It is not known when Sun Taizhen was born, but it is known that she came from the Wuyue capital Qiantang (錢塘, in modern Hangzhou, Zhejiang).
The historical records did not state her heritage, but it is known that she had at least one younger brother, Sun Chengyou (孫承祐), who would later become a prominent general for Wuyue (and later, for Song dynasty).
Later, during Later Han's successor state Later Zhou, she was given the title of Lady Xiande (i.e., "worthy and virtuous") of Wuyue.
[2] In 972, by which time Later Zhou had been succeeded by Song, Song's Emperor Taizu gave Lady Sun the greater title of Lady Xiande Shunmu (i.e., "worthy, virtuous, obedient, and concordant") of Wuyue.
[2] When Qian Hongchu (who had changed his name to Qian Chu by this point to observe naming taboo for Emperor Taizu's father Zhao Hongyin),[5] as a Song vassal, attacked Wuyue's northwestern neighbor Jiangnan's Chang Prefecture (常州, in modern Changzhou, Jiangsu) in 974,[6] Lady Sun stayed at the capital Qiantang to oversee it.