Younger sister of Eastern Wu (东吴）Kingdom rulers, Sun Ce （孙策） and Sun Quan （孫權）, she was born around 189 A.D. in Fuchun, Wu county (modern Fuyang county, Zhejiang province). Her father, Sun Jian （孙坚）, said to be descendant of the outstanding military strategist in Spring and Autumn Period, Sun Wu （孙武）, author of world famous book The Art of War. Her mother was very strong woman, who had very clear mindset and always advised her younger son, Sun Quan, although did not interfere in the court affairs too much. Sun Quan later built for her memory Bao’en Temple (报恩寺），oldest remaining temple in Suzhou (Wu City at that time), now more by name of Beisi or North Temple Pagoda 北寺塔.

After Liu Bei (刘备），future ruler of Shu (属）Kingdom captured Jingzhou and Cao Cao invasion threat was coming from the North, Sun Quan was seeking to establish strong alliance with Liu Bei forces, and therefore proposed political marriage to widowed Liu Bei, despite the fact, that his sister was 30 years younger than her groom. In 209 Liu Bei married Lady Sun.

As Romance of the Three Kingdoms depicts this episode, Liu Bei was on the edge of death, if Lady Sun would not accept him. Luckily, she took pity of him and her family， and agreed to this marriage. However, in history that probably was not the case. Newertheless, this marriage initially was successful and quite harmonious. But later on spouses became estranged. Partly due to the fact of large age difference, partly because Lady Sun was fierce and arrogant, always remembering that she was a sister of Wu rulers. She surrounded herself with armed maidens and Liu Bei felt himself in danger even within his own household, entering his wife’s bedroom.
In 215 A.D., shortly after Liu Bei captured Yizhou, there arose dispute between him and Sun Quan, which made clear, that this alliance will sooner or later fall apart. Therefore Lady Sun made an attempt to move back to her brother’s camp, taking Liu Bei’s son as hostage, in order to force Liu Bei to agree at her brother’s terms. But Zhang Fei and his officers discovered her plan and she was forced to leave alone. After return to Wu Kingdom, her fate remains unknown.

But there are many places nowadays, where her name is commemorated. The Embroidery Forest or Xiulin Mount （绣林山）, north of Shishou (石首）city, Hubei (湖北）Province, is where Liu Bei married Madam Sun. It was named so because Lady Sun thought the forest looks like sheets of beautiful silk. Embroidery Forest Pavillion has been built there. “It is said that in the first month of the 15th year of Jian’an in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 209), Liu Bei went to Eastern Wu to marry Lady Sun and returned to Jingzhou. Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮）and Guan Yu （关羽）met in Yangqishan, Shishou. Zhuge Liang ordered the soldiers to hang up the Sichuan brocade from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain. He also sent 1000 generals to wear red and green, and 200 women in colourful dresses to welcome them with palace lamps. The people around also came to celebrate with colorful flags and brocades. The mountains became a colorful world. Liu Bei and Lady Sun exclaimed: “It’s so beautiful!” Later, people changed the name of Yangqi mountain to Xiulin mountain and changed the name of the county to Xiulin （绣林）. In the past, there were many places of interest, many famous people came to appreciate them. Huang Tingjian of Song Dynasty had left the poem “Ten sceneries of Yongxiulin”. Now it has been turned into Xiulin Park, with Xiulin Pavilion on the top of the mountain, statue of Lady Sun, and memorial temple of three brothers Liu, Guan and Zhang Sanyi (三义寺）on the hillside. Another 3 km east of Shishou county there is Watching For Husband Mount, where she was waiting for Liu Bei returning from military campaigns on the Golden Rock Stand.

Supposedly, she was buried near the river Daoji, where Favourite Madam Temple has been built in her memory.

In modern culture, Lady Sun is one of the first female playable characters to make a debut in Koei’s Dynasty Warriors video game series. She also appears in Warriors Orochi, a crossover between Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors. In Koei’s Kessen 2 she is named “Sun Li” and is one of Liu Bei’s many love interests. Chinese actress Zhao Wei portrayed Sun Shangxiang in the 2008 Chinese epic war film Red Cliff directed by John Woo. In the first part, she and her all-female bodyguards lured Cao Cao’s troops into an ambush. In the second part, she infiltrates Cao Cao’s camp and draws a map of the enemy formation. In 2010 TV Series Three Kingdoms Sun Ren is played by Taiwanese actress Lin Xin Ru 林心 如 Lady Sun is referenced in the game and anime series Koihime Musō in which she is named “Sonshōkō” (or “Shaoren”). Lady Sun was portrayed by Pets Tseng in the 2009 Taiwanese idol drama series K.O.3an Guo, which spoofs Romance of the Three Kingdoms in a present-day high school setting.

Helena Avdjukevica