Sun Liang’s deposition was the decisive step by which Sun Chen converted his domination of Wu’s court into control over the throne itself. The sixteen-year-old ruler’s failed attempt to remove Sun Chen ended in his seizure and exile; Sun Chen then installed Sun Xiu, a reluctant relative, as the new ruler while taking the position of prime minister and holding power in practice.

A young ruler under another’s control

The crisis followed the failure of Wu’s forces to support Zhuge Dan. Sun Chen responded by ordering the execution of the commanders’ families, while Sun Liang, already only sixteen, remained entirely under his control. The military setback thus fed directly into a court struggle: punishment and fear deepened Sun Chen’s authority, even as the ruler’s weakness became increasingly apparent.

The failed plot and deposition

Sun Liang tried to overthrow Sun Chen by conspiring with his brother-in-law to seize the city and kill him. The plan was disclosed by the brother-in-law, who informed his own father; because he was married to Sun Chen’s eldest sister, the information reached Sun Chen. Sun Chen then deposed Sun Liang, claiming that the young ruler was morally corrupt and incapable of performing the imperial ancestral rites. Sun Liang was seized and sent into internal exile, weeping as he left.

A poem mourns Sun Liang as a wise ruler who would never again enter the court. Its lament contrasts the formal accusation used to justify his removal with the abrupt loss of his place at court. The deposition therefore appears not as a transfer of authority through a functioning succession process, but as the public confirmation that the ruler could be removed by the power controlling him.

Sun Chen’s consolidation of power

After deposing Sun Liang, Sun Chen seized all power and appointed his relatives to key positions. He brought in Sun Xiu, a bewildered relative of the deposed ruler, and had him made ruler despite his reluctance. In AD 258, Sun Chen became prime minister. The new arrangement preserved a ruler on the throne, but concentrated practical authority in the hands of Sun Chen and his family network.

The deposition also set the conditions for Sun Chen’s eventual fall. Later that year, after taking offense at something Sun Xiu had done, Sun Chen moved toward seizing imperial power for himself. Sun Xiu instead sought help from his adviser Zhang Bu and veteran commander Ding Feng. Their plan to overthrow Sun Chen during a festival ended with Sun Chen’s capture and execution. The reversal underscores the instability of a court where the throne had been subordinated to personal control: Sun Chen had removed one ruler and installed another, but the power he amassed made him a target of the same kind of palace conspiracy.