Sun (Hualien Trading Company)

Master Sun (孫; died 1725) was a Chinese businessman who served as the head of the Hualien Trading Company under the Qing Empire. Based in Portuguese Macau, he was one of the city's wealthiest and most influential merchants and operated his own floating gambling hall. He was also the uncle of Xiao Han, the Mentor of the Chinese Brotherhood of Assassins.
In 1725, Sun conspired to eliminate a rival trading company led by Lee Huiyin and allied with fellow businessmen Jan van Aert and Alan Jacob to this end. However, their efforts to sabotage Lee's company were thwarted by the Assassin Edward Kenway, who had allied himself with Lee. 
Under the Templars' influence, Sun also searched for the lost city of Angkor, an alleged Precursor site, intending to gift its "treasure" to the Qing Emperor. To this end, he allied himself with the Templar Shimazu Saito, who had acquired an ecrypted sea log containing information on Angkor's location. To decipher the log, Sun reached out to his nephew, only for Xiao Han to assassinate Sun aboard his gambling ship once he learned of his true intentions. 
==Biography==
===Early life===
Not much is known about Sun's early life other than the fact that he used to be close to his nephew Xiao Han and that, for a long time, he had been harboring ambitions to take over Macau in order to restore his family's ancestral glory and riches. These ambitions likely caused Sun and Xiao Han to eventually drift apart, because the latter chose to embrace his Assassin heritage, unlike Sun, and became the Mentor of the Chinese Brotherhood.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 38
By 1725, Sun was close to achieving his lifelong goal, having become one of Macau's wealthiest and most powerful merchants as the head of the Hualien Trading Company.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 13 He primarily ran his business from his personal floating gambling hall, as a means to protect himself from his various enemies.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 31
===Alliance against Lee===
In February 1725, Sun collaborated with Alan Jacob, a representative of the Far East Company, and Jan van Aert, the Chief Navigator of the Dutch East India Company, to sabotage a rival trading company led by Lee Huiyin and benefit their own respective businesses in the process. To this end, they hired Shimazu clan ninja led by the Templar Shimazu Saito to eliminate Lee at her own residence, the Mandarin's House.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 11
After the ninja failed to kill Lee, Alan called an emergency meeting with Sun and Jan at St. Dominic's Church to discuss their next course of action. During the meeting, Sun expressed his belief that the failed attack had nonetheless served as a clear warning to Lee that if she did not stop indulging her avarice, she would pay for it with her life. Unbeknowst to them, the Assassin Edward Kenway was watching the meeting from above after following Alan there and suspected one of them of being a Templar.
Sun listened to Alan's plan to cripple Lee's company, which required Sun to use his connections with the Shimazu clan to have the ninja continue their attacks against Lee's operations. However, both Sun and Jan were hesitant to follow Alan's lead and questioned his motives. To entice their cooperation, Alan showed them a "treasure" he had acquired, which he promised would bring them unprecedented wealth.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 14
Having been convinced to go along with Alan's plan, Sun later did as he had been told and persuaded Shimazu Saito to send several of her ninja to attack Lee's merchants located at the Macau market. He also used his connections with pirates across the to hire a crew to raid Lee's ships along the coast. However, this attack was ultimately thwarted by Edward Kenway, who subsequently interrogated the pirates' captain Mustafa and learned that Sun was his employer.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 15
After Alan's plan to frame Lee's company for opium trafficking backfired and resulted in one of his ships being detained by the Dutch Navy thanks to Kenway's interference,Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 17 Sun met with Alan and Jan at the port. There, he witnessed a furious Alan accuse Jan of betraying their agreement and attempting to sabotage his company, despite Jan claiming he had no choice in the matter.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 18
Sun broke up their fight and revealed that he suspected Lee had somehow learned about their plan and had sabotaged it. He then offered to help Alan recover his confiscated product, and reminded him and Jan that they could not end their alliance until they had dealt with Lee.
===Working with the Shimazu clan===
To recover the Far East Company's seized opium shipment, Sun again reached out to Shimazu Saito, meeting with her at a temple in Macau. There, Sun granted the Templar permission to kill anyone who got in her way, and assured her that once Lee and the European foreigners had been driven out of Macau, his merchants would dominate the market, greatly benefiting the Shimazu clan. Following this, Sun left the temple, unaware that Kenway had infiltrated Saito's ranks after acquiring a ninja's disguise and had eavesdropped on their conversation.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 19 
After Kenway destroyed the opium shipment to prevent anyone from stealing it,Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 21 Sun retaliated by using his influence to blacklist the Assassin's recently-established organization, the Zhang Wei Union, so that its members would not find any clients to hire them.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 24
Around this time, Sun also began searching for the lost city of Angkor, which was believed by the Templars to be a Precursor site. Seeking the city's treasure, Sun coerced Saito into giving him a sea log in her possession,Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 34 which contained encrypted information on Angkor's location. However, Sun and Saito had to postpone their quest for the lost city due to a conflict between the ninja in their service and the Japanese ninja formerly employed by Saito, who had decided to abandon her and form their own faction.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 30
Following an altercation between Saito's men and the Japanese ninja, which was stopped by Kenway, Sun arrived with several guards and confronted the Assassin. Aware that Kenway sought the sea log given to him by Saito, Sun told him that it was his property and warned the Assassin against picking a quarrel with him, claiming that those who did rarely lived to tell the tale. 
Sun and Kenway's standoff was soon broken up by the arrival of Lee, who had allied herself with the Japanese ninja. As Sun and Lee were about to clash, soldiers from the Dutch East India Company came to back up Kenway, revealing that Jan van Aert had betrayed Sun and sided with the Assassin.
Eventually, the three-way standoff came to an end when Lee decided to retreat, and Sun followed suit. Walking with Saito afterwards, Sun reminded the Templar that she owed him her loyalty because he had protected her men, and promised to find someone to decipher the sea log soon.
===Meeting with Xiao Han===
In order to decode the sea log, Sun reached out to Xiao Han, arranging for him and his companions, Liu Qing and Xue Yan, to be escorted to his floating gambling hall. While awaiting their arrival, Sun and Saito were informed that Kenway had been allegedly spotted partaking in the casino games. Sun was amused by the Assassin's boldness and ordered Saito not to interfere, as he did not want any bloodshed in his establishment. He then tasked Saito to make sure his guests arrived safely, but the Templar secretly decided to search for Kenway, having deduced that the Assassin was using a decoy to distract them.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 32
Once Xiao Han and his companions arrived, Sun welcomed his guests and quickly told them why he had summoned them, promising that they would be generously rewarded for their assistance.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 33 He then gave the sea log to his nephew, who claimed that he was familiar with the language as it had been passed down from their people, but it would take time to decipher. As an ecstatic Sun took back the log, Xiao Han questioned what he intended to do with Angkor's treasure once he retrieved it.
Claiming that Precursor technology was not to be trifled with, Sun revealed his plans to gift the artifact to the Qing Emperor, expecting to be greatly rewarded in return. He also stated that Xiao Han and his people would be pardoned once the Emperor learned of their assistance, but this infuriated his nephew, who used a rope dart to snatch the log back from Sun.
As Xiao Han reprimanded his uncle for surrendering himself to the regime and being a disgrace to their homeland and the Creed passed down in their family for generations, he and his companions drew arms, preparing to kill Sun in the name of the Assassin Brotherhood.
After ordering his guards to eliminate the Assassins, Sun attempted to flee, but was eventually cornered by Xiao Han. As his nephew was about to strike him down, Sun was saved by the timely arrival of Kenway, who needed him alive in order to learn the whereabouts of the sea log.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 35 During the subsequent duel between Kenway and Xiao Han, the latter lost the log, which landed at Sun's feet. Assessing the situation, Sun grabbed the journal and tried to flee with it while the Assassins were distracted, ordering his guards to slow them down.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 36
===Death===
Sun's attempt to escape ultimately proved futile, as Xiao Han and his fellow Chinese Assassins easily dispatched the last of his guards before the Mentor used a rope dart to stop Sun dead in his tracks. Left at his nephew's mercy, Sun tried to plead for his life, reminding Xiao Han that they were family, but the latter ignored and stabbed him in the chest with his Hidden Blade. As Sun bled out, Xiao Han declared that his uncle would be unable to bring any more shame upon their ancestors, or himself, and reclaimed the sea log.
Sun's death and the subsequent destruction of his gambling den by Jeong, an admiral hired by Lee, was a crippling blow for the Hualien Trading Company, who lost most of their influence in Macau as a result. This allowed Lee to fill the power vacuum and become the city's dominant merchant,Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 40 as well as assume command of what remained of Sun's former fleet.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 49
==Personality and traits==
Sun was a greedy and ruthless businessman who sought to increase his company's profits by any means necessary. As such, he was not above breaking the law or sabotaging his rivals to achieve his goals. He did not care who had to suffer in order for him to further his own ambitions, though he did have a particular dislike for Westerners, who he believed did not belong in Macau, vowing to drive them out himself.
Sun proved himself several times to be the most rational and cool-headed member of the alliance against Lee, breaking up Alan Jacob and Jan van Aert's fight and trying to maintain the alliance until they achieved their goal of driving Lee out of Macau. However, he lacked any true loyalties and saw all his allies as nothing more than a means to accumulate more wealth and power. He only used Alan and Jan to try and remove his main opposition, Lee, believing that with her gone, he would be able to easily dominate Macau's market. He also viewed his partnership with Saito as a means to acquire Angkor's treasure, and arrogantly told the Templar that she and her men were his "loyal servants" because he had offered them his protection.
Sun's lust for power appears to have been partially driven by the persecution the people like himself suffered under the Qing regime, which resulted in Sun's family losing most of the wealth and influence they once held. Despite being born into an Assassin family, Sun refused to embrace his heritage, believing that his ancestors' pursuit of noble goals was to blame for their family's downfall.
After learning about Angkor's treasure and its true nature as an Isu artifact, Sun believed it was not meant for human hands; instead, he intended to deliver it to the Qing Emperor, hoping to earn his favor so that his family would be pardoned for their "crimes" while he would be generously rewarded.
Sun hid himself behind his wealth and reputation and always relied on others to carry out his commands rather than get his own hands dirty. When in the company of his guards, he was overconfident and believed himself untouchable. He threatened Edward Kenway by mentioning his vast influence in Macau, and later ordered Saito not to attack the Assassin after learning he was aboard his ship, believing Kenway posed no real threat. 
Sun's true cowardly nature was shown when he was cornered by Xiao Han, as he attempted to dissuade his nephew from killing him by appealing to their familial connection. However, his pleas fell on deaf hears, as Xiao Han ended Sun's life anyway, to prevent him from bringing "any more shame upon [himself]". 
==Behind the scenes==
Sun is a character introduced in Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple. In Episode 34, Xiao Han implies that both himself and Sun are descended from an Assassin named Xiao Yun, who may or may not be Shao Jun.
===Etymology===
Sun (孫) is a common Chinese surname dating from at least the 12th century BCE. It is the 12th most common surname in mainland China and has several alternate forms in other dialects and languages, including , and .
==Gallery==
ACFT - Master Sun.jpg|Close-up of Sun
ACFT - Saito and Sun 2.png|Sun with Saito and her men
ACFT - Sun with the sea log.png|Sun with Hendrik's sea log
ACFT - Saito and Sun 3.png|Sun ordering Saito not to attack Edward Kenway
ACFT - Sun greeting his guests.png|Sun welcoming Xiao Han and his companions
ACFT - Edward stopping Xiao Han from killing Sun.png|Edward Kenway stopping Xiao Han from killing Sun
==Appearances==
*Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple
==References==
de:Master Sun
fr:Seigneur Sun
zh:孙师傅
Category:1725 deaths
Category:Individuals
Category:Qing people
Category:Macanese people
Category:Han Chinese
Category:Businesspeople
Category:Sun (孫) lineage
Category:Templar allies