Cheng Pu () (died after 210),

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 Theob ...

Demou, was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He previously served under Sun Quan's predecessors: Sun Jian (Sun Quan's father) and Sun Ce (Sun Quan's elder brother).

Early career under Sun Jian

Cheng Pu was from Tuyin County (),

Youbeiping Commandery Youbeiping Commandery ( zh, 右北平郡), or Beiping Commandery ( zh, 北平郡) was a commandery in imperial China from the Warring States period to Tang dynasty. It was located in present-day Hebei and Tianjin. Youbeiping Commandery was establi ...

(), which is located east of present-day

Fengrun District Fengrun District () is a district of the city of Tangshan, Hebei province, People's Republic of China. Administrative divisions Subdistricts: * Taiping Road Subdistrict (), Yanshan Road Subdistrict (), Gengyang Subdistrict () Towns: *Fengrun T ...

Tangshan Tangshan () is a coastal, industrial prefecture-level city in the northeast of Hebei province. It is located in the eastern part of Hebei Province and the northeastern part of the North China Plain. It is located in the central area of the Boha ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

. He initially served as a minor official in the local commandery office. He was good-looking, resourceful, and well versed in military strategy. Cheng Pu later came to serve Sun Jian and joined him in suppressing the

Yellow Turban Rebellion The Yellow Turban Rebellion, alternatively translated as the Yellow Scarves Rebellion, was a peasant revolt in China against the Eastern Han dynasty. The uprising broke out in 184 CE during the reign of Emperor Ling. Although the main rebelli ...

in the 180s, defeating the rebels at Wan (宛; present-day

Wancheng District Wancheng District () is one of two districts of the city of Nanyang, in the southwest of Henan province, People's Republic of China. Administrative divisions As 2012, this district is divided to 6 subdistricts, 4 towns and 6 townships. ;Subdistr ...

, Nanyang, Henan) and Deng (鄧; present-day Dengzhou, Henan). In 190, he participated in the

campaign against Dong Zhuo The Campaign against Dong Zhuo was a punitive expedition initiated by a coalition of regional officials and warlords against the warlord Dong Zhuo in 190 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The members of the coalition claimed that Dong had the i ...

on Sun Jian's side, and defeated Dong Zhuo's forces at Yangren (陽人; believed to be near present-day

Wenquan Wenquan () is a common name for places in the People's Republic of China: County *Wenquan County (温泉县), of the Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Towns (温泉镇) * Wenquan, Anhui, in Yuexi County, Anhui, Yuexi County * Wenquan ...

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 al ...

). Cheng Pu fought in several battles and had been wounded many times.

Service under Sun Ce

Sun Jian died in 191 and was succeeded by his eldest son Sun Ce. Cheng Pu continued serving under Sun Ce and accompanied him on his conquests in the Jiangdong region. He aided Sun Ce in conquering Lujiang Commandery () before they crossed the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...

and attacked Hengjiang () and Dangli (), where they defeated Zhang Ying () and Yu Mi (), the subordinates of a rival warlord Liu Yao. Cheng Pu also participated in the conquests of Moling (), Hushu (), Jurong () and Qu'e (). In recognition of his contributions, he was given an additional 2,000 troops under his command and awarded 50 horses. He made many achievements in battle in the subsequent conquests of Wucheng (), Shimu (), Bomen (), Lingchuan () and Yuhang (). After Sun Ce conquered

Kuaiji Commandery Kuaiji Commandery ( Chinese: t , s , p ''Kuàijī Jùn''), formerly romanized as K'uai-chi Commandery, was a former commandery of China in the area of Hangzhou Bay. When first established, its capital was at Wu (present- ...

(around present-day

Shaoxing Shaoxing (; ) is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. It was formerly known as Kuaiji and Shanyin and abbreviated in Chinese as (''Yuè'') from the area's former inhabitant ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

) from its administrator Wang Lang, he appointed Cheng Pu as the Commandant () of Wu Commandery, with his administrative headquarters at Qiantang County (錢唐縣; present-day

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...

). Cheng Pu was later reassigned as the Commandant of Danyang Commandery () and he moved to Shicheng County (). He participated in the campaigns at Xuancheng () and Jing (), and helped to pacify rebellions in Wu (), Lingyang () and Chungu () counties. When Sun Ce was attacking the bandits led by Zu Lang (), he was surrounded by the enemy, but Cheng Pu, accompanied by only one horseman, charged into the encirclement to rescue his lord. Cheng Pu fought fiercely and the bandits withdrew in fear, allowing Sun Ce to escape. Cheng Pu was later appointed as General of the Household Who Defeats Bandits () and the Administrator () of Lingling Commandery (). He followed Sun Ce in the campaigns against Liu Xun and Huang Zu at Xunyang () and Shaxian () respectively, before returning to his garrison at Shicheng.

Service under Sun Quan

When Sun Ce died in 200, Cheng Pu, along with Zhang Zhao and others, pledged allegiance to Sun Quan (Sun Ce's younger brother) and travelled around Sun Quan's territories to attack those who refused to submit to the new lord. Under Sun Quan, Cheng Pu fought at the

Battle of Jiangxia The Battle of Jiangxia was a battle fought between the warlords Sun Quan and Liu Biao in 208 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The battle was the last part of a series of military engagements between Sun Quan and Liu Biao's general Huang Zu in J ...

in 208 and aided in the conquest of

Le'an Le'an County () is a county of central Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is ...

() when he passed by Yuzhang (). He later replaced

Taishi Ci Taishi Ci () (166–206), courtesy name Ziyi, was a Chinese military general who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He had served as a minor Han official, before eventually coming to serve warlords Liu Yao, Sun Ce, and Sun Ce's s ...

as the commander of a garrison at Haihun (). During the Battle of Red Cliffs of 208–209, Cheng Pu and

Zhou Yu Zhou Yu (, ) (175–210), courtesy name Gongjin (), was a Chinese military general and strategist serving under the warlord Sun Ce in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. After Sun Ce died in the year 200, he continued serving under Sun Quan, ...

served as the Left and Right Commanders of Sun Quan's army respectively, and scored a major victory in the battle against Cao Cao's forces. Cheng Pu and Zhou Yu also led Sun Quan's forces in the subsequent Battle of Jiangling, a follow-up to the Battle of Red Cliffs, and defeated Cao Cao's general

Cao Ren Cao Ren () (168 – 6 May 223), courtesy name Zixiao, was a military general serving during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China under the warlord Cao Cao, who was also his older second cousin. He continued serving in the state of Cao Wei � ...

. After those battles, Cheng Pu was promoted to Major-General () and he served as the Administrator () of Jiangxia Commandery (), with the commandery capital at Shaxian County (), and was in charge of four counties. Cheng Pu was the eldest among all the senior military officers under Sun Quan, so the others often addressed him as "Elder Cheng" () to show their respect towards him. He was also known to be a generous man who enjoyed mingling with the

scholar-gentry The "gentry", or "landed gentry" in China was the elite who held privileged status through passing the Imperial exams, which made them eligible to hold office. These literati, or scholar-officials, (''shenshi'' 紳士 or ''jinshen'' 縉紳), al ...

. When Zhou Yu died, Cheng Pu was assigned to replace him as the Administrator () of

Nan Commandery Nan Commandery ( zh, 南郡, "Southern Commandery") was a Chinese commandery that existed from the Warring States period to Tang dynasty. Its territories covered present-day central and western Hubei province, as well as parts of Chongqing. The seat ...

(). After Sun Quan agreed to allow his ally

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 ...

to temporarily occupy Nan Commandery, Cheng Pu was relocated to Jiangxia Commandery. Cheng Pu was subsequently promoted to General Who Defeats Bandits (). It is not known when he died.

Death

Cheng Pu's biography did not state when he died. However, the ''Wu Shu'' (吳書; ''Book of Wu''), written by Wei Zhao, mentioned that Cheng Pu killed hundreds of traitors and had their bodies thrown into a fire. He became ill after that incident and died after more than 100 days later. In 229, after Sun Quan declared himself emperor and established the state of Eastern Wu, he granted Cheng Pu's son, Cheng Zi (), a marquis title in recognition of Cheng Pu's contributions.(權稱尊號，追論普功，封子咨為亭侯。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 55.

In popular culture

Cheng Pu became a playable character in Koei's ''

Dynasty Warriors 9 ''Dynasty Warriors 9'' is a hack and slash video game developed by Omega Force and published by Koei Tecmo. It was released in February 2018 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. It received mixed reviews from critics. A strateg ...

''. He is also a character in Total War: Three Kingdoms. In the 2010 TV show ''Three Kingdoms'', Cheng Pu dies from an arrow shot by

Shamoke Shamoke (died 222) was a tribal chieftain who lived in Wuling Commandery (武陵郡; around present-day Changde, Hunan) in the late Eastern Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms period of China. He allied with the Shu Han state during the Battle of Xiaot ...

during a battle around 220 with Shu forces. After claiming Jing Province back and also beheading

Guan Yu Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...

declared war on Sun Quan's Wu out of retaliation and grief. To counter the move, Sun Quan sent two generals,

Han Dang Han Dang (died 227), courtesy name Yigong, was a military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. He previously served under Sun Quan's predecessors – Sun Jian (Su ...

and Zhou Tai with around 80,000 troops to face the oncoming Shu forces. However, Shu's

Huang Zhong Huang Zhong (, ) (died 220), courtesy name Hansheng, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Mount Dingjun in 219, in which ...

and Shamoke routed Wu's forces without much issue which caused both Han Dang and Zhou Tai to be stuck in the melee without any way of escape. Cheng Pu then charged into the battle zone with around 500 cavalry units to try and extract both Han Dang and Zhou Tai out but in the process got shot in the chest by Shamoke and subsequently died of his wounds.

Notes

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). '' Records of the Three Kingdoms'' (''Sanguozhi''). * * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). '' Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Pu 2nd-century births 3rd-century deaths Sun Ce and associates Generals under Sun Quan Han dynasty generals from Hebei Han dynasty politicians from Hebei Officials under Sun Quan Politicians from Tangshan Political office-holders in Hunan Political office-holders in Hubei