47 Facts About Chen Shou

Chen Shou, courtesy name Chengzuo, was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer who lived during the Three Kingdoms period and Jin dynasty of China.

Chen Shou is most known for his most celebrated work, the Records of the Three Kingdoms, which records the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period.

Chen Shou wrote the Sanguozhi primarily in the form of biographies of notable persons of those eras.

Chen Shou started his career as an official in the state of Shu during the Three Kingdoms era but was demoted and sent out of the capital for his refusal to fawn on Huang Hao, an influential court eunuch in Shu in its twilight years.

Chen Shou held mainly scribal and secretarial positions under the Jin government before dying from illness in 297.

Chen Shou was from Anhan County, Baxi Commandery, which is in present-day Nanchong, Sichuan.

Chen Shou was known for being studious since he was young and was described as intelligent, insightful and knowledgeable.

Chen Shou was mentored by the Shu official Qiao Zhou, who was from Baxi Commandery.

Chen Shou was very well versed in the Records of the Grand Historian and Book of Han.

Chen Shou was recommended as a xiaolian, and appointed as a zuo zhuzuo lang and the acting Prefect of Yangping County.

Chen Shou was promoted to zhuzuo lang and appointed as the zhongzheng of Baxi Commandery.

When Zhang Hua recommended Chen Shou to serve as a Gentleman Palace Writer, the Ministry of Personnel appointed Chen Shou as the Administrator of Changguang Commandery instead on the recommendation of Xun Xu.

Chen Shou declined the appointment on the grounds that he had to look after his elderly mother.

The Jin Shu mentioned that Chen Shou took a leave of absence when his mother died, and he fulfilled her dying wish to be buried in Luoyang.

Chen Shou did not want to be buried together with his father, so Chen Shou buried her in Luoyang.

Chen Shou died of illness at the age of 65 in 297 during the reign of Emperor Hui.

Chen Shou's talents and achievements were not reflected in his status at the time of his death and many people felt that it was an injustice to him.

The Huayang Guozhi account apparently suggests that Chen Shou died in 300 CE or after, which did not match his year of death mentioned in the Jin Shu account.

Sometime in the third century after 280, Chen Shou wrote his magnum opus: the 65-volume Sanguozhi, which records the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period.

Chen Shou received acclaim from his contemporaries for his work and was praised as an excellent historian.

Chen Shou destroyed his work after reading Chen Shou's Sanguozhi.

Chen Shou promised them that he would write biographies for their fathers in the Sanguozhi if they gave him the grain, but they refused, so he did not write the biographies.

The Qing dynasty writer Pan Mei rebutted the Jin Shu's account about Chen Shou attempting to extort from the Dings and called it "uninformed".

Chen Shou disproved the claim that the Ding brothers were very famous officials in Wei by pointing out that they had neither held important appointments nor made any significant achievements.

Chen Shou's concluding remarks on this issue were that the Jin Shu made a malicious claim.

The second one suggested that Chen Shou held personal grudges against the Shu chancellor Zhuge Liang and his son Zhuge Zhan, hence he wrote negative comments about them in the Sanguozhi.

Chen Shou's father was a military adviser to the Shu general Ma Su.

When Ma Su was executed by Zhuge Liang after his failure at the Battle of Jieting in 228, Chen Shou's father was implicated and sentenced to kun, a punishment involving the shaving of a person's head.

When Chen Shou wrote the biographies of Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Zhan in the Sanguozhi, he commented on them as follows: Military leadership was not Zhuge Liang's forte, and he lacked the resourcefulness of a brilliant military leader; Zhuge Zhan excelled only in literary arts, and he had an exaggerated reputation.

The Qing dynasty writer Zhao Yi refuted the Jin Shu claim that Chen Shou was prejudiced against Zhuge Liang in the Sanguozhi, and remarked that the claim was "an uninformed statement".

Chen Shou commented that military leadership did not necessarily had to be regarded as Zhuge Liang's forte because Zhuge made outstanding achievements in other fields.

Zhao pointed out two pieces of evidence which contradict the Jin Shu claim: Chen Shou gave highly positive comments about Zhuge Liang's ability as a politician in the Zhuge Liang Collection and in his personal commentary at the end of Zhuge's biography in the Sanguozhi.

Zhao Yi's concluding remarks on this issue were that Chen Shou had clearly identified Zhuge Liang's strengths and weaknesses in his appraisal of Zhuge Liang in the Sanguozhi.

Chen Shou was the sole historian who made an exception.

Chen Shou was the only one acting as such putting aside impartial judgement for personal animosity.

Chen Shou felt that the Bashu Qijiu Zhuan was not comprehensive enough, so he expanded it to the 10-volume Yibu Qijiu Zhuan.

Chen Shou's work was presented by the official Wen Li to Emperor Wu, who praised it.

Chen Shou was known for his literary talent and he succeeded his uncle as an Assistant Gentleman of Writing.

Chen Shou served as the Prefect of Shanglian County.

Chen Shou Li had a younger relative, Chen Shou Jie, whose courtesy name was Dazhi.

Chen Shou Jie assumed the following appointments: Registrar of the governor of Yi Province; baozhongling ; West Commandant of Yongchang Commandery ; Administrator of Jianning and Xinggu commanderies.

The Jin Shu mentioned that Chen Shou fell sick during the filial mourning period after his father's death.

Chen Shou was recommended as a xiucai and served as a Gentleman of Writing.

Chen Shou was reassigned to be the Administrator of Jianping Commandery, but he declined the appointment and claimed that he was ill because he wanted to remain in Yi province.

Chen Shou was then appointed as the Administrator of Guanghan Commandery.

We, Your Majesty's subjects, propose: The late zhishu shi yushi Chen Shou wrote the Sanguozhi, which contains good advice and evaluates successes and failures.

Chen Shou included new materials he collected through research, and added his personal commentary.