Sun Chen 孫綝

Sun Chen, courtesy name Zitong, shared a grandfather with Sun Jun. His father Sun Zhuo was Commandant Who Pacifies the People (anmin duwei), and according to the biographies of the ruling house, Sun Zhuo was a grandson of Sun Jing, the youngest brother of Sun Jian. Sun Chen was at first a Lieutenant General (pian jiangjun), and when Sun Jun died in the 9th month of the 1st year of Taiping (256) and entrusted affairs to him, he became Palace Attendant and General of the Martial Guard (wuwei jiangjun), took command of all the forces inside and outside the capital, and ran the government. Records, Wu 19 §79 · 77Records, Wu 6 §2 · 4Records, Wu 3 §12

Lü Ju, who was out on campaign, was greatly alarmed and, jointly with the various area commanders, recommended Teng Yin as Chancellor, but Sun Chen made Teng Yin Grand Marshal and placed him at Wuchang. When Lü Ju turned his army back intending to depose Sun Chen together with Teng Yin, Sun Chen had his elder cousin Sun Lü go out to attack Lü Ju and also issued orders to Wen Qin, Tang Zi and others. When Teng Yin put his troops in order to defend himself, Sun Chen memorialized that he had rebelled and, promising the general Liu Cheng a noble title, had him surround Teng Yin. Lü Ju had not come by dawn, so Teng Yin died and his three sets of kin were exterminated, and Lü Ju too was captured at Xinzhou. Records, Wu 19 §79–82Records, Wu 3 §14

Sun Chen was promoted to General-in-Chief, granted the Credential and enfeoffed as a marquis; Sun Chen's biography gives the title as Marquis of Yongning, the biographies of the Three Successor Rulers as Marquis of Yongkang. Relying on his exalted position, he was haughty and often behaved without courtesy. When Sun Lü, whom Sun Chen treated coldly, plotted with the general Wang Dun to kill him, Sun Chen killed Wang Dun, and Sun Lü took poison and died. Records, Wu 19 §83Records, Wu 3 §14

In the 2nd year of Ganlu (257), when Zhuge Dan of Wei rebelled holding Shouchun and asked to surrender, Wu sent thirty thousand men under Wen Qin, Tang Zi, Quan Duan and others. When Zhu Yi at Anfeng was defeated by Zhou Tai of Wei, Sun Chen went out to encamp at Huoli and gave Zhu Yi fifty thousand men to attack again, but Zhu Yi was defeated once more and even had his provisions burned by Hu Lie. Sun Chen gave Zhu Yi thirty thousand men and ordered him to fight to the death, and when Zhu Yi would not obey, beheaded him at Huoli on the first day of the 9th month. When Zhuge Dan was defeated, Sun Chen withdrew his army, and since he had failed to rescue Zhuge Dan, lost his troops and killed a famous general, there was no one who did not resent him. Records, Wu 19 §84–86Records, Wu 3 §16–17

When Sun Liang, who had taken personal charge of government from the 4th month of the 2nd year of Taiping (257), repeatedly questioned Sun Chen's memorials, Sun Chen became very afraid. Returning to Jianye, he pleaded illness and did not attend court, placed his younger brother Sun Ju in the Canglong Gate on guard duty, and stationed Sun En, Sun Gan and Sun Kai separately in the various camps, seeking to secure his own position. Records, Wu 3 §15Records, Wu 19 §87

Sun Liang plotted to kill Sun Chen with Princess Sun Luban, the Minister of Ceremonies Quan Shang and the general Liu Cheng, but Sun Liang's consort, the daughter of Sun Chen's elder female cousin, revealed the plan. In the 9th month of the 3rd year of Taiping (258), Sun Chen attacked Quan Shang by night, had his younger brother Sun En kill Liu Cheng, and surrounded the palace. He announced Sun Liang's deposition at the ancestral temple and, summoning the officials, declared that the young emperor was dissolute, ill and deranged, and asked whether any disagreed; all trembled and complied. He had the Gentleman of the Secretariat Li Chong seize the imperial seal and ribbon, and when the Master of Writing Huan Yi refused to sign the proclamation of Sun Liang's crimes, Sun Chen killed him. Records, Wu 19 §88–89Records, Wu 3 §18

Sun Chen decided to set up Sun Xiu, King of Langya, and sent the Director of the Imperial Clan Sun Kai to deliver a letter listing Sun Liang's faults, such as his delight in beautiful women, his drilling of more than three thousand sons of soldiers in the imperial park, and his building of boats adorned with gold and silver. He made Sun Liang King of Kuaiji and sent him to his fief, banished Quan Shang and the princess to distant places, and, his arrogance growing ever greater, burned the temple of Wu Zixu, destroyed Buddhist shrines and beheaded monks. In the 10th month, when Sun Xiu arrived, Sun Chen led a thousand troops and bowed to welcome him at the roadside. Records, Wu 19 §90–93Records, Wu 3 §21–23

When Sun Xiu took the throne, Sun Chen called himself a subject of the wilds, returned his seal, ribbon, tally and axe, and asked to retire. Sun Xiu consoled him and, praising his merit in bringing peace to the state, made him Chancellor and Governor of Jing Province with the revenues of five more counties. His four younger brothers were all enfeoffed as marquises too, so that five men of one family became lords and commanded the palace troops, and his power overshadowed the sovereign. Records, Wu 19 §93–96Records, Wu 3 §24

When Sun Chen brought beef and wine to Sun Xiu and Sun Xiu would not accept them, he took them to the General of the Left Zhang Bu and, drinking, complained, "The emperor would not have been set up but for me, yet he treats me like an ordinary subject; I shall have to change my plans again." Sun Xiu heard of this but, fearing an uprising, gave him reward after reward. Sun Chen, growing ever more fearful, asked to go out and be stationed at Wuchang, and Sun Xiu allowed it and ordered that more than ten thousand picked troops of the Central Camp and weapons be given to him. But when the general Wei Miao and the soldier Shi Shuo reported signs of rebellion, Sun Xiu had Zhang Bu and Ding Feng devise a plan to kill him at a banquet. Records, Wu 19 §97–98Records, Wu 3 §26Records, Wu 10 §104

At the La festival banquet on the wuchen day of the 12th month of the 1st year of Yong'an (258; early 259 CE), Sun Chen pleaded illness, but when messengers came more than ten times, he went in, having arranged for a fire to be set in his residence as a pretext for returning quickly. When the fire broke out and he asked to leave, Sun Xiu stopped him, saying there were plenty of troops outside, and Ding Feng and Zhang Bu signaled to the attendants to seize and bind him. Sun Chen begged to be exiled to Jiao Province, and then to be made a government slave, but Sun Xiu asked why he had not exiled Teng Yin and Lü Ju or made them slaves, and beheaded him. Records, Wu 19 §99–100Records, Wu 3 §28

His younger brother Sun Kai was also pursued and killed and his three sets of kin were exterminated, and because Sun Jun had killed Sun Luyu and others, Sun Jun's coffin was dug up, his seal and ribbon were taken, and the coffin was hacked down and reburied. Sun Chen was twenty-eight at his death. Ashamed to be of the same clan as Sun Jun and Sun Chen, Sun Xiu struck them from the register of the ruling house and had Zhuge Ke, Teng Yin and Lü Ju reburied. In his assessment, Chen Shou called Sun Jun and Sun Chen vicious petty men brimming with arrogance, not worth discussing at all. Records, Wu 19 §101–102 · 109