Sun Li 孫禮

Sun Li, courtesy name Deda, was a native of Rongcheng County in Zhuo Commandery. When Cao Cao pacified You Province he summoned him and made him Clerk for Military Planning under the Minister of Works. At the beginning of the disorders Sun Li had become separated from his mother, and when Ma Tai of the same commandery found her for him, he gave all his family's property to Ma Tai. Later Ma Tai was condemned to death for breaking the law; Sun Li secretly helped him slip out of prison, then said, 'Your servant has no right to flee', and went straight to the Registrar for Investigating Wrongdoing Wen Hui to give himself up. Wen Hui admired this and reported everything to Cao Cao, and both men had their death sentences reduced by one degree. Records, Wei 24 §60

When Sun Li and Lu Yu of Zhuo Commandery first entered the military headquarters, Cui Yan described Sun Li as 'open and clear-sighted, upright and fierce, firm, straightforward and able to decide', and said that he and Lu Yu both had the talent to be one of the Three Excellencies. Chen Shou later noted that Cui Lin, Sun Li and Lu Yu all reached the highest offices of state. Records, Wei 12 §16–17

He was later made Assistant of Hejian Commandery and was gradually promoted to Commandant of Xingyang. When several hundred bandits in the mountains of Lu held strong positions and preyed on the people, he was transferred to be Chancellor of Lu; Sun Li gave out the grain of his own salary, mobilized officials and commoners, offered rewards for bandits' heads, and took in those who surrendered and sent them back as spies, and peace was soon restored. He served as Administrator of Shanyang, Pingyuan, Pingchang and Langya. When he followed the Grand Marshal Cao Xiu against Wu at Jiashi, he advised that they should not advance deep into enemy territory, but Cao Xiu did not listen and was defeated. He was transferred to Administrator of Yangping and then entered the court as Master of Writing. Records, Wei 24 §61

Emperor Ming (Cao Rui) was building palaces at the time, but the seasons were out of balance and grain was scarce throughout the realm. When Sun Li remonstrated firmly, Emperor Ming issued an edict saying that he 'respectfully accepted the honest words' and ordered the conscripted laborers to be sent home quickly. But when Li Hui, who supervised the work, memorialized again asking to keep them one more month to finish what was under construction, Sun Li went straight to the work site and, without memorializing again, sent the people home in the name of the edict. Emperor Ming thought his resolve remarkable and did not reprimand him. Records, Wei 24 §62

When Emperor Ming was hunting at Mount Dashi and a tiger rushed at the imperial carriage, Sun Li threw down his whip, dismounted and was about to swing his sword at the tiger, but Emperor Ming ordered him by edict to remount. As he was dying, Emperor Ming made Cao Shuang General-in-Chief, saying that he should have a good assistant, and from his sickbed issued a testamentary edict appointing Sun Li Chief Clerk to the General-in-Chief with the additional post of Regular Mounted Attendant. Because Sun Li was upright and unbending, however, Cao Shuang found him inconvenient and sent him out as Inspector of Yang Province, with the additional title of General Who Calms the Waves and the rank of Marquis Within the Passes. Records, Wei 24 §63

When the great Wu general Quan Cong invaded with tens of thousands of men, the soldiers of Yang Province had gone home on leave and few remained. Sun Li personally led his guards to meet him at Quebei and fought from morning until evening, and more than half of his officers and men were killed or wounded. Sun Li braved the blades and advanced, and though his horse was wounded in several places he took up the drumsticks himself and beat the drum, fighting with all his strength, until the enemy withdrew. When an edict praised him and granted him seven hundred bolts of silk, Sun Li set up sacrifices and wept for those who had died in battle, and he gave all the silk to the families of the dead, keeping none for himself. Records, Wei 24 §64

He was summoned to be Privy Treasurer, went out as Inspector of Jing Province, and was transferred to Governor of Ji Province. The Grand Tutor Sima Yi told him that Qinghe and Pingyuan had been disputing their boundary for eight years, through two Inspectors, without a decision, and urged him to settle it clearly. Sun Li answered that old sites, tombs and the words of elders could hardly decide the matter, but that the map from the time the Exalted Ancestor (Emperor Ming) was first enfeoffed in Pingyuan was kept in the imperial archives, and with it the case could be judged from where they sat; Sima Yi said he would send the map down separately. Records, Wei 24 §65–66

When Sun Li arrived at his post and examined the map, the land clearly belonged to Pingyuan. But Cao Shuang believed Qinghe's side and sent down a document saying, 'The map cannot be used; weigh the differences between the two claims'. Sun Li submitted a memorial stating that the boundary was in fact the Wangweng River, but that Shu County was falsely claiming the Mingdu River as the boundary on the evidence of the Madan watch-post; saying that since he had failed to make them obey the edict he had no face to go on drawing a salary for nothing, he fastened his belt, put on his shoes, readied his carriage and waited to be dismissed. Cao Shuang was furious when he saw the memorial and impeached Sun Li for harboring resentment, and Sun Li was sentenced to five years' punishment. After a year at home, many people spoke up for him, and he was made Colonel of the City Gates. Records, Wei 24 §67–69

At this time the following of the Xiongnu king Liu Jing was strong and the Xianbei repeatedly raided the frontier, so Sun Li was made Inspector of Bing Province, with the additional title of General Who Displays Martial Might, and made Envoy Holding the Staff of Authority and General of the Household Protector of the Xiongnu. Before leaving he went to see Sima Yi, looking angry and saying nothing. When Sima Yi asked whether it was because Bing Province was too small or because the boundary matter had been mishandled, Sun Li replied that he cared nothing for office or past affairs; it was because the state was in danger and the realm in turmoil, and tears streamed down his face. Sima Yi said, 'Stop for now. Bear what cannot be borne.' Records, Wei 24 §70–71

After Cao Shuang was executed, Sun Li entered the court as Colonel-Director of Retainers. In all he governed seven commanderies and five provinces, and everywhere he went he had authority and the people's trust. On the gengzi day of the 12th month of the 1st year of Jiaping (249) he became Minister of Works and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Dali Precinct with a fief of one hundred households. Sun Li and Lu Yu came from the same commandery and the same generation but were not on good terms; it is said that each had his strengths and weaknesses, but that their fame and rank were roughly equal. He died in the 11th month of the 2nd year of Jiaping (250). He was posthumously named Marquis Jing, and his grandson Sun Yuan succeeded him. Records, Wei 24 §71–72Records, Wei 4 §28 · 30–31

In his assessment Chen Shou called Sun Li 'firm and decisive, upright and stern', and said that he, together with Han Ji, Cui Lin, Gao Rou and Wang Guan, was able to reach the rank of the Three Excellencies and the chief ministers of state. Records, Wei 24 §81