Sun Chen

Historical Record

Sun Chen, styled Zitong, had a father, Sun Chuo, who once served as Commandant Who Pacifies the People. Sun Chen at first served as Lieutenant General; after his cousin Sun Jun died, he was appointed Palace Attendant and General of Martial Guard, taking charge of all military affairs within and without and exercising the chief power of government ^c:1461. When Lü Ju learned that Sun Chen had taken hold of power, he was deeply uneasy, and together with other commanding generals jointly recommended Teng Yin as Chancellor. On the surface, Sun Chen appointed Teng Yin as Grand Marshal to replace Lü Dai in guarding Wuchang, but in fact he harbored murderous intent. Lü Ju led his troops back and sent word to Teng Yin, intending to jointly depose Sun Chen. When Sun Chen perceived this, he immediately dispatched his cousin Sun Lü to lead troops to intercept Lü Ju at Jiangdu, and ordered the palace envoy to command Wen Qin, Liu Zuan, Tang Zi, and others to join forces in attacking Lü Ju. At the same time, Sun Chen sent the Palace Attendant and General of the Left, Hua Rong, and the Secretariat Assistant, Ding Yan, to inform Teng Yin, urging him to depart quickly and explaining that action would be taken against Lü Ju. Knowing that disaster was upon him, Teng Yin detained Hua Rong and Ding Yan, gathered the army supervisor Yang Chong and the general Sun Zi, declared that Sun Chen was making a rebellion, and forced Hua Rong and the others to write letters denouncing Sun Chen. Sun Chen paid this no heed, but instead memorialized falsely accusing Teng Yin of plotting rebellion, and lured the general Liu Cheng with rank and fief, ordering him to lead troops to attack Teng Yin urgently. Teng Yin again coerced Hua Rong and the others into forging an edict to mobilize troops; when Hua Rong and the others refused, Teng Yin killed them all ^c:1461.

Although Teng Yin's countenance did not change and he talked and laughed as usual, the relief force he hoped for from Lü Ju did not arrive. Sun Chen's army gathered in great numbers and finally beheaded Teng Yin and several dozen of his officers and men, exterminating Teng Yin's three branches of kin ^c:1461. After this, Sun Chen was promoted to Grand General, granted the staff of authority, and enfeoffed as Marquis of Yongning; he thus became arrogant on account of his honored position and committed many improprieties ^c:1462. Sun Jun's cousin Sun Lü had once schemed together with Zhuge Ke; Sun Jun had valued him highly and made him rise to General of the Right and Commander of the Invincibles. However, Sun Chen treated Sun Lü far worse than Sun Jun had, and Sun Lü, harboring resentment, plotted with the general Wang Dun to assassinate Sun Chen. When the matter leaked, Sun Chen killed Wang Dun, and Sun Lü took poison and killed himself ^c:1462.

Seeing that Sun Liang had begun to attend to government in person and often questioned him, Sun Chen was greatly afraid. After returning to Jianye, he claimed illness and did not attend court, and built a residence south of Zhuque Bridge. He had his younger brother, General Who Subdues Distant Regions Sun Ju, enter Canglong as palace guard, and had his younger brothers—General of Martial Guard Sun En, Lieutenant General Sun Gan, and Colonel of the Long Waters Sun Kai—garrison the various camps separately, intending thereby to monopolize the government and consolidate his own power. Sun Liang harbored discontent with Sun Chen, and so he investigated the circumstances of the killing of Lu Yu, blamed the Hulin commander Zhu Xiong and Zhu Xiong's younger brother, the External Commander Zhu Sun, for failing to set Sun Jun right, and thereupon ordered Ding Feng to kill Zhu Xiong at Hulin and Zhu Sun at Jianye. Sun Chen entered the palace to remonstrate, but Sun Liang did not heed him. Sun Liang then plotted with Princess Luban, the Grand Master of Ceremonies Quan Shang, and the general Liu Cheng to execute Sun Chen. However, Sun Liang's consort was the daughter of Sun Chen's elder cousin, and she informed Sun Chen of the matter. On hearing of it, Sun Chen led troops by night to attack Quan Shang, sent his younger brother Sun En to kill Liu Cheng outside the Canglong Gate, and then surrounded the palace ^c:1463.

After deposing Sun Liang, Sun Chen assembled the assembled officials to deliberate, declaring that the boy ruler Sun Liang was foolish and disordered by illness and unfit to occupy the great position and inherit the ancestral temple. The assembled officials were all terrified and declared that they obeyed only the general's command ^c:1463. Sun Chen sent the Secretariat Gentleman Li Chong to seize Sun Liang's seal and cords, and proclaimed Sun Liang's crimes to the realm. The Master of Writing Huan Yi would not sign, and Sun Chen, greatly enraged, killed him ^c:1463. The army supervisor Shi Zheng advised Sun Chen to welcome and install the Prince of Langya, Sun Xiu, and Sun Chen adopted his advice ^c:1464. Sun Chen personally bore ox and wine to pay his respects to Sun Xiu, but Sun Xiu would not accept, so Sun Chen sent the ox and wine to the residence of the General of the Left, Zhang Bu. When the wine had flowed freely, Sun Chen voiced complaints, saying that when he deposed the young ruler, many had urged him to set himself up as emperor, but that he had welcomed and installed Sun Xiu because of his worthiness. He held that Sun Xiu could not have ascended but for him, yet now treated him so coldly, no differently from an ordinary subject, and that he would make other plans ^c:10115. Zhang Bu reported these words to Sun Xiu, and Sun Xiu thereupon harbored resentment against Sun Chen. To lull Sun Chen, Sun Xiu repeatedly added rewards, further enfeoffed him as Palace Attendant, and handled documents jointly with Sun Chen. When someone informed against Sun Chen for harboring resentment and intending to rebel, Sun Xiu handed the informant over to Sun Chen to deal with, and Sun Chen killed him. Sun Chen thus became more fearful, and through Meng Zong requested to go out and garrison Wuchang; Sun Xiu consented, and ordered that all of the more than ten thousand elite troops of the Central Camp under his command be loaded up, and all the weapons of the arsenal be supplied as well ^c:10115.

The general Wei Miao advised Sun Xiu, saying that Sun Chen, once outside, would surely cause trouble. The martial guard officer Shi Shuo also informed against Sun Chen for signs of plotting rebellion. Sun Xiu secretly consulted Zhang Bu, and Zhang Bu plotted with Ding Feng to do away with Sun Chen at the La festival assembly ^c:10115. On the dingmao day of the twelfth month of the first year of Yong'an, there were rumors in Jianye that there would be an incident at the La assembly, and Sun Chen was displeased to hear of it. At night a great wind sprang up, uprooting trees and raising sand, and Sun Chen grew all the more afraid. At the La assembly on the wuchen day, Sun Chen claimed illness and did not attend, but Sun Xiu forcibly compelled him to come, sending envoys back and forth more than ten times. Sun Chen had no choice but to go, though his followers tried to dissuade him. Sun Chen said: "The state summons me repeatedly; I cannot decline. We may prepare troops in advance and have a fire set within the residence, so that I may use it as a pretext to return quickly." He then entered the palace, and before long a fire indeed broke out within the residence. Sun Chen asked to go out, but Sun Xiu said: "There are plenty of troops outside—there is no need to trouble the Chancellor." Sun Chen rose from his seat, and Ding Feng and Zhang Bu signaled their attendants to bind him. Sun Chen knocked his head on the ground and begged to be banished to Jiaozhou; Sun Xiu retorted: "Why did you not banish Teng Yin and Lü Ju?" Sun Chen then begged to be made a government slave; Sun Xiu again retorted: "Why did you not demote Teng Yin and Lü Ju to slaves?" He then had him beheaded. Sun Xiu displayed Sun Chen's head to the assembly, pardoned all who had conspired with Sun Chen, and five thousand laid down their arms. Sun Kai took a boat intending to flee north and surrender, but was hunted down and killed. Sun Chen's three branches of kin were exterminated. Sun Jun's coffin was dug up, his seal and cords taken away, and his coffin burned and then buried, in retaliation for the crime of killing Lu Yu and others ^c:1465.

In the Novel

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Sun Chen's image largely accords with the historical record, but his entrance and some episodes are depicted more dramatically. In the novel, after the death of the Eastern Wu Chancellor Sun Jun, Sun Chen, as his cousin, assists in governing the court ^c:1466. The novel emphasizes that he was violent by nature, and directly states that he killed the Grand Marshal Teng Yin, the generals Lü Ju, Wang Dun, and others, so that all power fell to him ^c:1466. The Wu ruler Sun Liang, though intelligent, was helpless—a contrast with the histories' record of Sun Liang's wariness of Sun Chen and his eventual scheming, with the novel magnifying Sun Liang's sense of powerlessness. In the novel, when Zhuge Dan raised troops against Wei at Shouchun, he sent Wu Gang to bring his son Zhuge Jing to Stone City to seek aid from Sun Chen. Sun Chen asked the reason, and Wu Gang falsely claimed that Zhuge Dan was a clansman-cousin of the Martial Marquis Zhuge, who had raised troops out of resentment at Sima Zhao deposing the ruler and usurping power, and had specially sent his son as a hostage to seek aid. Believing his words, Sun Chen dispatched the great generals Quan Yi and Quan Duan as chief commanders, Yu Quan as rear guard, Zhu Yi and Tang Zi as vanguard, and Wen Qin as guide, leading a great army of seventy thousand in three columns to go to the support of Zhuge Dan ^c:1466. This episode has no clear record in the histories; it is a literary creation of the novel to enrich the background of Zhuge Dan's revolt against Wei and Sun Chen's military action. Through this event, the novel further depicts Sun Chen's image as a powerful minister and his authority over external military action.

Key Relationships

* Sun Jun (kin_of): Sun Chen was Sun Jun's cousin, and after Sun Jun's death he succeeded to his power, becoming the actual controller of Eastern Wu ^c:1461.
* Eastern Wu (serves): Sun Chen was nominally a subject of Sun-Wu, assisting the Wu rulers Sun Liang and Sun Xiu, but in fact he monopolized the government and hollowed out the sovereign ^c:1461.
* Teng Yin (enemy_of): There was a fierce power struggle between Sun Chen and Teng Yin. Teng Yin was recommended by Lü Ju as Chancellor and intended to jointly depose Sun Chen, but was finally killed by Sun Chen's design and had his three branches of kin exterminated ^c:1461.
* Lü Ju (enemy_of): Lü Ju, fearful of Sun Chen's hold on power, plotted with Teng Yin to depose Sun Chen, but in the end failed and was intercepted by Sun Chen's troops ^c:1461.
* Wang Dun (enemy_of): Wang Dun plotted with Sun Chen's cousin Sun Lü to assassinate Sun Chen, and when the matter leaked he was killed by Sun Chen ^c:1462.
* Sun Liang (enemy_of): Sun Liang was discontented with Sun Chen's monopoly of power and once plotted with Princess Luban, Quan Shang, and Liu Cheng to execute Sun Chen, but because the matter leaked he was instead deposed by Sun Chen ^c:1463.
* Sun Xiu (enemy_of): Sun Xiu was installed as emperor by Sun Chen, but harbored discontent at Sun Chen's arrogance and complaints, and finally plotted with Zhang Bu and Ding Feng to behead Sun Chen at the La assembly ^c:10115.
* Zhuge Dan (ally_of, novel only): In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Sun Chen once sent seventy thousand troops to support Zhuge Dan's revolt against Wei at Shouchun ^c:1466.

Signature Scenes

* Deposing Teng Yin and Lü Ju: After Sun Jun's death, Sun Chen took power, and Lü Ju and Teng Yin plotted to depose him. With thunderous methods, Sun Chen first feigned to reassure Teng Yin, then swiftly sent forth troops, beheading Teng Yin and several dozen of his officers and men and exterminating his three branches of kin, consolidating his own power ^c:1461. This event fully displays Sun Chen's ferocity and cunning, and was an important step on his road to monopolizing power.
* Deposing Sun Liang: Sun Liang attempted to ally with Princess Luban, Quan Shang, Liu Cheng, and others to execute Sun Chen, but failed because his consort informed against him. On hearing of it, Sun Chen led troops by night to surround the palace, deposed Sun Liang, and assembled the officials, forcing them to consent to deposing the emperor, and killed the Master of Writing Huan Yi, who refused to sign ^c:1463. This scene reflects the peak of Sun Chen's power and exposes his cruel character and contempt for imperial authority.
* Executed at the La assembly: After installing Sun Xiu, Sun Chen, because of his complaints and arrogance, aroused Sun Xiu's wariness. Sun Xiu plotted with Zhang Bu and Ding Feng to lay an ambush at the La assembly. Although Sun Chen had misgivings, he was finally forced into the palace by Sun Xiu. At the banquet, Sun Chen was bound by Ding Feng and Zhang Bu; Sun Xiu questioned him to his face about his crimes and had him beheaded, exterminating his three branches of kin ^c:1465. This scene was the end of Sun Chen's political career, and a signature event in which his ferocious character finally brought about his own destruction.
* Supporting Zhuge Dan (novel only): In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, to support Zhuge Dan's revolt against Wei, Sun Chen dispatched an army of seventy thousand to campaign. Although fictional, this episode displays Sun Chen's ability, as the actual power-holder of Eastern Wu, to mobilize a vast military force to take part in an external war, and indirectly reflects the power and influence with which the novel shapes him ^c:1466.