早年经历

孙休生于嘉禾四年（235年），母王夫人，13岁时，跟随谢慈和盛冲就学。

太元二年（252年）受封为琅琊王，居于虎林，当时十八岁。同年四月，大帝因患风疾病死于建业，孙休的嫡弟孙亮继位，由太傅诸葛恪秉政，诸葛恪不欲诸王在滨江兵马之地，遂徙孙休至丹杨郡。其后又因丹杨太守李衡数次以事侵扰孙休，孙休上书乞求徙往其他郡，孙亮遂下诏徙孙休至会稽郡。

孙休的岳母和姐姐孙鲁育被权臣孙峻冤杀，孙休害怕，将妻子朱氏送回建业，执手泣别。朱氏到建业，被孙峻遣回。

意外登基

太平三年九月廿六日（258年11月9日），宗室孙綝发动政变，罢黜孙亮为会稽王，立孙休为帝，孙休三次辞让而受，改元永安，封孙綝为丞相，孙綝五兄弟皆封侯掌禁军，权倾朝野，时为十月十八日己卯（11月30日）。

孙休先假意麻痹孙綝，将举报孙綝谋反之人，交给孙綝处置，后又加孙綝弟孙恩为侍中分其权，年末设宴请孙綝，孙綝称病不赴，孙休十多次派人去请，孙綝终于赴宴，席间想藉故早退，被丁奉等擒住，孙休历数孙綝罪状斩之，灭其三族。孙綝的权臣地位继承自其堂兄权臣孙峻，孙休又将孙峻棺材削薄后重新下葬，并将孙峻、孙綝开除宗籍，称之为「故峻」「故綝」，并赦免被孙峻、孙綝所害之人。

孙休在位期间，以卫将军濮阳兴为丞相，廷尉丁密、光禄勋孟宗为左右御史大夫。布典宫省，兴关军国。

孙休崇尚文化。永安元年创设国学，置学官，立五经博士，选送吏中及将吏子弟好学者就学，为南京太学之滥觞，韦昭为首任博士祭酒。

武功方面，无甚建树，曾图先统一南方。永安七年（264年）二月，趁蜀中无主，西征巴蜀，以镇军将军陆抗、抚军将军步协、征西将军留平、建平太守盛曼，率大军围蜀巴东守将罗宪。魏使将军胡烈率步骑二万侵扰西陵，以救罗宪，陆抗等遂引军退回吴国，最终丝毫未能夺取蜀汉故地。

永安七年七月，孙休病重而不能说话，却能书写；同月廿四日（9月2日）大赦天下，但次日（9月3日）以三十岁英年早逝。丞相濮阳兴、左将军张布游说孙休之妻朱皇后，因蜀国初亡，而交址携叛，国内震惧，希望立长君，所以意欲孙休亡兄孙和之子孙皓嗣位。

孙皓继位后，于元兴元年（264年）十一月，诛杀丞相濮阳兴、左将军张布。又于甘露元年（265年）七月，逼杀朱皇后，只于苑中小屋治丧，又送孙休四子于吴小城，再复追杀年长的孙𩅦及孙𩃙。

孙休之墓为吴定陵，史籍没有记载墓葬位置。据朱彝尊考证，其在今海宁邵湾山，顺治年间偶然被当地居民发现。

家庭成员

后妃

• 朱皇后，諡号景皇后，朱据女，262年立为皇后。

子女

孙休为方便世人，不易因犯讳而产生罪责，为儿子所取的名与字都是自创新字（冷僻字）。

• 豫章王孙：字，孙休长子，262年立为太子。266年为孙皓所杀。

• 汝南王孙：字，孙休次子。266年为孙皓所杀。

• 梁王孙：字，孙休三子。

• 陈王孙：字，孙休四子。

Early life

Sun Xiu was born in 235 to Wu's founding emperor, Sun Quan, and one of his concubines, Consort Wang. In his youth, he was praised for his studiousness. About 250, Sun Quan arranged for a marriage between Sun Xiu and Lady Zhu, the daughter of Sun Quan's daughter Sun Luyu and her husband Zhu Ju.

In 252, just before Sun Quan's death, he enfeoffed Sun Xiu as the Prince of Langya, with his princedom at Hulin (虎林; in present-day Chizhou, Anhui). Later that year, after his younger brother Sun Liang became emperor, the regent Zhuge Ke did not want the princes to be based near the important military bases along the Yangtze River, so he moved Sun Xiu to Danyang Commandery (丹阳郡; in present-day Xuancheng, Anhui). Unlike his brother Sun Fen, Sun Xiu did not resist Zhuge Ke's move. Once he was at Danyang Commandery, the commandery administrator Li Heng (李衡) found many excuses to bully him. Sun Xiu could not endure Li Heng's bullying so he requested to be relocated elsewhere. Sun Liang then issued an order relocating him to Kuaiji Commandery (around present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang).

In 255, at the instigation of Sun Xiu's sister Sun Luban, the regent Sun Jun had Sun Luyu, Sun Xiu's half-sister and mother-in-law, executed. Sun Xiu began to fear for his own safety, so he sent his wife Princess Zhu back to the imperial capital Jianye and offered to divorce her, but Sun Jun declined his request and sent Princess Zhu back to Sun Xiu.

In 258, after a failed coup against the regent Sun Chen (Sun Jun's cousin and successor), Sun Liang was deposed and replaced with Sun Xiu as the new emperor of Wu.

Coup against Sun Chen

After his accession, Sun Xiu ordered five new counties to be added to Sun Chen's marquisate to appease him, in addition to enfeoffing Sun Chen's brothers as marquises too. However, Sun Chen soon had a fallout with Sun Xiu over a relatively small incident – he brought food and wine to the imperial palace and asked the emperor to dine with him, but the emperor refused. Sun Chen then went to dine with the general Zhang Bu instead and casually remarked that he could replace Sun Xiu easily if he wanted to. Zhang Bu secretly reported Sun Chen's dissatisfaction to Sun Xiu later. Although Sun Xiu continued to pretend to be friendly towards Sun Chen, he began to discreetly raise his guard against Sun Chen. On the other hand, Sun Chen also became worried about his relationship with Sun Xiu, so he requested permission to go to Wuchang (武昌; present-day Ezhou, Hubei) and oversee the defences at the border.

Although Sun Xiu approved Sun Chen's request, he suspected that Sun Chen wanted to seize control of Wuchang and then rebel against him. Another official, Wei Miao (魏邈), also warned Sun Xiu that Sun Chen might be plotting treason when he asked to leave for Wuchang. Besides, there were also widespread rumours that Sun Chen was disloyal towards Sun Xiu. Sun Xiu then conspired with Zhang Bu and another general Ding Feng to assassinate Sun Chen at a feast during the Laba Festival (8th day of the 12th lunar month). Sun Chen got wind of the plot and became apprehensive, but still attended the feast, where he was captured by Zhang Bu and Ding Feng's soldiers. When Sun Chen begged for his life and pleaded to be exiled to Jiao Province or reduced to the status of a slave, Sun Xiu refused to spare him and told him that he did not spare Teng Yin or Lü Ju either when he came to power in 256. Sun Xiu then ordered Sun Chen to be executed along with his family members.

Reign

As emperor, Sun Xiu was known for being tolerant of differing opinions, as well as his studiousness. However, he did not appear to be a particularly capable emperor, either in military or domestic matters, and he entrusted most of the important affairs to Zhang Bu and Puyang Xing, neither of whom was particularly capable either. Both were also moderately corrupt. The government was therefore not efficient or effective. For example, in 260, with Puyang Xing's support, a costly project was started to create an artificial lake known as the Puli Lake near present-day Xuancheng, Anhui for irrigation purposes, even though many officials believed the project to be too costly and without any guarantee of success. Eventually, the project had to be abandoned when it became clear that it could not be completed.

In the first year of his reign, the Nanking Imperial University was established, with Wei Zhao being the first president.

In 260, Sun Xiu, who had always been concerned about plots regarding his brother, deposed Emperor Sun Liang, acted after receiving false reports that Sun Liang had used witchcraft. He had Sun Liang demoted from the status of Prince of Kuaiji to Marquis of Houguan and sent him to his marquisate (in present-day Fuzhou, Fujian). Sun Liang died en route to Houguan – with the popular belief being that he committed suicide, but with some historians believing that Sun Xiu poisoned him.

The Wu official Xue Xu, who visited Wu's ally state Shu Han in 261, provided a description of Shu to Sun Xiu upon his return as follows:

Historians largely believe that Xue Xu was not just referring to Shu, but rather using Shu's situation as an allegory to warn Sun Xiu that Wu was in a similar situation. Sun Xiu did not seem to have understood what Xue Xu meant.

In 262, Sun Xiu instated his wife Princess Zhu as the empress. He also designated his eldest son, Sun Wan, as the crown prince.

In 263, due to the corruption of the commandery governor Sun Xu, the people of in Jiaozhi (交趾; present-day Hanoi, Vietnam) rebelled, and they were joined by the people in the neighbouring Jiuzhen (九真; modern Thanh Hóa, Vietnam) and Rinan (日南, modern Quang Tri, Vietnam) commanderies. The rebels also sought military assistance from Wu's rival state, Wei. (Wei and its successor state, the Jin dynasty, did provide assistance to the rebels. Besides, the rebellion was not suppressed until 271, some years well into the reign of Sun Xiu's successor, Sun Hao.)

In 263, when Wu's ally state Shu came under attack by their rival state Wei, they sought assistance from Wu. Sun Xiu sent two separate armies – one to attack Shouchun (present-day Shou County, Anhui) and the other to attack Hanzhong Commandery – to distract the Wei army and force them to withdraw from Shu. However, both armies never succeeded in their mission. The Shu emperor Liu Shan surrendered to Wei later that year, thus bringing Shu's existence to an end. When Sun Xiu heard that some former Shu commanderies were at a loss on what to do after Liu Shan's surrender, he sent his troops in an attempt to conquer them for Wu. However, Luo Xian, a former Shu general stationed at Badong Commandery (巴东郡; around the present-day Three Gorges Dam), managed to hold his ground against the Wu invasion and eventually surrendered to Wei.

In the summer of 264, Sun Xiu became ill and could not speak, but could still write, so he wrote an edict summoning Puyang Xing to the imperial palace, where he entrusted the crown prince Sun Wan to Puyang Xing. Sun Xiu died soon thereafter. Puyang Xing, however, did not follow Sun Xiu's dying wish and make Sun Wan the new emperor. Instead, after discussing with Zhang Bu, he decided to put an older and more mature emperor on the throne. (It is unknown how old Sun Wan was at the time of Sun Xiu's death, but since Sun Xiu was 29 when he died, it was most likely that Sun Wan was still a child then.) On the recommendation of Wan Yu, Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu installed Sun Hao, a son of Sun He (crown prince during Sun Quan's reign), on the throne.

A tomb located in Dangtu County, Anhui is assumed to belong to Sun Xiu and Lady Zhu.

Family