Early life

Sun Liang was born in 243, to Sun Quan and one of his favourite 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 (60 at the time of Sun Liang's birth). He was also born in 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, the Prince of Lu, who had designs on the position. In September or October 250, fed up with Sun Ba's constant attacks against Sun He, Sun Quan ordered Sun Ba to kill himself and deposed Sun He. At the urging of his eldest daughter Sun Luban, who had been making false accusations against Sun He and his mother Lady Wang and therefore wanted to see Sun He deposed, he made Sun Liang the new Crown Prince in December 250 or January 251. Sun Luban then had Sun Liang married to Quan Huijie, a grandniece of her husband, Quan Cong and connecting Sun Liang to a powerful local family. In 251, Sun Quan instated Sun Liang's mother, Consort Pan, as the Empress.

In 252, Sun Liang lost both his parents in rapid succession. Early that year, Empress Pan was murdered and in the winter Sun Quan died, so Sun Liang became the new emperor.

Reign

Zhuge Kes regency

Prior to his death, Sun Quan had selected Zhuge Ke as the regent for Sun Liang, on the advice of trusted kinsman Sun Jun, but he would last only eighteen months. In 17th February 253 Lady Quan was chosen to be his Empress. That same year Zhuge Ke launched a major campaign against the larger rival state of Cao Wei at Hefei but suffered a disastrous defeat which, combined with his handling of the aftermath, led to Zhuge Ke becoming vulnerable. Sun Jun turned against Zhuge Ke, he told Sun Liang that Zhuge Ke was plotting treason, and he set up a trap at a feast for Zhuge Ke. (How much the young emperor knew of Sun Jun's plans and whether he concurred is unclear; traditional historians implied that Sun Liang knew and concurred, but he was just 10 years old at this point. The Wu lu by Zhang Bao, the son of a Wu minister, claims Sun Liang denied responsibility for the order and had to be taken away by his wet-nurse but Pei Songzhi dismisses the claim as Sun Jun would have been relying on Sun Liang's authority and needed him there at the banquet.) During the middle of the feast, assassins that Sun Jun had arranged for killed Zhuge Ke, and Sun Jun's forces then wiped out the Zhuge family.

Sun Juns regency

Sun Jun's rise to regent brought no stability to the Wu court, as there were almost annual coup attempts. Sun Jun had ordered the suicide of Sun He while his overall behaviour was arrogant, violent, and he would defile the women of Sun Liang's palace, earning him many an enemy. In the Autumn of 254 the plot of Sun Ying, the Marquis of Wu and son of former Crown Prince Sun Deng, and the army officer Huan Lü (桓慮) was exposed, and they were destroyed. In 255 Sun Lin sought to intervene in a rebellion by the Wei generals Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin against the Wei controller Sima Shi, but though they would take in Wen Qin, Sun Jun withdrew after Sima Shi quickly put down the rebellion. That year would the plot of some military officers plot discovered which would strike at the Sun family as Sun Luban, the lover of Sun Jun and aunt of Sun Liang, falsely implicated her sister Sun Luyu in the plot.

In 256, Sun Jun, at Wen Qin's urging, was planning an attack against Cao Wei, when he suddenly fell mortally ill, and he commissioned his cousin Sun Chen to succeed him as regent.

Sun Chens regency

Sun Jun's death would not bring an end to the court intrigue, as the northern families would continue to be forced out by southern magnates. Sun Chen seeing off some powerful opponents, including senior minister Teng Yin and the General Lü Ju, within the court and become extremely arrogant. Wu did have to send an envoy Diao Xuan (刁玄) to their allies Shu-Han to explain the recent troubles at court

In 257, at the age of 14, Sun Liang began to personally handle some important matters of state. He established a personal guard corps that he trained with every day, consisting of 3,000 young relatives of soldiers between 15 and 18 led by brave relatives of officers, stating that he intended to grow up with them. Sun Chen began to be somewhat apprehensive of the young emperor who was asking awkward questions, with Sun Liang showing signs of discontent at simply being required to rubber stamp rather than rule as his father had.

There was a problem with his cousin Sun Ji, son of Sun Ba, who served in the palace and was arrested for stealing a horse. Sun Liang asked Diao Xuan what the punishment for this was, he was informed it was death but Diao Xuan thought given Sun Ba had been executed while young, Sun Liang might show pity. Sun Liang wanted to spare Sun Ji but did not wish to undermine the law by favouring a relative and gratefully seized upon Diao Xuan's suggestion of an amnesty for those in the palace.

Two sources tell a tale of Sun Liang's intelligence at that age. In the Wuli, by contemporary Hu Chong who served Wu and had access to the imperial archives, tells of Sun Liang asking for honey to go with his plums but when it was brought to him, there were rat droppings in it. Sun Liang interrogated the eunuch assigned to bring the honey and the official in charge of managing the storehouse, both denied responsibility. Rather than have them both arrested and a full investigation start, the young Emperor broke open the droppings and, on seeing they were dry inside, knew they had only recently been added, and it was the eunuch to blame. Liu Song historian Pei Songzhi notes that had the eunuch added feces to the honey then it would have got wet anyway so the story isn't realistic but to display Sun Liang's intelligence. The alternative account is the Jiangbiao zhuan by Jin official Yu Pu, who collected tales in the area after Wu's fall, which tells of Sun Liang sending the eunuch to collect sugarcane that had been sent from Jiaozhi (modern day Vietnam) from the storehouse. An expensive process of refinement for sugar at the time and quite rare. Given the eunuch had been sent with a silver bowl and a lid, the Emperor was surprised to discover rat droppings when it was presented with the eunuch accusing the official of being negligent. Sun Liang summoned the storehouse official and asked if the eunuch had a grudge, on turning out the official had rejected a past request from the eunuch, Sun Liang's suspicions about the eunuch were confirmed. The eunuch was whipped and sent for punishment.

Removal

Later that year, the Cao Wei general Zhuge Dan declared a rebellion against the regent Sima Zhao (Sima Shi's brother) and requested Eastern Wu assistance but Sun Chen's efforts to reinforce would prove ineffective. Zhuge Dan's rebellion failed in 258 with a major opportunity lost, and the Eastern Wu forces suffered a series of setbacks, the famed general Zhu Yi was executed by Sun Chen after retreating when supplies ran out, members of Quan clan surrendered to Sima Zhao and Wen Qin was executed by Zhuge Dan.

Sun Chen became unpopular due to the defeat and was concerned by Sun Liang's asking of difficult questions in the last year so he chose not to return to Jianye on grounds of illness but instead sent his younger brothers to entrench military authority at the capital. Sun Liang was not happy with his overpowerful minister's handling of the campaign, disrespectful attitude, refusing to follow orders or answer summons. A further cause of friction occurred when he became investigating his aunt Sun Luyu's death. Sun Luban, despite her role in the death of her sister, declared no knowledge and shifted blame onto Sun Luyu's sons Zhu Xiong and Zhu Sun. Sun Chen tried to intervene as Zhu Sun was married to his younger sister but Sun Liang ordered Ding Feng to kill them both.

Sun Liang plotted with his sister Sun Luban, the general Liu Cheng, his father-in-law Quan Shang (全尚), and his brother-in-law Quan Ji (全紀), to have Sun Chen overthrown. The Emperor told Quan Ji to have Quan Shang gather the Quan family's personal troops while Sun Liang would lead the palace guard, taking Sun Chen by surprise and surrounding them then using Sun Liang's authority to persuade Sun Chen's subordinates to submit without a fight. However, he warned that neither Quan Ji nor Quan Shang should not speak about the plan to Shang's wife as Sun Liang felt such matters were inappropriate for women and noted she was Sun Chen's cousin. However the plan leaked out to Sun Chen, the Records of the Three Kingdoms blames the Empress, who was Sun Chen's niece, but the Jiangbiao zhuan says Quan Shang did not keep the plot secret from his wife and she was the one who told Sun Chen. Jin era commentator Sun Sheng backs the latter, more detailed version of events from Yu Pu and it is the version generally used.

During the evening of 9 November 258, Sun Chen moved quickly, his men captured Quan Shang and killed Liu Cheng and by daybreak, the regent had the palace surrounded. Sun Liang wanted to fight, mounting his horse and drawing his bow, declaring as the son of Sun Quan who had ruled for five years, nobody would disobey him. However his wet-nurses and eunuchs managed to stop the young ruler from charging out and over the next two days he refused to eat. The young Emperor let it be known to his wife and to Quan Ji his displeasure with how Quan Shang had failed him, Quan Ji would take his own life.

Sun Chen arranged a meeting with the high officials, declaring Sun Liang to be unintelligent and of poor moral character so he needed to be deposed, threatening the officials so only one man objected (and was promptly killed). In justifying his actions to Sun Xiu, Liang's elder brother and Chen's chosen candidate to replace Sun Liang, Sun Chen accused Sun Liang of extravagance in building works and creating over three hundred small boats of silver and gold. Of seizing women for his harem and men for his guard core who became unruly with armaments destroyed, creating fear by such actions and the inappropriate killing of the Zhu brothers. He also accused Sun Liang of ignoring warnings that Quan Shang was in the service of the rival Cao Wei dynasty. Similar charges to justify a change of a young Emperor were laid against Wei Emperor Cao Fang in 254 and Former Han Emperor Liu He in 74 BCE by their powerful controllers to justify the change of ruler. As word of Sun Liang's "misdeeds" were spread, Sun Liang was demoted to Prince of Kuaiji while his supporters were killed or exiled.

Death and legacy

Sun Chen then made Sun Xiu, the Prince of Langye, the new emperor. Several months later, Sun Xiu set a trap for Sun Chen and had him arrested and killed. However, Sun Liang's position in exile did not become any safer, as Sun Xiu would prove ruthless in maintaining power. In July to November 260, there were rumours in Kuaiji that Sun Liang would be emperor again and in an investigation, members of the palace suggested Sun Liang was aiming for the throne and turning to magic users to pray for him. Sun Xiu demoted Sun Liang to a marquis under the title "Marquis of Houguan" and sent him to his marquisate in Houguan (present-day Fuzhou, Fujian). Sun Liang died on the journey. The records say Sun Liang killed himself on the journey there with his guards executed, but the Wu Lu says Sun Xiu had him poisoned. After the civil war, during the Taikang era (280-289) of the reign of Emperor Wu of Jin, the former Minister Zai Yong buried Sun Liang.

Chen Shou, the author of the Records of the Three Kingdoms, noted Sun Liang had just been a young boy and blamed the poor quality of regents that led to Sun Liang's inevitable fate Pei Songzhi suggested Sun Liang taking control as one of the potential key points that might have saved the dynasty as being a viable route in preventing the last Wu Emperor Sun Hao from taking the throne, noted stories were made about Sun Liang's cleverness while Sun Sheng ruled out one version of why Sun Liang's plot leaked out due to Sun Liang's reputation for being intelligent.

There was said to be a letter by Sun Liang to Buddhist monks, expressing regret at the death of a major translator of Buddhist texts Zhi Qian, but the authenticity of the letter has been questioned.

Role in Fiction

Sun Liang appears in two scenes during the Records of the Three Kingdoms in Plain Language, a work published in the 13th century, as part of a series of historical fiction. Sun Liang is involved in the 215 Wu attack on Shu-Han for Wu's claim of Jingzhou, where Wu generals Lu Su and Lü Meng are heavily defeated by Shu-Han strategist Zhuge Liang. So Sun Liang leads 30,000 troops into Jing, and makes an oath proclaiming that while the provinces are close they have never cared for each other. He then gets beaten by Zhuge Liang. He only appears again following Zhuge Liang's 4th campaign against Wei when the Shu-Han court hears Sun Quan has died and Sun Liang has taken the throne.

The 14th-century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms mostly follows the historical texts when it does cover the young Emperor. However, during Zhuge Ke's fall, Sun Liang personally visits the regent who claims to be ill and tells the plotters against Zhuge Ke that he fears Zhuge Ke and wishes him removed. He gives Sun Jun exceptional authority and only becomes concerned during Sun Chen's time. For the tale of intelligence, it follows the main records rather than Yu Pu's account. Following his removal from the throne, he gets a poem bemoaning the unjust removal of a wise lord while the editor Mao Zonggang notes the parallel of Sun Liang's fall due to the in-laws with Han Emperor Xian's failed Girdle Decree plot against his controller Cao Cao.

即位

孫亮生于赤烏七年（244年），是吳大帝孫權的幼子，因此特別受到疼愛。孫亮出生的時候，他的長兄孫登、二兄孫慮早已去世。當時的皇太子為三兄孫和，後來孫和被四兄孫霸陷害廢去太子之位，孫霸亦被孫權賜死。赤烏十三年（250年）孫權越過五子孫奮、六子孫休而立孫亮為皇太子，不久又立其母潘淑為皇后。

潘皇后於神鳳元年（252年）被宮女所殺（或系大臣指使），同年孫權也去世，孫亮繼位，時為四月廿八日丁酉（5月23日）。

在位期間

少年聰穎

孫亮登基時年方十歲，卻聰明伶俐，受到大臣的尊敬。孫亮曾欲喫酸梅，讓黃門到庫裏去取蜂蜜，蜜中有鼠屎；就召來守庫官詢問，守庫官叩頭謝罪。少帝說：「黃門從你那兒要過蜂蜜嗎？」守庫官說：「曾要過，我沒敢給他。」黃門不服。少帝讓人破開鼠屎，屎中是乾燥的，於是他大笑著對左右說：「如果鼠屎事先就在蜜中，那麼裏外都應是濕的，現在外面濕而裏面乾燥，這必定是黃門放進去的。」詰問黃門，他果然服了罪。左右之人都很震驚恐懼。

權臣北伐

孫亮即位之初，諸葛恪、滕胤、孫峻、呂據受顧命之託輔政孫亮（孫弘本來也是顧命大臣之一，因奪權失敗而被諸葛恪先行殺害），又有舊臣呂岱、丁奉等人。曹魏乘孫權駕崩之際，于建興元年（252年）11月發動東興之戰，結果卻被太傅諸葛恪為統帥的吳軍大敗而歸。第二年諸葛恪依仗顧命之託，不顧眾臣勸阻欲乘勝出兵北伐魏國，但最後因瘟疫而失敗。

大敗而歸後的諸葛恪顯得愈發剛愎自用，最終招致萬民所怨、眾口所嫌。建興二年（253年），孫峻利用這個機會說服孫亮，于是在宴會上發動政變，殺死諸葛恪。孫峻因功出任丞相。

二孫專政

孫峻為人驕矜險害，動輒使用重刑，因此招致不少人的不滿，但最後反對他的人均事敗被迫自殺或處死。他與滕胤、呂據兩位顧命大臣雖然關係談不上友好，但還能夠一起融洽的共事，朝廷高層因此平靜了一段時間。

255年（五鳳二年），孫峻趁毌丘儉文欽之亂帶兵與魏國於淮河一帶交戰獲勝，魏將文欽投降。次年，孫峻派遣呂據等將領進攻魏國，但孫峻在戰爭期間病逝，由從弟孫綝接掌權力。呂岱亦於是年去世。因孫綝本不是大帝所指定的顧命大臣，呂據、文欽對孫綝完全繼承孫峻權力一事非常不滿，要求封滕胤為丞相。孫綝沒有理會他們的訴求，改封滕胤為大司馬。于是滕胤和呂據發動政變，卻反遭孫綝所殺，自此五位顧命大臣已經全部亡去。另一位將領王惇密謀殺死孫綝，亦事敗被殺。

遭到廢黜

257年（太平二年），孫亮親政，他對孫綝輕視自己的態度感到非常厭惡，於是推行多項措施（如訓練少年軍）以準備推翻他。同年，魏國的諸葛誕在壽春發動叛亂，把兒子諸葛靚送到吳國做人質。孫綝派兵協助諸葛誕但最終失敗。在戰鬥中，孫綝因畏敵而躲在巢湖船中，不肯聽孫亮的命令上岸援助吳將唐咨，卻將失敗的緣由歸于大都督朱異並在鑊里殺害了他，其他一些參戰的將領也因為怕被孫綝殺死而投降了魏國。孫綝返回建業後，得知孫亮對他有所戒備，內心也很恐懼，于是稱病不上朝並命自己兄弟把守宮門以求自保。

258年（太平三年），孫亮因孫綝不聽自己指揮進軍並擅殺朱異等事對孫綝不滿到了極點，于是與全尚、全公主、劉承等人密謀除掉孫綝。但消息被孫綝的從姐（全尚之妻）或從外甥女（全皇后）洩露給孫綝。孫綝獲悉密報後，于6月26日率先包圍皇宮，以孫亮患有精神病為由強迫眾臣同意將孫亮廢為會稽王，改立孫休為帝。和孫亮一起策劃政變的大臣都被孫綝殺死。群臣也因為畏懼孫綝的聲勢不敢多言。

被害身死

260年，孫亮的封地會稽傳出謠言，說孫亮將返回建業復闢；而孫亮的侍從亦聲稱孫亮在祭祀時口出惡言。

經審判後，孫亮被貶為侯官侯（侯官縣治在今福建省福州市市區），遣送到侯官縣就藩，途中死去。據《三國志》記載，孫亮是自殺，護送者伏罪；《吳錄》稱有人說是被孫休派人毒死的。孫亮死時只有18歲。

《建康實錄》作孫亮死于永安二年（259年），享年十六歲。

墓葬

吳國滅亡後，原吳國少府卿丹陽人戴顯（一名戴顒）上表朝廷，于是迎回孫亮遺體安葬賴鄉（今江蘇省南京市溧水區）。

家庭成員

后妃

• 全皇后，全尚的女兒，253年立為皇后，一說名為惠解。

• 朝姝

• 麗居

• 洛珍

• 潔華

子女

• 無記載

影視形象

• 1994年電視劇《三國演義》：左冰飾孫亮