Sun Liang - Early Life

Early Life

Sun Liang was born in 243, to Sun Quan and one of his favorite consorts, Consort Pan. As Sun Quan's youngest son, he was well-cared for by his father, who was very happy to have a son in his old age (61 at the time of Sun Liang's birth). He was also born into a palace atmosphere where officials were aligning themselves with either of his two older brothers who were fighting for supremacy -- Sun He the crown prince and Sun Ba (孫霸) the Prince of Lu, who had designs on the position. In 250, fed up with Prince Ba's constant attacks against Crown Prince He, Sun Quan inexplicably ordered Prince Ba to commit suicide and deposed Crown Prince He. At the urging of his daughter Sun Dahu (孫大虎), who had been involved with falsely accusing Crown Prince He and his mother Consort Wang of crimes and therefore wanted to see Crown Prince He removed, he created Prince Liang as the new crown prince. Princess Dahu then had Crown Prince Liang married to a grand niece of her husband Quan Cong (全琮). In 251, Sun Quan created Crown Prince Liang's mother Consort Pan empress.

In 252, Crown Prince Liang would lose both of his parents in rapid succession. Early that year, Empress Pan was murdered—but how she was murdered remains a controversy. Eastern Wu officials claimed that her servants, unable to stand her temper, strangled her while she was asleep, while a number of historians, including Hu Sanxing, the commentator to Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian, believed that top Eastern Wu officials were complicit, as they feared that she would seize power as empress dowager after Sun Quan's death. Later that year, Sun Quan died, and Crown Prince Liang succeeded to the throne.