Sun Kaihua was born in 1840 in Cili, Hunan, came up through the Hunan Army and rose by merit to the rank of provincial commander. In the 1870s he was posted to northern Taiwan with his Zhuosheng battalions.

In 1884 the Sino-French War reached Taiwan. In August the French bombarded Keelung; Liu Mingchuan judged the whole line could not be held and pulled his forces back toward Taipei and Tamsui. On 8 October the French landed near Shalun at the mouth of the Tamsui River, aiming to open the way into the Taipei basin.

Holding Hobe were Sun's Zhuosheng battalions and locally raised militia. They had laid obstacles on the beach and dug in beforehand, and they came out of the woods and low hills while the French were still finding their footing, fought at close quarters and pushed the landing force back into the sea. The engagement came to be called the Victory at Hobe, one of the few Qing wins on the Taiwan front. The French turned to blockading the island instead.

After the war he became Provincial Military Commander of Fujian, and he died in 1893.