Sun Jue

Life

In his youth Sun Jue studied under Hu Yuan. He earned the jinshi degree in the first year of the Huangyou era (1049), was appointed registrar of Hefei, and during the Jiayou era entered the palace libraries as a collator while also collating books for the Zhaowen Library. After Emperor Shenzong’s accession, he served in the Jixian Palace, became secretary to the household of Prince Chang, and was promoted to You Zhengyan; he then served as assistant prefect of Yuezhou and was transferred to Tongzhou, where his tenure falls in 1067–1069.

In 1069, he was summoned to serve in the Office of Remonstrance, concurrently revise the daily record of the emperor’s activities, and oversee the Office for Evaluating Officials. After submitting a memorial arguing that the Green Sprouts Law harmed the people, he disagreed with Wang Anshi and was sent out as military prefect of Guangde. Sun and Wang had earlier been friends; Wang had hoped to enlist Sun’s support, but their relationship changed after they split over the Green Sprouts Law.

After Guangde, he governed Huzhou, Luzhou, Suzhou, Fuzhou, Bozhou, Yangzhou, and Xuzhou, and also served as prefect of Yingtian. His terms are dated to 1071–1073 in Huzhou, 1073–1075 in Luzhou, 1075 in Runzhou, 1077–1078 in Suzhou, 1078–1081 in Fuzhou, and 1081 in both Yangzhou and Bozhou.

At court he became Taichang Shaoqing, then Mishu Shaojian. After Zhezong’s accession, he concurrently served as a lecturer, was promoted to Right Admonisher and Vice Minister of Personnel, and became Censor-in-Chief. Because of illness he requested relief from office; he was appointed Academician of the Longtuge and lecturer, placed in charge of the Liquan Abbey, and requested return to the Lingxian Abbey in Shuzhou. His offices also included a commission supervising religious institutions, Transport Commissioner of the Two Zhejiang Circuit (1087–1088), and Assistant Transport Commissioner (1089). He died in the fifth year of the Yuanyou era (1090), aged sixty-three, and was included in the Yuanyou party register.

His father was Sun Yi, and his younger brother was Sun Lan (1043–1101). He had a son named Sun Duan; a daughter married Huang Tingjian, and Ye Tangji was another son-in-law. He was also recommended by Yu Xiang.

Scholarship and writings

His writings include the *Yizhuan* (《易傳》) and several works on the Spring and Autumn, including the *Chunqiu Jingshe Yaoyi* (《春秋經社要義》), in six juan; the *Chunqiu Jingjie* (《春秋經解》), in fifteen juan and extant; and the *Chunqiu Xuezuan* (《春秋學纂》), in twelve juan. The *Chunqiu Jingjie* is also listed as a work authored by him. Accounts give his collected writings as forty juan, while another lists collected writings and memorials in sixty juan. His one-juan *Lizhi changhe shi* (《荔枝唱和詩》) is lost; fifteen poems are now included in the selection.