun Xiu

Historical Record

Sun Xiu, styled Yancai, was a member of the Eastern Wu imperial clan, his father being Sun Tai. In the third year of Jiahe (234 CE), Sun Tai followed Sun Quan in the siege of Hefei New City and was unfortunately struck dead by a stray arrow^[1]. Sun Xiu inherited his father's military talent and standing, rising to General of the Vanguard and Supervisor of Xiakou, charged with garrisoning the strategic post of Xiakou and holding command of heavy troops^[1].

As a close kinsman of the imperial house, Sun Xiu's standing and power aroused the suspicion of Sun Hao, the last emperor of Wu. Sun Hao was suspicious by nature and harbored misgivings toward clansmen who held military command in the provinces^[1]. In the second year of Jianheng (270 CE), Sun Hao sent He Ding with five thousand men to hunt at Xiakou. Before this, rumor had already spread among the people that Sun Xiu might meet with misfortune. He Ding's distant hunting expedition heightened Sun Xiu's alarm. Sun Xiu concluded that Sun Hao meant to move against him, and that very night fled in panic with his wife and children and several hundred personal troops to defect to Jin^[1].

After defecting to Jin, Sun Xiu was treated generously. Emperor Wu of Jin, Sima Yan, appointed him General of Agile Cavalry with ceremonial rank equal to the Three Excellencies, and enfeoffed him as Duke of Kuaiji^[1]. According to the Jin Zhugong Zan, after Wu was pacified, Sun Xiu's office was adjusted and reduced to General Who Quells the Waves, though he still enjoyed the privilege of opening his own office. In the Yongning era, Sun Xiu died and was posthumously granted the titles of General of Agile Cavalry and the privilege of opening his own office^[1]. His son Sun Jian, styled Zhongjie, rose to Attendant Gentleman.

While in Jin, Sun Xiu once showed complex feelings toward his former homeland. When he learned of Sun Hao's surrender, the ministers all offered congratulations, but Sun Xiu alone pleaded illness and did not take part; instead he faced south and wept, sighing: "In bygone days the General Who Chastises the Rebellious, as a youth, founded the enterprise with a single colonel's command; now the latter sovereign has cast away the whole of the Southland—the ancestral temples and imperial tombs are hereby reduced to ruins. O distant blue heaven, what manner of man is this!" The court therefore praised his loyal and dutiful sentiment^[1].

In the Novel

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Sun Xiu's image is concentrated mainly at the time of Wu's fall, and his defection to Jin broadly accords with the historical record, though with a different emphasis. The novel does not detail the specific reasons and process of Sun Xiu's defection to Jin, but presents him directly as a member of the Jin court^[2].

In Chapter 120 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, when the Jin army had destroyed Eastern Wu and Wang Jun submitted a memorial of victory, and the ruler and ministers of the court all rejoiced, Sun Xiu, as General of Agile Cavalry, drew particular notice for his conduct^[2]. After leaving the court, he faced south and wept bitterly, giving voice to a lament much like that in the histories: "In bygone days, in the prime of the General Who Chastises the Rebellious, with a single colonel's command he founded the enterprise; now Sun Hao has cast away the whole of the Southland—O distant blue heaven, what manner of man is this!"^[2] This scene is rendered more dramatically in the novel, highlighting Sun Xiu's grief and helplessness as a member of the Sun clan at the fall of Wu, and his strong reproach of Sun Hao's fatuity and incompetence. Compared with the histories, the novel emphasizes Sun Xiu's "loyalty and duty" and "tragic feeling," making his image more affecting and, indirectly, criticizing Sun Hao's want of virtue.

Key Relationships

* Sun Tai (parent_of): Sun Xiu's father, struck dead by a stray arrow during the siege of New City^[1].
* The Sima clan (defected_to): Fearing Sun Hao's suspicion, Sun Xiu fled to Jin with his household and personal troops, where he was given high office by Emperor Wu of Jin, Sima Yan, and enfeoffed as General of Agile Cavalry, with ceremonial rank equal to the Three Excellencies, and Duke of Kuaiji^[1].
* Sun Hao (clan kinship, and also the cause of his defection to Jin): Sun Hao's suspicion of Sun Xiu was the direct cause of Sun Xiu's defection to Jin^[1].

Iconic Scenes

* The Alarmed Flight from Xiakou: Owing to Sun Hao's suspicion, compounded by popular rumor and He Ding's leading of troops to hunt at Xiakou, Sun Xiu felt deeply uneasy and fled to Jin by night with his wife and several hundred personal troops^[1]. This was a major turning point in Sun Xiu's life, marking his complete break with the Eastern Wu regime.
* Facing South and Weeping: When Jin learned of Eastern Wu's fall, the ministers all offered congratulations, but Sun Xiu alone pleaded illness and did not take part; instead he faced south and wept bitterly, lamenting the collapse of the Sun clan's enterprise and Sun Hao's incompetence^[1]. This scene is also vividly portrayed in Romance of the Three Kingdoms^[2], becoming the most representative moment in Sun Xiu's characterization, displaying his complex feelings toward his former homeland and his sentiment as a member of the imperial clan.