Lady Xu (wife of Sun Quan)
Lady Xu (died in or after May 229) was a concubine of Sun Quan, the founding emperor of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
| Lady Xu 徐夫人 | |
|---|---|
| Born | Unknown |
| Died | in or after May 229[1] |
| Spouse | Sun Quan |
| Father | Xu Kun |
Life
Lady Xu was from Fuchun County (富春縣), Wu Commandery, around present day Fuyang, Zhejiang. She was the daughter of Xu Kun (徐琨), a cousin of Sun Quan through his father Sun Jian's younger sister (Lady Sun), who was killed in action fighting against Huang Zu. Lady Xu was initially married to Lu Shang (陸尚), also of Fuchun County. When Lu Shang died around 200,[2] Lady Xu was taken in by Sun Quan as a concubine, on which occasion he told his first wife Lady Xie to lower herself in status to accommodate Lady Xu's arrival; Lady Xie refused and fell into disfavour, dying at a relatively early age.[3] As part of her duties as concubine, Lady Xu was assigned as adoptive mother to Sun Deng, Quan's son by a mother of lowly status, who would later acknowledge her as his mother.[4][5] When Sun Quan later relocated in 212,[2] he abandoned Lady Xu in Wu, irritated on account of her jealous nature.
In May 229, when Sun Quan declared himself emperor of Eastern Wu, his advisors pushed for Lady Xu to be declared his official empress, being the respectable adopted mother of Sun Deng, Sun Quan's heir apparent since he was created King of Wu in 221. However, Quan refused, favouring Lady Bu instead, who was treated unofficially as empress and later posthumously titled as such. Lady Xu herself died of illness sometime after.[6]
Family and relatives
Lady Xu's grandfather Xu Zhen (徐真) was a close acquaintance of Sun Jian, who gave Zhen his younger sister in marriage, leading to the birth of Xu Kun, Lady Xu's father. Xu Kun in his youth served in provincial and commandery offices, although he left his post to serve Sun Jian in battle as his Lieutenant General. He continued to serve Sun Ce during this time in battles against Fan Neng (樊能) and Yu Mi (于糜) at Hengjiang (橫江) and against Zhang Ying (張英) at Danglikou (當利口) in 195.[7] Kun's mother, Lady Sun, was accompanying the army at the time, and her suggestion to Kun to build rafts to cross the riverine territory before Zhang Ying's navies could amass was approved by Sun Ce. With Ying destroyed, he also aided Sun Ce in defeating Ze Rong and Liu Yao, and Sun Ce memorialised to have him made Administrator of Danyang Commandery (丹楊郡).[8]
In 197,[7] Xu Kun was dispatched to displace Yuan Yin, who had been declared Administrator of Danyang by his cousin Yuan Shu, but before long Sun Ce recalled him to Wu and restored Wu Jing as Grand Administrator of Danyang; the Jiangbiaozhuan (江表傳 Biographies from Across the River) claims that he did so for fear of Xu Kun's influence and troops, as well as in favour of Wu Jing's charisma and trust from his previous term in Danyang.[9][10] Sun Ce instead appointed Xu Kun as General of the Household Who Supervises the Army. He later assisted in defeating Li Shu (李術) at Lujiang in 200, for which he was created Marquis of Guangde (廣德侯) and appointed General Who Pacifies Barbarians (平虜將軍). He was later struck by an arrow and killed around 203, roughly the time of the Battle of Xiakou,[7] during the campaign against Huang Zu.[11][7]
Lady Xu's elder brother Xu Jiao (徐矯) inherited his father's marquisate, and campaigned against the Black Mountain Shanyue, for which he was made lieutenant general. Xu Jiao died childless before his sister. Their younger brother Xu Zuo (徐祚) inherited the title, and for his martial merits he was appointed as Supervisor of Wuhu (蕪湖督) and General Who Pacifies Wei (平魏將軍).[12]
Citations
- According to Lady Xu's biography in Records of the Three Kingdoms, when Sun Quan crowned himself as emperor and Sun Deng was made his crown prince, officials petitioned Sun Quan to make Lady Xu empress. This event took place in May 229; it was also recorded in the same biography that Lady Xu died soon after Sun Quan's refusal.[...登为太子，群臣请立夫人为后] Sanguozhi, vol. 50
- de Crespigny, p.900
- (吳主權謝夫人，會稽山陰人也。 ... 權母吳，為權聘以為妃，愛幸有寵。後權納姑孫徐氏，欲令謝下之，謝不肯，由是失志，早卒。) Sanguozhi vol. 50.
- (初，登所生庶賤，徐夫人少有母養之恩， ...) Sanguozhi vol. 59.
- (... 權為討虜將軍在吳，聘以為妃，使母養子登。) Sanguozhi vol. 50.
- (積十餘年，權為吳王及即尊號，登為太子，群臣請立夫人為后，權意在步氏，卒不許。後以疾卒。) Sanguozhi vol. 50.
- de Crespigny, p.907
- (吳主權徐夫人，吳郡富春人也。祖父真，與權父堅相親，堅以妹妻真，生琨。琨少仕州郡，漢末擾亂，去吏，隨堅征伐有功，拜偏將軍。堅薨，隨孫策討樊能、於糜等於橫江，擊張英於當利口。而船少，欲駐軍更求。琨母時在軍中，謂琨曰：「恐州家多發水軍來逆人，則不利矣，如何可駐邪？宜伐蘆葦以為泭，佐船渡軍。」〈泭音敷。郭璞注《方言》曰：「泭，水中簰也。」〉琨具啟策，策即行之。眾悉俱濟，遂破英，擊走笮融、劉繇，事業克定。策表琨領丹楊太守，會吳景委廣陵來東，復為丹楊守。) Sanguozhi vol. 50.
- (策表琨領丹楊太守，會吳景委廣陵來東，復為丹楊守。) Sanguozhi vol. 50.
- (袁術遣從弟胤為丹楊，策令琨討而代之。會景還，以景前在（仕）丹楊，寬仁得眾，吏民所思，而琨手下兵多，策嫌其太重，且方攻伐，宜得琨眾，乃復用景，召琨還吳。) Sanguozhi zhu, vol. 50.
- (琨以督軍中郎將領兵，從破廬江太守李術，封廣德侯，遷平虜將軍。後從討黃祖，中流矢卒。) Sanguozhi, vol. 50.
- (兄矯，嗣父琨侯，討平山越，拜偏將軍，先夫人卒，無子。弟祚襲封，亦以戰功至（於）蕪湖督、平魏將軍。) Sanguozhi vol. 50.
References
- Chen, Shou (3rd century). Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi). Scrolls 50, 59.
- Robert Joe Cutter and William Gordon Crowell. Empresses and Consorts: Selections from Chen Shou's Records of the Three States with Pei Songzhi's Commentary. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1999.
- Pei, Songzhi (5th century). Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi zhu).
- Rafe de Crespigny. A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23-220 AD). Boston: Brill, 2007. pp. 900–7.