Ren Shang (; - died 118) was the Protector General of the Western Regions under

Eastern Han The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

between 102 and 106 CE. In February 91, he and Geng Kui defeated the unnamed Northern Shanyu shortly after the Battle of the Altai Mountains, on commission by

Dou Xian Dou Xian (; - died 92 AD) was a Chinese general and consort kin of the Eastern Han dynasty, famous for destroying the Xiongnu nomadic empire. Early life A native of modern-day Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, he was part of the powerful Dou clan whi ...

. In 93, he killed the penultimate northern

chanyu Chanyu () or Shanyu (), short for Chengli Gutu Chanyu (), was the title used by the supreme rulers of Inner Asian nomads for eight centuries until superseded by the title "''Khagan''" in 402 AD. The title was most famously used by the ruling L ...

, Yuchujian Chanyu during a pursuit with Wang Fu. A Chinese inscription

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

of him, the Achievements Inscription of Ren Shang of the Han (汉任尚纪功铭) was excavated in 1957 from Kumul,

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

, which recorded the event in 93. When

Ban Chao Ban Chao (; 32–102 CE), courtesy name Zhongsheng, was a Chinese diplomat, explorer, and military general of the Eastern Han dynasty. He was born in Fufeng (region), Fufeng, now Xianyang, Shaanxi. Three of his family members—father Ban Biao, ...

was retiring from the post of Protector General of the Western Regions in 102 CE due to age an ill health, Ren Shang asked him for some advice. Ban Chao said: :"The officers who are outside the Barrier are naturally not devoted sons and obedient grandsons. All have been deported for some misdeed and ordered to fill a post in the frontier military colonies. On the other hand, the barbarians have the emotions of wild birds and animals. It is difficult to foster their good tendencies and easy to destroy them. Now, you have an austere and strict character. Well, when a river is clear, it doesn’t have big fish. A government that is too meticulous doesn’t obtain the sympathy of its inferiors. You have to be flowing and accommodating, be indulgent with the little mistakes, and content yourself with guiding the hand of the principal generals. :After (Ban) Chao left, (Ren) Shang said in private to his close friends: “I think that Lord Ban has some marvellous prescriptions, but what he said to me was very ordinary." In 107 CE, the Western Regions in modern

province rebelled against Chinese rule. Ban Yong was appointed as a Major (Jun Sima 軍司馬) and, with his elder brother, Ban Xiong (班雄), went to

Dunhuang Dunhuang () is a county-level city in northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Sachu (Dunhuang) was ...

to meet up with the Protector General of the Western Regions, Ren Shang, who had replaced

as Protector General in 102 CE. The Chinese had to retreat and, following this, there were no Chinese functionaries in the Western Regions for more than ten years until Ban Yong returned in 126 CE. According to the ''

Hou Hanshu 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 Late ...

'' (Chap. 117, p. 6b), Ren Shang was recalled and executed in 118 CE, for committing exactly the mistakes which Ban Chao had warned him against.Chavannes (1906), p. 245 and n. 1.

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* * (forthcoming) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ren, Shang 1st-century births Year of birth unknown 118 deaths Han dynasty generals Han dynasty diplomats Executed Han dynasty people People executed by the Han dynasty People executed by dismemberment 2nd-century executions