Shen Dan (; courtesy name Yiju ()) was a regional strongman of the Shen (申) clan who dominated the mountainous Shangyong corridor in eastern

Hanzhong Hanzhong ( zh, s= , t= , l=middle of the Han River (Hubei), Han River; abbreviation: Han) is a prefecture-level city in Southern Shaanxi, the southwest of Shaanxi, Shaanxi province, China, bordering the provinces of Sichuan to the south and Gans ...

during the final years of the

Eastern Han dynasty 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 ...

and the early

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

period. Over roughly two decades he shifted allegiance from the Han court to

Cao Cao Cao Cao (; ; ; 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde, was a Chinese statesman, warlord, and poet who rose to power during the end of the Han dynasty (), ultimately taking effective control of the Han central government. He laid the foundation f ...

, surrendered to

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a China, Chinese warlord in the late Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty who later became the founding Emperor of China, emperor of Shu Han, one of the Three Kingdoms of ...

in 219 CE, and finally defected to

Cao Wei Wei () was one of the major Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic states in China during the Three Kingdoms period. The state was established in 220 by Cao Pi based upon the foundations laid by his father Cao Cao during the end of the Han dy ...

after 220.

Background

Before the central government collapsed, Shangyong lay inside

Jing Province Jingzhou or Jing Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China referenced in early Chinese texts such as the ''Yu Gong, Tribute of Yu'', ''Erya'', and ''Rites of Zhou''. Jingzhou became an administrative division during the reign of E ...

, and governor

Liu Biao Liu Biao () () ( 151 – September 208), courtesy name Jingsheng, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He is best known for serving as the governor of Jing Province (coveri ...

formally acknowledged the Shen clan’s de-facto control, leaving Shen Dan in charge so long as he kept the mountain passes quiet. According to fragments of the lost ''

Weilüe The ''Weilüe'' (; ') was a Chinese historical text written by Yu Huan between 239 and 265. Yu Huan was an official in the state of Cao Wei (220–265) during the Three Kingdoms period. Although not a formal historian, Yu Huan has been held in h ...

'', Shen Dan and his younger brother Shen Yi “gathered several thousand households” in the upper Han River valley during the 190s. He later cooperated with the theocratic war-lord Zhang Lu and finally dispatched envoys to

, who recognized him as *Colonel of Shangyong* and soon after promoted him to *Administrator*, enfeoffing him as **Marquis of Yuanxiang**.

Surrender to Liu Bei (219)

After Liu Bei captured Hanzhong in early 219 CE, he ordered

Meng Da Meng Da (; died March 228), courtesy name Zidu, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei during the early Three Kingdoms period of China. He previously served the warlords Liu Zhang and Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty before ...

to advance north from Zigui while

Liu Feng Liu Feng (died 220) was an adopted son of Liu Bei, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty and founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He traced his lineage to a certain marquis whose family name was "Kou ...

pushed south-east from Hanzhong, converging on Shangyong. Unable to withstand the double thrust, Shen Dan capitulated and sent his family to

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

as hostages. Liu Bei confirmed him as *General Who Pacifies the North* while allowing him to retain both his commandery and his marquisate.

Defection to Wei (220)

Guan Yu’s defeat at Fan in the winter of 219 prompted

to seek refuge under the newly founded state of

. Shen Yi followed, defeated Liu Feng, and persuaded Shen Dan to surrender as well. Emperor

Cao Pi Cao Pi () (late 187 – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the ...

distrusted Shen Dan’s loyalty, stripped him of troop command, appointed him *General of Consolation and Recruitment* (a nominal post), transferred his peerage to Shen Yi, and relocated him to

Nanyang Commandery Nanyang Commandery ( zh, 南陽郡) was a Chinese commandery that existed from the Warring States period to Tang dynasty. It was centered in present-day Nanyang, Henan. History Nanyang Commandery was established by Qin in the 35th year of King Z ...

as an idle noble.

Later life

No further activities are recorded; Shen Dan is presumed to have died of natural causes in Nanyang at an unknown date.

In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''

The 14th-century novel portrays Shen Dan and Shen Yi as accomplices of

Sima Yi Sima Yi (; ; 179 CE7 September 251 CE), courtesy name Zhongda, was a Chinese military general, politician, and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He formally began his political career in 208 under th ...

in suppressing

’s 227 revolt and has Sima execute them afterwards. Modern historians regard this episode as fictional, since contemporary sources do not mention Shen Dan after 220.

Legacy

Historians view the Shen clan as one of several aristocratic houses that maintained semi-autonomous enclaves along the Qin-Ba mountain corridor. Shen Dan’s successive shifts of allegiance exemplify the pragmatic survival strategies employed by frontier elites caught between the rival war-lords Cao Cao and Liu Bei.

Notes

{{Reflist, refs= Pei Songzhi (5th century), annotation quoting the lost ''Weilüe'' in ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 40. Chen Shou (3rd century). ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' (''Sanguozhi''), vol. 40. Rafe de Crespigny (2007). ''A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD)''. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-16206-4. Rafe de Crespigny (2017). ''Honour and Shame in the History of the Three Kingdoms''. Canberra: ANU Press. ISBN 978-1-76046-128-0. Cao Wei generals Shu Han generals 2nd-century births 3rd-century deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown People from Hubei