Lady Bu (died March or November 238), personal name Bu Lianshi, was a concubine of Sun Quan (Emperor Da), the founding emperor of the Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. She was posthumously honoured as an empress consort by Sun Quan. She is also known as Empress Bu.

Life Lady Bu was from Huaiyin County (), Linhuai Commandery (), which is in present-day Huai'an, Jiangsu. She was born sometime in the late Eastern Han dynasty. She was a relative of Bu Zhi. When she was young, her mother brought her from Huaiyin to Lujiang Commandery (; around present-day Anqing, Anhui). In 199, Lujiang was conquered by the warlord Sun Ce, who controlled the territories in the Jiangdong region (also called Wu, covering present-day southeastern China), after which Lady Bu moved from Lujiang to Jiangdong. In Jiangdong, Lady Bu was noticed by Sun Ce's younger brother, Sun Quan. After Sun Quan abandoned his secondary wife Lady Xu in 212, Lady Bu became his favorite concubine.() Sanguozhi vol. 59. She bore Sun Quan two daughters: Sun Luban and Sun Luyu.() Sanguozhi vol. 50.

Lady Bu was known to be very accepting towards Sun Quan's other wives and she recommended other women to her husband. As such, she remained in her husband's favour in the long term. In May 229, when Sun Quan declared himself emperor and established the state of Eastern Wu, he considered whether to install Lady Bu as the empress. Lady Bu's relative also promoted this issue through referring to Lady Bu as the Empress. However, no one else supported Lady Bu; instead, they nominated Lady Xu to be the empress. The crown prince, Sun Deng, always responded more favorably to Lady Xu's gifts than to those from Lady Bu when both of them gave him gifts.() Sanguozhi vol. 59. Furthermore, Sun Quan himself had no particular desire to establish an empress. Consequently, although over a decade passed, neither Lady Xu nor Lady Bu became empress during their lifetimes.() Sanguozhi vol. 50.[) Yiwen Leiju vol. 51.

Lady Bu died in 238 and was posthumously honoured as an empress on 24 November of that year. She was interred in the tomb of Lady Bu (), a place located in Jiang Mausoleum (. at the Purple Mountain, Nanjing, Jiangsu). Compared to Pan Shu, the formally-installed empress of Sun Quan, she received comparatively inferior treatment both during her lifetime and posthumously.() Liuchaoshijileibian (六朝事迹类编), vol. 13. The work dates to the Song dynasty and is compiled by Zhang Dunyi (張敦頣).

Lady Bu's personal name was not recorded in her biography in the Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi), the authoritative source for the history of the Three Kingdoms period. However, the Jiankang Shilu mentioned that her personal name was "Lianshi", hence she was also known as "Bu Lianshi".([) Jiankang Shilu vol. 2.

In popular culture

Lady Bu is first introduced as a playable character in the seventh installment of Koei's Dynasty Warriors video game series. She is referred to as "Lian Shi" in the game.

See also Eastern Wu family trees#Sun Quan Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms

Notes

References

Chen, Shou (3rd century). Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi). Xu, Song ( 8th century). Jiankang Shilu ().