Chen Gui ( 190s),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theo ...

Hanyu, was a Chinese politician who lived in the late

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

of China.

Family background and early career

Chen Gui's ancestral home (and probably birthplace too) was in Huaipu County (), Xiapi Commandery (),

Xu Province Xuzhou as a historical toponym refers to varied area in different eras. Ordinarily, it was a reference to the one of the Nine Provinces (China), Nine Provinces which modern Xuzhou inherited. History Pre-Qin era Xuzhou or Xu Province was one ...

(), which is present-day Lianshui County,

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

. He came from a family of government officials. His uncle, Chen Qiu (), held high-ranking positions in the Han government during the reign of Emperor Ling. Chen Qiu's sons, Chen Yu () and Chen Cong (), served as

commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and ...

administrators.(陳球字伯真，下邳淮浦人也。... 弟子珪，沛相； ...) ''Houhanshu'' vol. 56.

Early career

Chen Gui started his career as the Prefect () of Ju County (劇縣; south of present-day Shouguang,

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in His ...

) in Beihai State after he was nominated as a '' xiaolian'' (civil service candidate) by his home commandery. He resigned after some time, but was later nominated as a ''maocai'' (茂才; outstanding civil servant) and appointed as the Chancellor () of Jibei Kingdom (around present-day

Tai'an Tai'an () is a prefecture-level city in Western Shandong Province of the People's Republic of China. Centered on Mount Tai, the city borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Zibo to the east, Linyi to the southeast, Liaocheng to ...

, Shandong). He was subsequently reassigned to be the Chancellor of Pei Kingdom (around present-day Pei County,

Refusal to join Yuan Shu

Chen Gui was an old acquaintance of the warlord Yuan Shu, who, like him, also came from a family of government officials. In early 197, Yuan Shu declared himself emperor in Shouchun (壽春; present-day

Shou County Shou County or Shouxian () is a county in the north-central part of Anhui Province, China, and is located on the southern (right) bank of the Huai River. It is the southernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Huainan. Its ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...

) – an act deemed treasonous against the figurehead Emperor Xian of the

. Yuan Shu then wrote to Chen Gui: "In the past, when the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

was overthrown, all the heroes throughout the Empire started fighting for power. In the end, only the smartest and bravest succeeded in seizing the

Mandate of Heaven The Mandate of Heaven () is a Chinese political philosophy that was used in ancient and imperial China to legitimize the rule of the King or Emperor of China. According to this doctrine, heaven (天, '' Tian'') – which embodies the nat ...

. As of now, the Han Empire is in a state of chaos and is on the verge of collapse. This is a time for heroes to make glorious achievements. We have known each other for years. Are you not willing to help me? If you are willing to join me, you will be my most trusted adviser." At the time, Chen Gui's second son, Chen Ying (), was in Xiapi (下邳; present-day Pizhou,

), the capital of

. Yuan Shu wanted to send his men to seize Chen Ying, and use Chen Ying as a hostage to force Chen Gui to join him. Chen Gui wrote a reply to Yuan Shu:

Service under Lü Bu

In 196, the warlord

Lü Bu Lü Bu () (died 7 February 199), courtesy name Fengxian, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of Imperial China. Originally a subordinate of a minor warlord Ding Yuan, he betr ...

seized control of

from

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the ...

while the latter was away at a battle against

Yuan Shu Yuan Shu () (died July or August 199), courtesy name Gonglu, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. He rose to prominence following the collapse of the Han central government in 189 ...

. Chen Gui and his eldest son, Chen Deng, were forced to become Lü Bu's subordinates. In 197, after declaring himself emperor, Yuan Shu proposed forming an alliance with Lü Bu, and offered to arrange a marriage between his son and Lü Bu's daughter. Chen Gui was worried that the two warlords would pose a greater threat to the Han central government if they became allies, so he advised Lü Bu to avoid having any ties to Yuan Shu. He also urged Lü Bu to build friendly relations with

Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the dynasty's final years. As one o ...

, the warlord who controlled the figurehead Emperor Xian and the Han central government in the imperial capital Xu (許; present-day

Xuchang Xuchang (; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province in Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe to the southeast, and Pi ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...

). Lü Bu heeded Chen Gui's advice and rejected Yuan Shu's offer. He also arrested Yuan Shu's messenger, Han Yin (), and sent him as a prisoner to the imperial capital Xu, where Han Yin was publicly executed. After that, Chen Gui asked Lü Bu to send Chen Deng as his representative to meet Cao Cao, but Lü Bu refused. However, after the Han central government sent an emissary to grant Lü Bu the appointment of General of the Left (), Lü Bu was so happy that he sent Chen Deng as his representative to Xu to thank Cao Cao and the Han imperial court. In Xu, Chen Deng urged Cao Cao to eliminate Lü Bu and agreed to serve as a mole for Cao Cao in Xu Province. Cao Cao also promoted Chen Deng to the position of Administrator () of Guangling Commandery (廣陵郡; around present-day

Huai'an Huai'an (), formerly called Huaiyin () until 2001, is a prefecture-level city in the central part of Jiangsu province in Eastern China. Huai'an is situated almost directly south of Lianyungang, southeast of Suqian, northwest of Yancheng, a ...

), and increased Chen Gui's salary by 2,000 ''dan'' of grain. Yuan Shu was furious that Lü Bu reneged on his word, so he allied with

Han Xian Han Xian (died 197) was a bandit leader and military general who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Life Han Xian was a leader among the White Wave Bandits. In 195, Emperor Xian, who had been a puppet emperor under the contro ...

and Yang Feng, and sent his general Zhang Xun () to attack Lü Bu. Lü Bu asked Chen Gui, "Yuan Shu sends his forces to attack me because I followed your suggestion. What should I do now?" Chen Gui replied, "The alliance between Han Xian, Yang Feng and Yuan Shu is formed by a loose assembly of their forces. They have not decided on a common plan so they will not last long. They are like chickens tied up together and they cannot move in tandem. My son, Deng, has a plan to separate them." Lü Bu heeded Chen Gui's advice and wrote a letter to Han Xian and Yang Feng, urging them to defect to his side as well as promising to share the spoils of war with them. Han Xian and Yang Feng were so pleased that they sided with Lü Bu, defeated Zhang Xun at Xiapi (下邳; present-day Pizhou,

) and captured Qiao Rui (), one of Yuan Shu's officers. Yuan Shu's forces suffered heavy casualties and many of his soldiers fell into the river and drowned.(暹、奉大喜，遂共擊勳等於下邳，大破之，生禽橋蕤，餘衆潰走，其所殺傷、墯水死者殆盡。) ''Houhanshu'' vol. 75. By the time of the Battle of Xiapi of 198–199, Chen Gui had retired while Chen Deng assisted

in eliminating

. It is not known when Chen Gui died.

Notes

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220� ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * * Fan, Ye (5th century). ''

Book of the Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Lat ...

'' (''Houhanshu''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms () by Pei Songzhi (372-451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After leaving his native land, Pei ...