Traditional Chinese 陳震 Name Chen Zhen Simplified Chinese 陈震 Role Three Kingdoms | Pinyin Died 235 AD Wade–Giles Ch'en Chen | |
Courtesy name Xiaoqi (Chinese: 孝起; pinyin: Xiaoqi; Wade–Giles: Hsiao-ch'i) | ||
Chen Zhen (died 235), courtesy name Xiaoqi, was an official of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period of China.
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Life
Chen Zhen was from Nanyang Commandery, which is around present-day Nanyang, Henan. When Liu Bei became Governor of Jing Province, Chen Zhen was hired to serve as a local officer and was stationed in various commanderies. When Liu Bei entered Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing), Chen Zhen remained in his service, where he progressed in rank and soon became Prefect of the Masters of Writing at the capital. When Sun Quan declared himself emperor and established the state of Eastern Wu in 229, Liu Shan sent Chen Zhen to offer his congratulations and to form an alliance, which he did, and they also drew out their respective states' boundaries. When he died in 235, his son Chen Ji succeeded him.
In Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Chen Zhen first appears in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms as a subordinate of the warlord Yuan Shao. His actions under Yuan Shao are not unlike his duties with Liu Bei, where he performs diplomatic tasks such as delivering Liu Bei's letter to Guan Yu in Luoyang, and meeting with Sun Ce to request aid against Cao Cao. Also in the novel, it was he who suggested to Liu Bei that he meet the seer Li Yi (李意) while mourning the deaths of his brothers.