Sun Ba 孫霸

Sun Ba, courtesy name Ziwei, was the younger brother of Sun He. In the 1st month of the 5th year of Chiwu (242) Sun Quan made Sun He Crown Prince, and that year, when the officials in charge again memorialized that an empress and the princes be established, he made Sun Ba Prince of Lu in the 8th month. Chen Shou wrote that when Sun He became Crown Prince, Sun Ba became Prince of Lu, and that the favor he enjoyed was so high and special that he was treated no differently from Sun He. Records, Wu 14 §36Records, Wu 2 §97–98

When the two palaces were first established, Shi Yi, Supervisor of the Masters of Writing, concurrently served as Tutor of the Prince of Lu while keeping his original post. Disliking that the two palaces stood too close to each other in rank, Shi Yi submitted memorials three or four times saying that the Prince of Lu, endowed by Heaven with fine virtue and gifted in both civil and military arts, should be sent to guard the four quarters as a bulwark of the state, and that the two palaces should be graded so as to set right the order of high and low. Records, Wu 17 §6–7

Before long, word that Sun He and Sun Ba were not on good terms reached Sun Quan's ears, and Sun Quan forbade the two to visit each other, on the pretext of having them devote themselves to study. Yang Dao (羊衜), the Army Supervising Envoy, submitted a memorial saying that in the three years since the two palaces had had their titles rectified and established, their virtue and good name had become manifest, but that now their guards were being cut and their guests cut off, so that those far and near were disappointed, and asking that an edict be issued soon to let the two palaces carry out their rites and duties as before. Records, Wu 14 §36–40

When Sun Ba, Prince of Lu, enjoyed great favor and stood level with the Crown Prince Sun He, Gu Tan, Minister of Ceremonies, submitted a memorial saying that those who hold a state or a house must make clear the distinction between the legitimate heir and the other sons, and that his words were meant to set the Crown Prince at ease and also to benefit the Prince of Lu. From this a rift arose between Sun Ba and Gu Tan. Quan Ji (全寄), son of Quan Cong, General of the Guards, was a guest of Sun Ba, but Gu Tan would not accept him, and later Quan Ji and his father together framed Gu Tan, who was exiled to Jiao Province. Records, Wu 7 §42–45

As the ambitions of Sun Ba, Prince of Lu, grew ever stronger, Lu Xun, Wu Can, Gu Tan and others repeatedly set out the principle of distinguishing the legitimate heir from the other sons, but Quan Ji (全寄) and Yang Zhu became the Prince of Lu's partisans, and slanders arose day after day. Wu Can, Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, proposed sending Sun Ba out to station at Xiakou and not keeping Yang Zhu in the capital, and as a result was thrown into prison and executed through the slanders of Sun Ba, Yang Zhu and others. Lu Xun too memorialized three or four times that the Crown Prince was the legitimate line and the Prince of Lu a vassal, so that their favor and stipends should be graded, but he was not heeded; when Sun Quan repeatedly sent envoys to reproach him, he died in anger and resentment. Records, Wu 14 §28Records, Wu 12 §81Records, Wu 13 §54–56

When Sun He was Crown Prince, Princess Quan slandered and harmed Lady Wang and sought to depose the Crown Prince and set up the Prince of Lu, but Princess Zhu would not go along with her, and so a rift arose between the two. When Quan Ji (全寄), Yang Zhu and others attached themselves to Sun Ba, Prince of Lu, contended with Sun He and secretly slandered one another, Lu Yin, whom Sun He had treated with special courtesy, was thrown into prison and cruelly tortured but in the end said nothing more. Zhuge Chuo, Zhuge Ke's eldest son and Chief Commandant of Cavalry, also had dealings with the Prince of Lu; Sun Quan sent him to Zhuge Ke to be taught again, and Zhuge Ke killed him with poisoned wine. Records, Wu 5 §31Records, Wu 16 §50Records, Wu 19 §54

At that time Quan Ji (全寄), Wu An, Sun Qi (孫奇), Yang Zhu and others secretly attached themselves together to Sun Ba and plotted to endanger the Crown Prince; their slanders took effect, the Crown Prince was deposed, and Sun Ba too was ordered to die. The Biography of the Lord of Wu records this under the 8th month of the 13th year of Chiwu (250). Yang Zhu's corpse was thrown into the river, and his elder brother Yang Mu, because he had repeatedly remonstrated with and warned Yang Zhu, escaped the death penalty but was still exiled to the southern provinces. After Sun Ba's death, Quan Ji, Wu An, Sun Qi and others were also executed, all because they had sided with Sun Ba and framed Sun He. In the 11th month of that year Sun Quan made Sun Liang Crown Prince. Records, Wu 14 §41Records, Wu 2 §108–109

Sun Ba's two sons were Sun Ji (孫基) and Sun Yi (孫壹). In the Wufeng era Sun Ji was enfeoffed as Marquis of Wu and Sun Yi as Marquis of Wanling. Sun Ji attended Sun Liang inside the palace, and in the 2nd year of Taiping (257) he secretly rode one of the imperial horses and was handed over to prison; the Palace Attendant Diao Xuan (刁玄) said that by law this called for death, but asked for compassion since the Prince of Lu had died early. When Sun Liang said that the law could not be bent for the sake of kinship, Diao Xuan answered that amnesties of old had been greater and lesser, and Sun Liang proclaimed an amnesty within the palace, so that Sun Ji was spared. When Sun Hao came to the throne, recalling the old enmity between Sun He and Sun Ba, he stripped Sun Ji and Sun Yi of their ranks and fiefs and moved them, together with their grandmother Lady Xie, to Wushang County in Kuaiji Commandery. Records, Wu 14 §42–43

After Sun Quan's death, Zhuge Ke wrote to Sun Fen, Prince of Qi, who was overstepping the rules, saying, 'Your Highness should take the Prince of Lu deeply to heart as a warning and amend your conduct,' and asking how there could have been the calamity of destruction had the Prince of Lu accepted loyal and honest counsel early and kept a sense of fear. Records, Wu 14 §45 · 50–51

In his assessment, Chen Shou said that Sun Ba, a son of a secondary consort, encroached upon the legitimate heir and Sun Fen did not follow the rules, so that both had in truth chosen the road to peril and ruin themselves. Records, Wu 14 §55