Sun Deng 孫登

Sun Deng, courtesy name Zigao, was the eldest son of Sun Quan. In the 2nd year of Huangchu (221), when Wei made Sun Quan King of Wu, it appointed Sun Deng General of the Household of the East and enfeoffed him as a Marquis of Ten Thousand Households, but Sun Deng declined on the pretext of illness. The biography of Wang Lang records that Sun Quan said he would send Sun Deng to Wei to serve at court, but did not send him. Records, Wu 14 §2Records, Wei 13 §57

That year Sun Deng was made heir. Tutors were chosen for him and outstanding scholars were selected as his guests and friends; Zhuge Ke, Zhang Xiu, Gu Tan, Chen Biao and others were chosen to join him, lecturing on the Book of Songs and the Book of Documents, and when they went out they accompanied him in riding and archery. Sun Quan wished Sun Deng to read the Book of Han so that he would learn the affairs of recent times, but, reluctant to burden Zhang Zhao repeatedly, he had Zhang Xiu study it under Zhang Zhao and come back to teach it to Sun Deng. Records, Wu 14 §2

Sun Deng generally treated his subordinates with the courtesies used among commoners, and with Zhuge Ke, Zhang Xiu, Gu Tan and others he sometimes rode in the same carriage and sometimes slept under the same curtain. On the advice of the Grand Tutor Zhang Wen, Chen Biao and others were made Palace Cadets, but later, finding the formalities of the cadets constraining, he had them merely straighten their headcloths and sit in attendance beside him. When Sun Quan proclaimed himself emperor in the 1st year of Huanglong (229), Sun Deng became Crown Prince, and Zhuge Ke was made Left Supporter, Zhang Xiu Right Assistant, Gu Tan Corrector and Chen Biao Commandant Who Aids Rectitude; these were called the four friends. Xie Jing, Fan Shen, Diao Xuan, Yang Dao and others also became his guests, so the Eastern Palace was said to be rich in talent. Zhou Yu's daughter was married to him. Records, Wu 14 §3Records, Wu 2 §61Records, Wu 9 §24

In the 9th month, in the autumn of that year, Sun Quan moved the capital to Jianye and summoned the Senior General-in-Chief Lu Xun to assist Sun Deng in guarding Wuchang and to take charge of the remaining affairs of the palace and offices. When Sun Deng went hunting, even if a shortcut led through good fields he kept well away from them so as not to trample the sprouting crops, and when he rested he chose open ground, not wishing to trouble the common people. Once, when he rode out, a pellet flew past, and his followers, taking a man holding a slingshot for the culprit, wanted to beat him. Sun Deng would not allow it and had the pellet that had flown past found and compared, and when it proved not to be of the same kind, the man was released. Records, Wu 2 §67Records, Wu 14 §4

Again, when a golden horse-shaped vessel for holding water was lost, he knew that one of his attendants had done it but could not bear to punish him; he called him in, rebuked him and sent him home for good, telling those close to him not to speak of it. Records, Wu 14 §5

When his younger brother Sun Lü died in the 1st year of Jiahe (232), Sun Quan reduced his meals. Sun Deng hurried day and night to Laixiang, saw Sun Quan and wept bitterly, remonstrating that Sun Lü's failure to recover from his illness was fate, and that he was anxious to see Sun Quan cut his meals beyond what the rites required at a time when the northern lands were not yet united. Sun Quan accepted his words and increased his meals. When, after ten days or more, Sun Quan wished to send him back west, Sun Deng earnestly pleaded that having long been away from his parents and unable to pay his respects, he was falling short in his duty as a son, and that Lu Xun was loyal and diligent so there was nothing to worry about; so he was allowed to stay. Records, Wu 14 §20 · 5–6

In the 3rd year of Jiahe (234), when Sun Quan went out to attack Xincheng, he had Sun Deng stay behind to guard the capital and take charge of all remaining affairs. At that time the harvest was poor and bandits had become quite numerous, so Sun Deng submitted a memorial to have regulations laid down to guard against them, and he well grasped the essentials of stopping wrongdoing. According to the Biography of the Lord of Wu, when Sun Quan trusted the inspector Lü Yi and Lü Yi applied the laws harshly, the Crown Prince Sun Deng remonstrated several times, but Sun Quan did not accept his advice. Records, Wu 14 §6Records, Wu 2 §88

Sun Deng's birth mother was a concubine of humble status, and Lady Xu had shown him a mother's kindness by raising him as a child. Later Lady Xu was deposed for jealousy and lived at Wu, and Lady Bu became the most favored. When Lady Bu sent him gifts Sun Deng merely bowed and accepted them, but the clothes brought by Lady Xu's messengers he always put on only after bathing. When he was to be appointed heir, Sun Deng declined, saying that the Way arises once the root is established, so before establishing an heir an empress should first be established; Sun Quan asked where his mother was, and when he answered that she was at Wu, Sun Quan fell silent. Records, Wu 14 §7Records, Wu 5 §13

Sun Deng died at the age of thirty-three, twenty-one years after being made heir. Facing death and gravely ill, he submitted a memorial saying that life and death are governed by fate, and urging Sun Quan to forget him and cultivate the arts of Huang-Lao to nourish his spirit. He also asked that the imperial son Sun He, who was benevolent, filial and intelligent, be established early to hold the hopes of the people. Records, Wu 14 §8–9

He then named, one by one, the officials of the Eastern Palace such as Zhuge Ke, Zhang Xiu, Gu Tan and Xie Jing, as well as Yu Fan and others, as fit for employment. Because the commanderies and counties were ravaged and the people exhausted, he said, laws had become burdensome and punishments heavy, so Sun Quan should consult with his generals, ministers and high officials to make punishments lenient, lighten taxes and evenly reduce labor service. If loyal ministers such as Lu Xun, Zhuge Jin, Bu Zhi, Zhu Ran and Quan Cong were made to submit their plans, within ten years the great enterprise could be settled without staining the blades with blood. Records, Wu 14 §10–13

The memorial reached Sun Quan after Sun Deng had died, and Sun Quan grieved all the more, shedding tears whenever he spoke of him. That year was the 4th year of Chiwu (241), and the Biography of the Lord of Wu records that the Crown Prince Sun Deng died in the 5th month. Xie Jing, Administrator of Yuzhang, unable to bear his grief, abandoned his post, hurried to the capital and impeached himself, but Sun Quan consoled him, saying that one who had served with the Crown Prince was different from other officials, and sent him back. Sun Deng's posthumous name was Crown Prince Xuan. His sons Sun Fan and Sun Xi died young, and Sun Ying, enfeoffed as Marquis of Wu, plotted in the 1st year of Wufeng (254) to kill the General-in-Chief Sun Jun, killed himself when the plot was discovered, and his fief was abolished. Records, Wu 14 §14–15Records, Wu 2 §95–96

In his assessment, Chen Shou said that what Sun Deng held in his heart was enough to make a flourishing and admirable virtue. Records, Wu 14 §55