Lady Quan was a daughter of
Quan Shang (全尚). Her mother was a daughter of Sun Gong, the grandson of
Sun Jing. Her relative
Quan Cong married
Sun Luban, a daughter of Wu's founding emperor
Sun Quan. When she was young, she looked pretty and was favoured by Sun Luban. In May 252, Sun Liang ascended the throne upon the death of his father. On 16 February 253, he instated Lady Quan as the empress. Following that, Empress Quan's family and relatives rose to power as six members of the Quan clan (including Quan Shang) were enfeoffed as marquises and assumed high offices in the Wu government and military forces. This was regarded as a phenomenon because since the founding of Wu in 229, there had never been a case of
consort kin playing prominent roles in the Wu political scene. In 257, when
Zhuge Dan started
a rebellion in Wei-controlled Shouchun (壽春; around present-day
Shou County,
Anhui), he requested help from Wu so Sun Liang ordered the Quans to lead troops to Shouchun to assist Zhuge Dan. However, the rebellion was suppressed by Wei forces and Zhuge Dan was killed, while four of the Quans surrendered and defected to Wei. Thereafter, the Quans' influence in Wu weakened drastically. In November 258, Sun Liang was deposed from the throne by
Sun Chen, a distant relative of the Wu imperial family who rose to power in the 250s and became the regent of Wu. Sun Liang became known as the "
Prince of Kuaiji" after his dethronement while Empress Quan also lost her place as the empress. In 260, Sun Liang's elder half-brother and successor,
Sun Xiu further demoted Sun Liang to "Marquis of Houguan" and sent Sun Liang to his marquisate in
Houguan County. Lady Quan accompanied Sun Liang to Houguan County and settled there. She returned to the Wu capital
Jianye (建業; present-day
Nanjing,
Jiangsu) after Wu was
vanquished in 280 by forces of the
Jin dynasty. She died sometime in the Yongning era (301–303) of the reign of
Emperor Hui of Jin. ==See also==