Writers › Writer / Poet
Sun Chu
Western Jin writer, courtesy name Zijing, who rose to Governor of Pingyi and wrote Wei Shi Zhongrong Yu Sun Hao Shu on Shi Bao's behalf; the saying shu shi zhen liu comes from an exchange with him.
In a study at night, a desk holds a brush pot, a porcelain vase with a plum branch, a lit red lantern, a folded fan and an unrolled blank scroll, with no one seated there, while through a round window the moon rises over a lake with a sailboat.
Also known as Courtesy name Zijing
Sun Chu, courtesy name Zijing, was from Zhongdu in Taiyuan (northwest of modern Pingyao, Shanxi), a grandson of the Wei general Sun Zi, and died in 293. He began as an aide to Shi Bao, the Eastern-Defence General, and wrote on Shi's behalf the vigorous letter Wei Shi Zhongrong Yu Sun Hao Shu urging the king of Wu to surrender, later included in the Wen Xuan. Early in the reign of Emperor Hui he served as Governor of Pingyi and died in that post. The Shishuo Xinyu tells how, wishing to retire, he misspoke 'rinse the stones, pillow the stream' and defended himself wittily when Wang Ji questioned it, giving rise to a celebrated idiom.
Life and times
Dates Birth year unknown; died 293 CE