Lady Wu was the wife of the warlord Sun Jian

Sun Jian

Sun Jian was a military general and warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He allied himself with Yuan Shu in 190 when warlords from eastern China formed a coalition to oust Dong Zhuo, a tyrannical warlord who held the puppet Emperor Xian in his power...

, who lived during the late Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

 period of Chinese history

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

. She had five children: four sons, Sun Ce

Sun Ce

Sun Ce was a military general and warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was the oldest of the children of Sun Jian who was killed during the Battle of Xiangyang when Sun Ce was only 16. Sun Ce then broke away from his father's overlord, Yuan Shu, and headed to...

, Sun Quan

Sun Quan

Sun Quan , son of Sun Jian, formally Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He ruled from 222 to 229 as King of Wu and from 229 to 252 as Emperor of Wu....

, Sun Yi, Sun Kuang

Sun Kuang

Sun Kuang, style name Jizuo , was the fourth son of the warlord Sun Jian during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. Upon his father's death, he fled to Jiangnan with his elder brother, Sun Ce, who was given succession as Marquis of Wucheng , but instead chose to give the position to...

, and a daughter, Lady Sun

Lady Sun

Lady Sun, known as Sun Shangxiang in Chinese opera and contemporary culture, was a noble lady in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. She was a daughter of Sun Jian and younger sister of the warlords Sun Ce and Sun Quan, who laid the foundation for the state of...

. She was a descendant of the royal family of the Wu state

Wu (state)

The State of Wu , also known as Gou Wu or Gong Wu , was one of the vassal states during the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period. The State of Wu was located at the mouth of the Yangtze River east of the State of Chu. Considered a semi-barbarian state by ancient Chinese...

 of the Spring and Autumn Period.

Lady Wu lost her parents at a young age and was living with her younger brother, Wu Jing, when Sun Jian heard of her beauty and character, and desired to marry her. Lady Wu's relatives disapproved of Sun Jian, they saw him as an idler and a rascal, and were going to decline his proposal. Sun Jian was embarrassed and angry at their decision. Lady Wu questioned her relatives, asking "Why bring disaster upon yourselves for the love of one girl? If this turns out to be a bad match, it would just be my fate." And so they agreed to her marriage with Sun Jian.

In fiction

In Luo Guanzhong

Luo Guanzhong

Luo Ben , better known by his style name Luo Guanzhong , was a Chinese writer of the early Ming Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was also known as Huhai Sanren...

's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese historical novel based on the events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 and ending with the reunification of the land in...

, Lady Wu has a younger sister, also called Lady Wu, who married Sun Jian as well. The older one bore Sun Ce

Sun Ce

Sun Ce was a military general and warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was the oldest of the children of Sun Jian who was killed during the Battle of Xiangyang when Sun Ce was only 16. Sun Ce then broke away from his father's overlord, Yuan Shu, and headed to...

 and Sun Quan

Sun Quan

Sun Quan , son of Sun Jian, formally Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He ruled from 222 to 229 as King of Wu and from 229 to 252 as Emperor of Wu....

 while the younger one bore Lady Sun

Lady Sun

Lady Sun, known as Sun Shangxiang in Chinese opera and contemporary culture, was a noble lady in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. She was a daughter of Sun Jian and younger sister of the warlords Sun Ce and Sun Quan, who laid the foundation for the state of...

 and Sun Lang

Sun Lang

Sun Lang, style name Zao'an , was a son of the warlord Sun Jian during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He was a half-sibling of the other five known children of Sun Jian, all of whom were born to Sun's first wife Lady Wu.Sun Lang's misfortune occurred in 222,...

. The younger Lady Wu is also known as "Wu Guotai" (吳國太; literally: "Elder Lady Wu of the kingdom"). Wu Guotai lived longer than her older sister, as she was present to witness the marriage of her daughter to Liu Bei

Liu Bei

Liu Bei , also known as Liu Xuande, was a warlord, military general and later the founding emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history...

.

Family tree

See also

• List of people of the Three Kingdoms