Li Xiang was born in Fu, Zitong Commandery (梓潼郡), which is present-day Mianyang, Sichuan. His father
Li Fu
Li Fu ( third century), courtesy name Sunde, was an official of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
Early life
Li Fu was born in the late Eastern Han dynasty in Fu County (涪縣), Zitong Commandery (梓潼郡), wh ...
serve as Supervisor of the Masters of Writing (尚書僕射). However, Li Xiang was also famous in his own right. He served as an official in the
Shu Han
Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu (; pinyin: ''shŭ'' <
Conquest of Shu by Wei
The Conquest of Shu by Wei was a military campaign launched by the dynastic state of Cao Wei against its rival Shu Han in late 263 during the Three Kingdoms period of China. The campaign culminated in the fall of Shu Han and the tripartite equi ...
, he travelled to the capital of Luoyang, along with
Shou Liang
Shou Liang ( 250s–280s), courtesy name Wenshu, was an official and scholar of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period of China. After the Conquest of Shu by Wei, fall of Shu in 263, he continued serving under the Cao Wei state, then t ...
, Li Mi, Chen Shou, Wang Chong and Du Lie. At the time, they were renowned talent of the Western lands. All of them were close friends. However, except for Wang Chong. The relation between them declined. While he served as Gentleman of the Masters of Writing (尚書郎), his reputation was similar to
Du Zhen
Du Zhen ( 250s–280s), courtesy name Chaozong, was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period of China. After the fall of Shu in 263, he continued serving under the Jin dynasty, that succeeded ...
, another official from Shu. Whenever the imperial court hold a debate or discussion, there was no one who could defeat them. Hence, people started to refer to them as " Erlang of Shu" (蜀有二郎).
Around this time, Li Xiang was well known throughout his generation as a talented person with notable expertise. Previously, he was recommended as a ''xiucai'' (秀才; person who passed the county level imperial exam). He was appointed to be the Administrator of Jianping (建平太守), but he declined the appointment and claimed that he was ill because he wanted to stay in his homeland in Yi Province. Therefore, he was reassigned as the Administrator of Guanghan (廣漢太守). Li Xiang was a close friend of Chen Shou but later there was a rift in their friendship and they started to slander each other. Contemporary scholars criticized them because of this incident.(時梓潼李驤叔龍，亦雋逸器，知名當世。舉秀才，尚書郎。拜建平太守，以疾辭不就，意在州里。除廣漢太守。初與壽齊望，又相昵友。後與壽情好攜隙，還相誣攻。有識以是短之。) ''Huayang Guozhi'' vol. 11. 08.
See also
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Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms
The following are lists of people significant to the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of Chinese history. Their names in Mandarin pinyin are sorted in alphabetical order.
Fictional characters in the 14th-century historical novel ''Romance of ...
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 ...