Sun Wanrong
Sun Wanrong (孙万荣) was connected to the Tang dynasty who, together with his brother-in-law Li Jinzhong (李尽忠), rose in rebellion at Yingzhou (营州) and led the resulting war against the Zhou government of Empress Wu Zetian until his death 1 • 2 • 3. His sister was married to Li Jinzhong, the military governor of the Songmo (松漠) Khitan prefecture 2.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Rebellion | Fifth lunar month: rose with Li Jinzhong, took Yingzhou, and killed the governor Zhao Wenhui (赵文翙) 1 • 2 |
| Government response | The empress renamed him in an edict "Sun Wanzhan" (孙万斩, "Sun the Beheaded") 1 |
| Major battle | Third lunar month: defeated a Zhou army of 170,000 at Dongxiashigu (东硖石谷); the commander Wang Xiaojie (王孝杰) died 3 |
| Death | Killed by his own slave 3 |
Career and campaigns
The rising. In the fifth lunar month, Sun Wanrong, then Prefect of Guicheng Prefecture, and Li Jinzhong raised troops at Yingzhou, took the city, and killed the area commander Zhao Wenhui 1. The record gives the immediate cause: Zhao Wenhui was obstinate, gave no relief when the Khitan suffered famine, and treated the tribal chiefs like slaves, so that the two men resented him and rebelled 2. The empress responded with an edict renaming the two leaders Li Jinmie (李尽灭) ("Li the Exterminated") and Sun Wanzhan ("Sun the Beheaded") 1.
The gorge ambush. According to the Zizhi Tongjian, in the fighting that followed, the Khitan set an ambush and attacked the Zhou army in force, snaring the generals Zhang Xuanyu (张玄遇) and Ma Renjie (麻仁节) with flying cords (飞索) and taking them alive; soldiers who died filled the valleys, and few escaped 1.
East Xiashi Gorge. In the third lunar month, the Qingbian Route commander-in-chief Wang Xiaojie and Su Honghui (苏宏晖) led 170,000 men against Sun Wanrong at Dongxiashigu; the Zhou army was heavily defeated and Wang Xiaojie was killed 3.
Political influence
The rebellion reached the succession question at the Zhou court. While Sun Wanrong was besieging Youzhou (幽州), he sent a proclamation to the court asking, in the Zizhi Tongjian's words, "Why not return our Prince of Luling?" (何不归我庐陵王), referring to Lu Lingwang (庐陵王), the deposed Tang heir 3. According to the Zizhi Tongjian, the courtier Ji Xu (吉顼) used the moment to persuade the favored brothers Zhang Yizhi (张易之) and Zhang Changzong (张昌宗) that only a great service to the realm, specifically urging the empress to restore the Prince of Luling, could protect them; the two repeatedly pressed the case, and after questioning Ji Xu the empress's mind was settled on the restoration 3. The Tongjian thus links the Khitan war directly to the decision that returned the Tang line to the succession.
Military style
The record shows Sun Wanrong relying on ambush and on the capture of enemy commanders. At the gorge ambush his men attacked from cover and used flying cords to seize Zhang Xuanyu and Ma Renjie alive 1. One of his own generals, Li Kaigu (李楷固), was noted for skill with roped lassos, mounted archery, and the lance, and had captured both Zhang Xuanyu and Ma Renjie in the earlier battle 3. The thesis literature attributes the Khitan failure in part to the material power of Zhou and to the pressure of the Turks, rather than to battlefield defeat alone 4.
Death
The Zizhi Tongjian records simply that on the day jiawu, "Sun Wanrong was killed by his slave" 3.
After Sun's death, the Khitan generals Li Kaigu and Luo Wuzheng (骆务整) surrendered to Zhou. Officials asked that they be executed by clan extermination for arriving late, but Di Renjie (狄仁杰) argued that men so capable of loyalty to a former master would serve Zhou equally well, and the empress pardoned them, gave them commands, and sent them to finish off the Khitan remnants, which they did 3.
Assessment
The thesis literature summarizes the causes of the rising as economic need among the Khitan, the failure of the centralized Zhou system to relieve the famine, and the discriminatory conduct of Zhao Wenhui; it attributes the failure of the rising to the Khitan leadership's lack of preparation for the trend of ethnic fusion, and secondarily to Zhou's material strength and the Turkish diversion 4.
References
- 卷205 唐纪二十一, 《资治通鉴》 text, 读典籍. https://dudianji.com/book/%E8%B5%84%E6%B2%BB%E9%80%9A%E9%89%B4/%E5%8D%B7205%20%E5%94%90%E7%BA%AA%E4%BA%8C%E5%8D%81%E4%B8%80
- 孙万荣是什么民族_孙万荣的起源, 历史百科. http://www.zidian99.com/lishi/minzu/e5ad99e4b887e88da3/
- 《资治通鉴》卷二百零六 (passages naming 孙万荣), Wikisource transcription. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/資治通鑑/卷206
- 契丹李尽忠、孙万荣的南下扩张 (学位论文摘要). https://www.ppdoc.com/degree/fe6b4563a7c4bad565dee7f1cdb6cc7c.html
Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Asian history › China › Early Tang (618 to 755) › Frontier peoples and diplomacy
Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026
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