Pan Jun

After Sun Quan conquered Liu Bei's territories in Jing Province, most of the officials there agreed to surrender and serve under him. Pan Jun, however, claimed that he was ill, stayed at home and refused to get out of bed. Sun Quan then sent his servants to Pan Jun's residence and carry his bed over with him lying on it. As Pan Jun lay face down, crying and sobbing in a disconsolate manner,[13] Sun Quan comforted him and told him: "Chengming, in the past, Guan Dingfu was a captive from Ruo, yet King Wu appointed him as a military commander; Peng Zhongshuang was a captive from Shen, yet King Wen appointed him as prime minister. Although these two famous men were initially captives from other states, the kings of Chu still employed them and gave them the opportunity to leave their names in history as great statesmen of Chu. Are you not willing to surrender and join me because you think I am not as magnanimous as these kings of ancient times?"[14]

Sun Quan then ordered his servants to use a piece of cloth to wipe away the tears from Pan Jun's face. Pan Jun got out of bed, knelt down and agreed to surrender and serve under Sun Quan. Sun Quan then appointed him as an Attendant Official at Headquarters (治中) and often consulted him on affairs related to Jing Province.[15] Some time later, Sun Quan commissioned Pan Jun as General of the Household Who Assists the Army (輔軍中郎將) and put him in command of troops.[16]

In early 220, Fan Zhou (樊伷), a former official in Wuling Commandery (武陵郡; around present-day Changde, Hunan), which used to be under Liu Bei's control, incited the indigenous tribes in Wuling to rebel against Sun Quan. When Sun Quan's other subjects said that they needed at least 10,000 troops to suppress the rebellion,[17] Sun Quan rejected their idea and asked Pan Jun for his opinion. When Pan Jun said that 5,000 troops would suffice, Sun Quan asked him, "What makes you so confident?"[18] Pan Jun replied: "Fan Zhou is from an old clan in Nanyang Commandery. Although he has a way with words, he doesn't have the talents of an orator. I know this because Fan Zhou once said that he would prepare a day-long feast for the folks in the commandery, but the food never showed up by midday so about ten people got up and left. This is like seeing through a dwarf's lies about his true height."[19] Sun Quan laughed and accepted Pan Jun's suggestion. Pan Jun led 5,000 troops to deal with Fan Zhou and succeeded in eliminating him and quelling the rebellion.[20]

As a reward for his success, Pan Jun was promoted to General of Vehement Might (奮威將軍) and enfeoffed as the Marquis of Changqian Village (常遷亭侯).[21] When Rui Xuan (芮玄) died, Pan Jun took over command of his troops and moved to the garrison at Xiakou (夏口; in present-day Wuhan, Hubei).[22]

In 229,[23] after Sun Quan declared himself emperor of the state of Eastern Wu (or simply Wu), he appointed Pan Jun as Minister Steward (少府) and elevated him from the status of a village marquis to a county marquis under the title "Marquis of Liuyang" (劉陽侯).[24]

Pan Jun was soon promoted to Minister of Ceremonies (太常) and stationed in Wuchang (武昌; present-day Ezhou, Hubei). Around March or April 231, the indigenous tribes living in Wuxi (五谿; literally "five streams"; referring to an area around present-day Huaihua, Hunan) rebelled against Wu rule, Sun Quan granted Pan Jun acting imperial authority and ordered him to supervise the general Lü Dai as he led 50,000 troops to pacify the rebellion.[25] During this time, Pan Jun ensured that promises were kept, and rewards and punishments were given out fairly. By December 234,[25] the rebellion ended with over 10,000 rebels killed or taken captive. The indigenous tribes also became so drastically weakened that they could not rebel again in a long time.[26]

At the end of the four-year-long campaign, around December 234 or January 235,[25] Pan Jun returned to Wuchang, where he was previously stationed. When he was in Wuchang, he and the Wu general Lu Xun were in charge of civil and military affairs in Jing Province.[27]

Sometime the 230s, Sun Quan appointed Lü Yi as the supervisor of the bureau in charge of auditing and reviewing the work of all officials throughout Wu. The bureau essentially functioned like a modern secret service and served as a precursor to the censorate of later Chinese dynasties.[28] Lü Yi freely abused his powers by falsely accusing many officials of serious offences, resulting in some of them being wrongfully arrested, imprisoned and tortured. His victims included the Imperial Chancellor Gu Yong and the general Zhu Ju.[29]

Lü Yi initially wanted to make a case against Gu Yong for incompetence and ask Sun Quan to remove him from office. However, after an official Xie Gong (謝厷) reminded him that Pan Jun, the Minister of Ceremonies, would most likely succeed Gu Yong as Imperial Chancellor, Lü Yi immediately dropped the case against Gu Yong. This was because he knew that Pan Jun resented him and would take action against him if he became Imperial Chancellor.[30]

Pan Jun managed to seek permission from Sun Quan to leave his post at Wuchang (武昌; present-day Ezhou, Hubei) and return to the Wu imperial capital, Jianye (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu). Although he wanted to speak up about Lü Yi's abuses of power, he decided to take matters into his own hands after seeing that Sun Quan paid no attention to the crown prince Sun Deng, who had already voiced concerns to his father about Lü Yi on numerous occasions. He pretended to host a banquet, invited all his colleagues to attend, and hoped to use the opportunity to assassinate Lü Yi, whom he regarded as a threat to the Eastern Wu state. Lü Yi caught wind of Pan Jun's plan, so he lied that he was ill and did not show up.[31]

Despite his failure to assassinate Lü Yi, Pan Jun did not stop speaking up about Lü Yi's wicked deeds every time he had an opportunity to meet Sun Quan. Over time, Lü Yi fell out of Sun Quan's trust and favour, and his abuses of power eventually came to light in 238. Sun Quan removed him from office, ordered Gu Yong to thoroughly investigate his crimes, and had him executed. After the Lü Yi scandal was over, Sun Quan sent an apology to all his senior officials for not heeding their advice and urging them to point out his mistakes.[32][33]

Pan Jun died in 239. His son, Pan Zhu (潘翥), inherited his peerage and became the next Marquis of Liuyang (劉陽侯).[34]

Sun Quan was fond of hunting pheasants but Pan Jun advised him against it. Sun Quan asked him: "Why is it that after the last time we parted ways, you no longer enjoy hunting pheasants now as much as you did?"[38] Pan Jun replied: "The Empire has yet to be pacified. There are so many things to do. Pheasant hunting is not something urgent. However, if bows and bowstrings get damaged during hunting, that will become a big problem (because we need bows to be functional in wartime). I hope that Your Majesty will stop hunting pheasants for the sake of your subjects."[39] He then destroyed his own parasol, which was made from pheasant feathers. Sun Quan then stopped and never went pheasant hunting again.[40]

Between 226 and 230, when the Wu general Bu Zhi was stationed at Oukou (漚口; in present-day Changsha, Hunan), he wrote to Sun Quan to seek permission to recruit men from the various commanderies in southern Jing Province to serve in the Wu army. When Sun Quan sought Pan Jun's opinion on this issue, the latter said: "When overbearing generals are given access to the common people, they will cause harm and chaos to them. Bu Zhi's fame comes from the flattery and exaggeration by people around him. Your Majesty shouldn't approve his request." Sun Quan heeded Pan Jun's advice.[41]

There was one Xu Zong (徐宗) from Yuzhang Commandery (豫章郡; around present-day Nanchang, Jiangxi) who served as a general under Sun Quan. Xu Zong was a friend of Kong Rong and was well known among the literati. When he visited Jianye (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu, the Wu imperial capital, he allowed his subordinates to behave lawlessly and do as they please. Pan Jun, who was known for strictly upholding the law without worrying about how others would see him, ordered Xu Zong to be arrested and executed for breaking the law.[42]

Yin Fan (隱蕃), an official who used to serve Wu's rival state Wei before defecting to Wu, was well-acquainted with many Wu officials because he was a good speaker. Pan Jun's son, Pan Zhu (潘翥), befriended him and even sent him gifts.[43]

When Pan Jun found out, he was so furious that he wrote a letter to his son as follows: "I have received grace from the State, therefore I should make it my mission to do my best to serve the State. When a young man like you comes to the Imperial Capital, you should behave in a respectful and humble manner, and seek to build ties with people who are known for their virtues and wisdom. Why do you choose to associate yourself with a defector from our rival state and even send him gifts? I may be far away from the Imperial Capital now, but I was very shocked, angry and worried when I heard about what you did. After you read this letter, I want you to ask the authorities to flog you 100 times as a punishment, and I want you to take back the gifts from Yin Fan."[44]

At the time, many people felt surprised by Pan Jun's response and thought that he was too harsh with his son. However, after Yin Fan was executed for rebelling against Wu later, everyone became convinced that Pan Jun was right to stop his son from associating with Yin Fan.[45]

An uncle of Pan Jun married a sister of Jiang Wan, a senior official of Wu's ally state Shu. In March or April 231,[25] Wei Jing (衞旌), the Wu-appointed Administrator of Wuling Commandery (武陵郡; around present-day Changde, Hunan), reported to Sun Quan that Pan Jun had been secretly making contact with Jiang Wan with the intention of defecting to Shu. After reading Wei Jing's report, Sun Quan remarked, "Chengming won't do this." He then sealed Wei Jing's report and showed it to Pan Jun. At the same time, he removed Wei Jing from office and recalled him to Jianye (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu), the Wu imperial capital.[46]