Sun Yi 孫壹

Sun Huan was a general who succeeded to command of the following of his elder brother Sun Jiao; he became General Who Spreads Might and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Shaxian, and died at the age of forty in the 3rd year of Jiahe (234). His son Sun Cheng succeeded him and, as General of the Household Who Manifests Martial Valor (zhaowu zhonglangjiang), commanded the troops and held the commandery concurrently, but died without a son in the 6th year of Chiwu (243). Thereupon Sun Cheng's younger half-brother by a concubine, Sun Yi, was enfeoffed as Sun Huan's heir, and Sun Yi succeeded to the family's command and became a general. Records, Wu 6 §19–21

When Sun Jun killed Zhuge Ke, Sun Yi, together with Quan Xi and Shi Ji, attacked Zhuge Ke's younger brother Zhuge Rong, Area Commander of Gong'an, and Zhuge Rong killed himself. The account of Zhuge Rong appended to the biography of Zhuge Jin records that when Zhuge Ke was executed, the Wunan Commander Shi Kuan was sent to the generals Shi Ji, Sun Yi, Quan Xi and others to seize Zhuge Rong, and that when the troops arrived and surrounded the city, Zhuge Rong took poison and died, and his three sons were all executed. Records, Wu 6 §21Records, Wu 7 §66

Sun Yi was transferred from General Who Guards the South to General Who Guards the Army, and was granted the tally and placed in command of Xiakou. Then Sun Chen came to kill Teng Yin and Lü Ju; Lü Ju and Teng Yin were both husbands of Sun Yi's younger sisters, and Sun Yi's younger brother Sun Feng, who had known of Teng Yin and Lü Ju's plot, killed himself. Sun Chen sent Zhu Yi to attack Sun Yi in secret. When Zhu Yi reached Wuchang, Sun Yi, knowing he had come to attack him, fled to Wei leading more than a thousand of his retainers and taking Teng Yin's wife with him. Records, Wu 6 §22

The Biographies of the Three Successor Rulers place this in the 2nd year of Taiping (257). In the 5th month of that year Zhuge Dan, General-in-Chief Who Conquers the East of Wei, held the city of Shouchun and declared himself a vassal of Wu, and in the 6th month Wu gave Wen Qin, Tang Zi, Quan Duan and others 30,000 foot and horse to relieve Zhuge Dan. At this time Zhu Yi led his troops from Hulin in a surprise attack on Xiakou, and Sun Yi, Area Commander of Xiakou, fled to Wei. Records, Wu 3 §15–16

On the day yisi of the 6th month of the 2nd year of Ganlu (257), Wei issued an edict saying that Sun Yi of Wu, Commissioner Bearing the Staff of Authority, Commander-in-Chief of all military affairs at Xiakou, General Who Guards the Army and Marquis of Shaxian, though a kinsman of the rebels who had risen to the rank of senior general, had revered Heaven, understood the Mandate, and led his followers to submit from afar, so that even Weizi leaving Yin and Yue Yi fleeing Yan could not surpass him. It made him Palace Attendant, General of Chariots and Cavalry, granted the tally, Governor of Jiao Province and Marquis of Wu, allowed him to open an office and appoint staff, with ceremonial status equal to the Three Excellencies, and, following the ancient rite of the eight degrees for marquises and earls, bestowed on him the dragon robe and coronet and red slippers. The Biographies of the Royal Clan record that Wei gave him as wife Lady Xing, an Honoured Lady of its former ruler Cao Fang. Records, Wei 4 §78 · 84Records, Wu 6 §22

At this time, while it was being debated whether the General-in-Chief Sima Zhao should go to Shouchun in person to attack Zhuge Dan, Sun Yi came to surrender with his followers, and some said that, with discord arising in Wu, Wu would not send out troops again. Zhong Yu said that Sun Yi had brought fewer than a thousand people and no more than 300 soldiers, so what Wu had lost was slight, and one could not be sure that Wu would not send out troops. Sima Zhao approved and took Zhong Yu with him. Records, Wei 13 §24–25

Later, in the proclamation he sent out when attacking Shu, Zhong Hui cited him as an example, saying that when the Wu general Sun Yi formerly brought his followers to submit, he was raised to high position with exceptional favor and rank, and that although he had entrusted his life to them only when driven into a corner, he had been granted still greater favor. Records, Wei 28 §111

Lady Xing was beautiful but extremely jealous, so that those below her could not bear her orders, and in the end they together killed Sun Yi and Lady Xing. Sun Yi died three years after entering Wei. The Annals of the Three Young Emperors record that on the day guimao of the 11th month of the 4th year of Ganlu (259), Sun Yi, General of Chariots and Cavalry, was killed by a maidservant. Records, Wu 6 §23Records, Wei 4 §96

In the assessment to the Biographies of the Royal Clan, Chen Shou said that the various Suns, some helping to lay the first foundations and some holding the frontiers, proved equal to their duties and did not disgrace their honors, and so he recorded them in detail, but he did not speak of Sun Yi separately. Records, Wu 6 §52