| Sun Sheng | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 孫盛 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 孙盛 | ||||||
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| Anguo(courtesy name) | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 安國 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 安国 | ||||||
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Sun Sheng (c.302–373[1]),courtesy nameAnguo, was a Chinese historian and politician of theJin dynasty. He was a native ofPingyao County,Jinzhong,Shanxi. He was described to be very studious, and was never seen without holding a book in his hand from his youth to his old age.[2]
Sun Sheng's father Sun Xun (孫恂) was Grand Administrator ofYingchuan (潁川), in present-dayHenan andAnhui. He was killed by bandits when Sun Sheng was nine, and the rest of the family fled to safety across theYangtze River.[3]
In his young adulthood, Sun Sheng achieved fame as a serious scholar of theI Ching, composing an essay which some of the leading luminaries of the time, includingYin Hao,Wang Meng, andXie Shang[4] were unable to debate with him. Parts of the essay, "The Symbols of the Book of Changes are More Subtle than the Visible Shapes of Nature", survive and have been translated byRichard B. Mather.[5][6]
After entering politics, Sun Sheng served underTao Kan,Yu Liang, andHuan Wen, accompanying the latter intoSichuan. On campaign, Huan Wen had taken his infantry to attack, and Sun Sheng was in charge of the weak, the elderly, and the baggage train, when they were suddenly set upon by thousands of bandits. The rearguard managed to rise to the occasion and drive them away.[7] Huan Wen appointed Sun Sheng Marquis of Anhuai, in present-dayPingnan County, Guangxi, and he was attached to Huan Wen's household as a travelling secretary.
Following Huan Wen's first two northern campaigns, Sun Sheng was enfeoffed as Marquis of Wuchang (in present-dayPingjiang County,Hunan), and appointed Grand Administrator ofChangsha. The poverty of his family drove him to engage secretly in trade; but although this breach of etiquette was discovered, he was not impeached, because of the great esteem in which he was held.[8] He left Huan Wen's service under strained conditions, and ended his life in the position of Supervising Censor.
Sun Sheng wrote theWei Shi Chunqiu (魏氏春秋;Chronicles of the Clans of Wei) andJin Yangqiu (晉陽秋;Annals ofJin). A number of other works quoted byPei Songzhi in hisannotation ofRecords of the Three Kingdoms are attributed to Sun Sheng, includingYitong Zaji (異同雜記;Miscellaneous Records of Similarities and Differences),Shu Shi Pu (蜀世譜;Genealogy of Shu), andWei Shiji (魏世籍;Records of the House of Wei). All of his works have been lost, and survive now only in quotations.
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