Sun Liang

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Names
Family name :	Sūn ( 孫 )
First name :	Liàng ( 亮 )
Major Age Name:	Ziming ( 子 明 )
Temple name :	none
Posthumous title :	none
known as:	Prince of Kuaiji ( 會稽王 ) Marquis of Houguan ( 候 官 侯 ) (rare)

Sun Liang (* 243 ; † 260 ), majority name Ziming , was the youngest son of the emperor Sun Quan and the second emperor of the Wu dynasty .

childhood

Sun Liang was born in 243 to Sun Quan and his wife Pan . As the youngest son, he was well looked after by his father, who was very happy to have a son in his old age (61 years). At court, officials ingratiated themselves with his rival older brothers Sun He (the Crown Prince) and Sun Ba . 250 Sun Quan, tired of his sons' quarrel, forced Sun Ba to commit suicide and deposed the Crown Prince. At the urging of his daughter Sun Dahu, who had already intrigued against Sun He and his mother, he installed Sun Liang as the new crown prince. Sun Dahu married her younger brother to a great niece of her husband Quan Cong, who would later become Empress Quan . In 251, Sun Quan made the Crown Prince's mother, Mrs. Pan, empress.

In 252, Crown Prince Sun Liang lost both parents in quick succession. His mother was murdered in unexplained circumstances earlier in the year, later Sun Quan died at the age of 70, and Sun Liang ascended the throne.

Domination

Zhuge Kes reign

Before his death, Sun Quan had appointed Zhuge Jin's son, Zhuge Ke, ruler of the Crown Prince with the approval of his confidante Sun Jun (a great-grandson of Sun Jian's brother Sun Jing ). The people also greatly admired Zhuge Ke, who was already known for his military and diplomatic skills - he had subjugated the people of the Yue . Sun Quan's only concerns - Zhuge Ke's arrogance and overconfidence - turned out to be prophetic.

When he learned of the death of Sun Quan, the regent who started Wei Dynasty , Sima Shi , a major invasion against Wu, the Zhuge Ke hit back with heavy losses. This was very beneficial to his reputation. A year later, he set about gathering all of Wu's young men and leading them on a massive campaign against the Wei. This plan was viewed critically by many officials. Although Zhuge Ke had allied himself with Shu Han state after consulting Jiang Wei , the campaign failed because Zhuge Ke attacked He Fei instead of Shouchun, whose strong defense the Wu have long withstood. Despite the hopelessness and the outbreak of epidemics, Zhuge Ke did not break off the siege, so that he was finally forced to withdraw from the Wei troops. He did not return to the capital, Jianye Jianye ( 建業 , now Nanjing , Jiangsu ) for a long time and never apologized for his terrible losses.

When he finally returned to the capital, he cracked down on the opposition with a hard hand. When he was planning a second campaign against the Wei, Sun Jun decided to get rid of him. He accused him of treason in front of Sun Liang and set up a trap for him at a feast. The Zhuge family was eliminated from Wu.

Sun Jun's reign

After Sun Jun killed Zhuge Ke, he quickly took further steps to consolidate his power. Right at the beginning, he apparently shared power with Prime Minister Teng Yin, but his military powers soon made him a worse dictator than Sun Jun. In particular, he wrongly accused former Crown Prince Sun He of conspiracy with Zhuge Ke and forced him to act Suicide. His autocratic actions conjured up a conspiracy between Sun Ying, the Marquis of Wu (son of Sun Deng ), and officer Huan Lu, but Teng Yin found out about it and had them both executed.

When the Wuqiu Jian and Wen Qin uprisings shook the Wei empire in 255 , Sun Jun's Wu forces attacked, but withdrew quickly after Sima Shi put down the uprising. In the same year, another conspiracy was exposed against Sun Jun, who executed many officers and Sun Quan's daughter, Sun Xiaohu.

In 256, at Wen Yin Qin's urging, Sun Jun was planning another campaign against the Wei when he suddenly fell ill and appointed his cousin Sun Lin to succeed him. He died soon after.

Sun Lin's reign

Sun Jun's death caused a major confrontation. General Lu Ju, who would have led the troops against Wei, was dissatisfied with the succession arrangement in favor of Sun Lin because he had not yet distinguished himself in any way. Lu Ju publicly appointed Teng Yin as regent, who gladly agreed. Sun Lin fought back militarily, defeating Teng Yin and Lu Ju. Teng and his clan were executed while Lu committed suicide. This success made Sun Lin very arrogant.

In 257, Sun Liang personally took over some state affairs. He set up an imperial bodyguard, made up of young men his own age, to grow up with. He also often questioned Sun Lin's decisions. Gradually, Sun Lin became concerned.

Later that year, Wei general Zhuge Dan started a riot to prevent an alleged usurpation of Sima Zhao . He turned to Wu for help, but only a small force under Wen Qin came to his aid while Sun Lin camped near the besieged city without any assistance to Zhuge Dan. When Sun Lin asked his general Zhu Yi for relief for the exhausted and hungry troops instead, he refused and was executed by Sun Lin. As a result, Sun incurred the wrath of the army, which had admired Zhu Yi's skill and integrity. Sun Lin watched while Zhuge Dan's rebellion was put down and Wen Qin was captured by Wei.

Deposition

Sun Lin knew the people and the young emperor were angry with him and did not return to Jianye, which he had his confidants occupy. Sun Liang's anger grew and he and his aunt Sun Dahu, General Liu Cheng, stepfather Quan Shang, and stepbrother Quan Ji planned an overthrow. Sun Lin quickly captured Quan Shang and killed Liu Cheng, then surrounded the palace and forced the officers to remove Sun Liang. He lied to her that the emperor was insane. Sun Liang was demoted to Prince of Kuaiji.

After the deposition

Sun Lin proclaimed Sun Liang's older brother, Sun Xiu , the prince of Langye, as emperor. A few months later, this Sun Lin set a trap, had him captured and killed. Because he feared voices that might demand Sun Liang's return to the throne, he demoted him to Marquis of Houguan and sent him his Mark Houguan, then a desolate wilderness.

Sun Liang died on the way. Most historians assume suicide, but another theory is that Sun Xiu poisoned him.

Era names

• Jiànxīng ( 建興 ) 252-253
• Wǔfèng ( 五鳳 ) 254-256
• Taìpíng ( 太平 ) 256-258

family

• Father: Sun Quan
• Mother: Empress Pan
• Wife: Empress Quan

Web links

• Family tree of the Sun family (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Sun Quan	Emperor of China 252–258	Sun Xiu