Wu Warrior
Sun Shangxiang, the Lady of the Bow
孫尚香dates unknown; married about 2094 star
In short
Sun Shangxiang is the name later tradition gave to Lady Sun, the younger sister of Sun Quan, who was married to Liu Bei around 209 to seal the alliance of their houses. The history does not record her personal name. It says she was quick and fierce like her brothers, that more than a hundred maids stood guard around her with blades, and that Liu Bei was afraid every time he went in.
| Lived | dates unknown; married about 209 |
|---|---|
| Name in Chinese | 孫尚香 |
| Served | the house of Sun |
The history
She appears in other people’s biographies. In Fa Zheng’s, Zhuge Liang recalls the years in Gong’an, when Liu Bei feared Cao Cao to the north, Sun Quan to the east, and Lady Sun inside his own house. In another passage the history says she had the talent, quickness and fierce temper of her brothers, and that over a hundred serving women stood about her holding blades. Whenever Liu Bei entered her rooms, it says, his heart shook.
The marriage was politics. After Red Cliffs, Liu Bei held the southern half of Jing Province, and Sun Quan, the history says, grew wary of him and offered his sister to make the tie firm. She came with her own officers and soldiers from Wu, who obeyed no law in Liu Bei’s territory. Liu Bei set Zhao Yun, as the steadiest man he had, to manage his household.
Around 211 Liu Bei marched into Yi Province. Sun Quan heard, and sent a fleet to fetch his sister. She meant to carry Liu Bei’s heir, Liu Shan, back to Wu with her. Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei closed the river with their troops and brought the child back.
She went home, and that is the last the history says of her.
The novel
Romance of the Three Kingdoms makes it a love match. Zhou Yu means the wedding as a trap, Zhuge Liang turns it into a real one, and the lady defends her husband from her brother’s officers on the road. Later tradition adds that she drowned herself in the Yangtze on a false report of Liu Bei’s death at Yiling. There is a temple to her on the river, and no evidence.
Sun Shangxiang in the game
In Warlords of the Three Kingdoms Sun Shangxiang is the Lady of the Bow: a 4 star warriorof Wu. The game's line for her: “Sun Quan's sister, whose hundred armed maids made her husband Liu Bei nervous in his own chambers.”
| Kingdom | Wu |
|---|---|
| Role | Warrior |
| Rarity | 4 star |
| Base attack and defense | 23 and 20 |
| Where from | Sold in the Merit Shop for 500 Merit, the currency the weekly Kingdom War pays. |
A warlord sworn to Wu fields her 10% stronger, as every General of their own Kingdom. Wei, Shu or Wu has what the choice changes.
Four star is where she starts. Duplicates become shards, shards add stars, and each star adds a tenth to both numbers.
Questions
Was Sun Shangxiang her real name?
No one knows her name. The histories call her Lady Sun. The novel names her Sun Ren, and Sun Shangxiang comes from later opera. It is the name that stuck.
Did Sun Shangxiang really marry Liu Bei?
Yes. Sun Quan gave his sister to Liu Bei around 209, after Red Cliffs, when Liu Bei held southern Jing Province. Liu Bei was nearly fifty. Her age is not recorded.
What happened to Lady Sun?
When Liu Bei went west around 211, Sun Quan sent ships to bring her home. She tried to take Liu Bei's son Liu Shan with her, and Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei stopped the boats on the river and took the boy back. After that the record is silent.
How do you get Sun Shangxiang in Warlords of the Three Kingdoms?
Sold in the Merit Shop for 500 Merit, the currency the weekly Kingdom War pays.
Sources
The history follows Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms, written in the third century, with Pei Songzhi's annotations of the fifth, and Fan Ye's Book of the Later Han for the years before the Han court fell apart. What the page calls the novel is Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, of the fourteenth century. Where the two disagree, the page says which is speaking. For more on her, see Sun Shangxiang on Wikipedia.
Written by Gitkonek Studio, .
Keep reading
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- Sun Ce, the Little ConquerorHe crossed the Yangtze with a few thousand men, took Jiangdong in five years, and died at twenty-five.
- Zhou Yu, the Handsome CommanderHe was thirty-three when he burned Cao Cao's fleet at Red Cliffs, and could hear a wrong note across a banquet hall.
- Gan Ning, the Belled RaiderA river pirate whose men wore bells, he raided Cao Cao's camp at Ruxu with a hundred riders and lost none.
- Sun Quan, the Green-Eyed LordHe inherited Jiangdong at eighteen and held it for fifty-two years against every rival who tried.