Sun Shangxiang

Lady Sun
A Qing dynasty illustration of Lady Sun
Born	(Unknown)
Died	(Unknown)
Names
Traditional Chinese	孫夫人
Simplified Chinese	孙夫人
Pinyin	Sūn Fūrén
Wade–Giles	Sun Fu-jen
Other names	see this section

Lady Sun, known as Sun Shangxiang in Chinese opera and contemporary culture, was a noble lady who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. She was a daughter of Sun Jian and Lady Wu, and a younger sister of the warlords Sun Ce and Sun Quan, who founded the state of Eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms period. She was wed to the warlord Liu Bei sometime in 209 as Liu's third wife, supposedly to strengthen an alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan. However, around 211, she returned to Sun Quan's domain when Liu Bei left Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan) and settled in Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing).

Lady Sun was the only daughter of Sun Jian and Lady Wu. She had four brothers who were also born to Lady Wu – Sun Ce, Sun Quan, Sun Yi and Sun Kuang. Her personal name was not recorded in history.

Sometime in 209, Lady Sun married the warlord Liu Bei to strengthen an alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan. The marriage probably took place at Gong'an County because Gong'an County was the provincial capital of Jing Province and Liu Bei was nominally serving as the provincial governor at the time. Lady Sun was known to be wise and shrewd, and tough and fierce in character, very much like her brother Sun Quan. She had more than a hundred female servants, all of whom carried swords and stood guard outside her room. Whenever Liu Bei entered her room, he felt a chill in his heart. Liu Bei was also suspicious and fearful of Lady Sun. Liu Bei's adviser Zhuge Liang once said, "When our lord (Liu Bei) was in Gong'an, he dreaded Cao Cao's influence in the north and feared Sun Quan's presence in the east. Even in home territory he was afraid that Lady Sun would cause trouble."