Sun Ren, Sun Shangxiang

20318

2020

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Lady Sun, also known as Sun Shangxiang, was a fictional character in the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. She was the daughter of Sun Jian, a warlord who laid the foundation for the Kingdom of Wu, and Lady Wu. Her brothers were Sun Ce and Sun Quan, who became the rulers of Wu.

In the novel, Lady Sun is portrayed as a skilled martial artist and a strong-willed woman. To forge an alliance between Wu and Shu, she was strategically married to Liu Bei, a much older and established warlord, after the Battle of Red Cliffs. Her marriage was largely political, designed to keep Liu Bei in Wu's sphere of influence.

The novel depicts her as fiercely independent and distrustful of Liu Bei's men. She surrounded herself with female warriors and maintained a constant state of readiness for betrayal. Eventually, she returned to Wu, upon hearing false rumors of Liu Bei's death, taking Liu Bei's son, Liu Shan, with her. She is said to have drowned herself in the Yangtze River after hearing of Liu Bei's actual death at the Battle of Yiling.

While Lady Sun is a prominent figure in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, her historical existence is debated. A daughter of Sun Jian married Liu Bei, but historical records provide very little information about her personality or her role in politics.