Empress Pan was the empress consort to Emperor Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu dynasty. She was once a slave but had risen to empress.[1] She was famous for her beauty and was often referred to as a “goddess.”[2] However, Empress Pan was also known for her jealousy and cruelty.[3] It was because of her cruelty that Empress Pan “met a violent end.”[4]
Empress Pan was born sometime before 220 C.E. Her personal name is not recorded.[5] She was from Juzhang in Guiji Commandery.[6] Her parents’ names are not recorded.[7] Her father was once a clerk, but he was executed for a crime he committed.[8] Her father’s execution forced Empress Pan and her older sister (whose name is also unrecorded) to become a slave in the palace’s Weaving Chamber.[9]
It was said that the future Empress Pan was so beautiful that the other workers in the Weaving Chamber called her a “goddess.”[10] Emperor Sun Quan heard of her beauty and asked for a portrait to be made of her.[11] When he saw the portrait, “he rubbed his sceptre until it broke and ordered a carriage to take him to the weaving rooms.”[12] He then made her his imperial concubine.[13] The more realistic version is in the official history.[14] It said that Sun Quan happened to catch sight of her “alluring appearance”[15] and made her his imperial concubine. Emperor Sun Quan immediately fell in love with Lady Pan.[16] In 243 C.E., Lady Pan gave birth to a son named Prince Sun Liang.
In 250 C.E., Emperor Sun Quan deposed Sun He as the Crown Prince. He made his second eldest son, Prince Sun Ba, commit suicide. Therefore, the Crown Prince position was vacant.[17] Imperial Consort Pan’s son, Sun Liang, was made the Crown Prince. Imperial Consort Pan asked for her older sister to be freed from slavery and to find her a good husband.[18] Emperor Sun Quan arranged for her older sister to marry Tan Shao from Luling Prefecture.[19]
In 251 C.E., Imperial Consort Pan was invested as empress. To celebrate her investiture, she granted amnesty throughout the Eastern Wu Empire.[20] It was said that Empress Pan was very jealous and slandered the other imperial concubines in Emperor Sun Quan’s harem.[21] The official history states that the empress was “by nature obstinate and evil-tempered.”[22] She was also “insidious and jealous.”[23]
In 252 C.E., Emperor Sun Quan fell ill. Empress Pan stayed by his bedside and took care of him during his illness.[24] Emperor Sun Quan did not seem like he had any hope of recovering.[25] Therefore, Empress Pan began to see this as an opportunity to gain ultimate power and rule the Eastern Wu Empire.[26] She began to research the life of Empress Lu Zhi to see how she ruled the Han Empire as Regent.[27]
Empress Pan’s maids became very afraid of the empress gaining ultimate power.[28] She had abused them and often mistreated them.[29] They were afraid that she would become more cruel once she became regent.[30] “Unable to bear her cruelty”[31], her maids waited until Empress Pan left her husband’s bedside and fell into an “exhausted sleep.”[32] Once she fell into a deep sleep, they strangled Empress Pan.[33] When Emperor Sun Quan learned of his empress’s murder, he executed six or seven people for her assassination.[34]
On 21 May 252 C.E., Emperor Sun Quan died. Emperor Sun Quan and Empress Pan are buried together at Jiangling.[35] Emperor Sun Quan was succeeded by Sun Liang. Emperor Sun Liang made his uncle, Tao Shao, the head of a military command.[36] On 9 November 258 C.E., Emperor Sun Liang was dethroned. Tan Shao and Empress Pan’s older sister were sent back to Luling.[37]
Empress Pan started out as a slave in the palace.[38] It was because of her beauty that she happened to catch the eye of Emperor Sun Quan.[39] However, Empress Sun Quan proved that looks can be deceiving.[40] She happened to be ambitious and ruthless.[41] She mistreated Emperor Sun Quan’s imperial concubines and her own palace maids.[42] It is sad that they feared her and could not withstand her mistreatment of them, which forced Empress Pan to meet a brutal end.[43] Therefore, Empress Pan will always be known as one of China’s most evil empresses.[44]
Sources:
Chen, S., & Pei, S. (1999). Empresses and Consorts: Selections from Chen Shou’s Records of the Three States with Pei Songzhi’s Commentary. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press.
Ching-Chung, P. (2015). “Pan, Consort of Sun Quan”. Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui, 1600 B.C.E. – 618 C.E..(L. X. H. Lee, Ed.; A. D. Stefanowska, Ed.; S. Wiles, Ed.). NY: Routledge. pp. 329-330.
McMahon, K. (2013). Women Shall Not Rule: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Han to Liao. NY: Rowman and Littlefield.
[1] Ching-Chung, 2015
[2] McMahon, 2013, p. 117
[3] Ching-Chung, 2015
[4] McMahon, 2013, p. 117
[5] Ching-Chung, 2015
[6] Chen and Pei, 1999
[7] Ching-Chung, 2015
[8] Ching-Chung, 2015
[9] Chen and Pei, 1999
[10] McMahon, 2013, p. 117
[11] Ching-Chung, 2015
[12] Ching-Chung, 2015, p. 329
[13] McMahon, 2013
[14] Ching-Chung, 2015
[15] Ching-Chung, 2015, p. 329
[16] Ching-Chung, 2015
[17] Chen and Pei, 1999
[18] Ching-Chung, 2015
[19] Ching-Chung, 2015
[20] Ching-Ching, 2015
[21] Chen and Pei, 1999
[22] Ching-Chung, 2015, p. 329
[23] Ching-Chung, 2015, p. 329
[24] Ching-Chung, 2015
[25] Ching-Chung, 2015
[26] Ching-Chung, 2015
[27] Ching-Chung, 2015
[28] Ching-Chung, 2015
[29] Ching-Chung, 2015
[30] Ching-Chung, 2015
[31] Ching-Chung, 2015, p. 329
[32] Ching-Chung, 2015, p. 329
[33] Chen and Pei, 1999
[34] Chen and Pei, 1999
[35] Ching-Chung, 2015
[36] Ching-Chung, 2015
[37] Ching-Chung, 2015
[38] Ching-Chung, 2015
[39] McMahon, 2013
[40] Ching-Chung, 2015
[41] Ching-Chung, 2015
[42] Ching-Chung, 2015
[43] Ching-Chung, 2015
[44] Ching-Chung, 2015
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