Zhu (Sun Xiu)

Empress Zhu (朱 皇后, birth name unknown; † 265 ), formally Empress Jing (景 皇后), was an empress of the Wu Dynasty at the time of the Three Kingdoms . Her husband was Sun Xiu (Emperor Jing), the third emperor of the Wu dynasty.

Family background and marriage to Sun Xiu

Sun Quan 182-252

Wang

Zhu Ju 194-250

Sun Xiaohu † 255

Sun Xiu 235-264

Zhu † 265

Sun Wan † 265

Sun Gong † 265

Sun Mang

Sun Bao

The future Empress Zhu was the daughter of Zhu Ju (朱 據) and Sun Xiaohu (孫小虎), a daughter of Sun Quan . Although Ms. Zhu was Sun Xiu's niece, Sun Quan married the two 250. In the same year, she lost her father, who was exiled to Xindu (新都, in today's Hangzhou , Zhejiang ) because he had asked Sun Quan to be his crown prince Dropping Sun He off. Zhu Ju was murdered on the way into exile. After Sun Xiu was named Prince of Liangye in 252 , Ms. Zhu became a princess. She accompanied him on his fiefdom, first to Hulin (虎林, in today's Chizhou , Anhui ), then to Danyang (丹陽, in today's Xuancheng , Anhui) and finally to Kuaiji (會稽, in today's Shaoxing , Zhejiang).

In 255, Princess Zhu also lost her mother. Sun Dahu (孫大虎) made the regent Sun Jun believe that Princess Xiaohu had planned an assassination attempt on him. Princess Xiaohu was executed. Sun Xiu got scared and sent his wife back to the capital Jianye (建業, now Nanjing , Jiangsu ) and offered to part with her, but Sun Jun refused and sent Princess Zhu back to Sun Xiu.

As empress

After Emperor Liang's attempt to overthrow the new regent Sun Lin failed, Sun Lin deposed the emperor and put Sun Xiu on the throne in his place. However, despite the urging of his officials, he did not make his wife empress until 262, and in the same year he appointed his son Sun Wan crown prince. It is not clear whether Empress Zhu gave birth to any of Sun Xiu's four sons.

Sun Xiu died in 264 and entrusted his crown prince to Prime Minister Puyang Xing (濮陽 興). However, he consulted with senior official Zhang Bu (張 布) about the destruction of the Shu Han the year before, and they agreed that the people needed a grown-up emperor. (How old Prince Wan was at the time is not known, but Sun Xiu died at the age of 29, so Sun Wan could hardly have been over ten years old.) At the suggestion of General Wan Yu (萬 彧), the was friends with Sun Hao (the son of Crown Prince Sun He and Marquis of Wucheng ), they elected him to succeed him. When they reported this to the Dowager Empress Zhu, she is said to have said:

“I'm just a widow. What do I know about important state affairs? As long as the empire is not harmed and the emperors are properly venerated, I am satisfied. "

Under Sun Hao

Puyang and Zhang then proclaimed Sun Hao Emperor of Wu, which turned out to be a fatal contest. He had Puyang and Zhang arrested and executed when they were dissatisfied with his government. In the year of his accession he degraded the Empress Dowager Zhu to Empress Jing and appointed his mother concubine He to Empress Dowager . In 265, Sun Hao forced Empress Jing to commit suicide and killed Sun Xius' two eldest sons (former Crown Prince Sun Wan and Prince Sun Gong of Ru'nan ). Empress Jing received an inappropriate burial but was buried with her husband, Sun Xiu.

predecessor	Office	successor
Quan	Empress of the Wu Dynasty 262–264	Teng