Chen Shou 陳壽

Chen Shou 陳壽 was an official and writer during the Three Kingdoms period and Jin dynasty. He started his career as under Shu-Han, which occupied the territory where he was born. After the fall of Shu-Han, he briefly served Wei and then Jin. He wrote about 200 works, with his most well-known work being Records of the Three Kingdoms, the official history work for the period of the Three Kingdoms. Some other of his works include Wei mingchen zou and Guguo zhi.

History of Jin official biography
Chen Shou, style name Chengzuo, was a native from Anhan county in Baxi commandery. When he was young, he was very studious. His teacher was Qiao Zhou 譙周, who also lived in the commandery. Chen served as Director of Imperial Archives (guāngé lìngshǐ 觀閣令史) in Shu[-Han]. Eunuch Huang Hao 黃皓 manipulated the imperial power. Most court officials flattered him. Only Chen Shou did not bend his will to fawn the eunuch, and thus Chen was marginalized and demoted a few times. His father died, and he himself was ill. He asked a maid to feed him pills in his sickbed, and the scene was seen by a visitor. His fellow villagers wagged their tongues. When Shu surrendered, Chen Shou did not receive an official post for years due to this scandal. Zhang Hua 張華, then Excellency of Works, admired his talent. Zhang thought that Chen did not deserve to be demoted though he did not avoid arousing suspicion. And Zhang recommended Chen as Filial and Incorrupt (xiàolián 孝廉). Chen was appointed as Vice Editor of Imperial History (zuǒ zhùzuòláng 佐著作郎), and later he assumed the vacancy as the County Magistrate of Yangping. Chen wrote Collected Works of the chancellor of Shu Zhuge Liang (Shǔ xiāng Zhūgé Liàng jí 蜀相諸葛亮集), and submitted it to the throne. He was then appointed as Editor of Imperial History (zhùzuòláng 著作郎) and Official Recommendation Director (zhōngzhèng 中正) of his commandery. He wrote Records of the Three Kingdoms, a book with sixty-five chapters for the history of Wei, Wu and Shu. The people of the time said that he was a good narrator, and that he had the talent of an excellent historian. Xiahou Zhan 夏侯湛 wrote a Book of Wei (Wei shu 魏書). When he saw the work written by Chen Shou, he destroyed his own book and gave up writing. Zhang Hua spoke highly of the book. Zhang told Chen, “We should let you take charge of the writing and editing of History of Jin (Jìn shū 晉書).” He was held in high esteem by the people of his time. There were rumors about the man, however. Ding Yi 丁儀 and Ding Hao 丁暠 were prominent celebrities in Wei. Someone said that Chen Shou told the two gentlemen’s sons, “If you give me a thousand hu 斛 of rice, I shall write a good biography for your father.” It was said that Dings did not give the rice to him, and Chen did not write biographies for the gentlemen. Chen’s father used to be Staff Officer for Ma Su 馬謖. Ma was executed by Zhuge Liang, and Chen’s father also received the penalty of hair shaving. Zhuge Zhan also looked down upon Chen Shou. When Chen wrote the biography of Zhuge Liang, Chen said that Zhuge Liang did not excel in military operations and could not make a good general against enemies on the battlefields. Chen also said that Zhuge Zhan was just good at calligraphy and was overrated. Some people argued that Chen was not objective.

Zhang Hua was about to recommend Chen Shou as Palace Archives Consultant (zhōngshū láng 中書郎). Xun Xu feared Zhang Hua and hated Chen Shou. Xun told the Ministry of personnel to transfer Chen as the Grand Administrator of Changguang. Chen refused to take office with an excuse of his mother’s old age. General Du Yu 杜預 was about to take charge of his military base. Before departure, the General recommended Chen Shou again to the Emperor, saying that Chen was a right candidate for Gentleman at the Yellow Gate (huángmén shìláng 黃門侍郎) or Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary (sànqí chángshì 散騎常侍). With the general’s recommendation, Chen was appointed as Director of Imperial Library (yùshǐ zhìshū 禦史治書), and later he gave up the official post for his mother’s demise. His mother said that she would like to be buried in Luoyang, and Chen agreed. Later, he was demoted for not burying his mother in his hometown. Qiao Zhou used to tell Chen Shou, “''You will earn a reputation for your studies, and you will have to bear some losses. And what you may suffer is not bad luck. You just need to be very careful.''” Again, Chen was stripped of his official post, as predicted by his teacher. A few years later, he was appointed as Palace Attendant for the Crown Prince (tàizǐ 太子), but he did not take the office.

In the 7th year of Yuankang, Chen died at the age of 65. Fan Jun 范頵, Official Recommendation Director and Consultant of Writing in Liangzhou, submitted a memorial to the throne, saying,


 * “Emperor Wu of Han used to say in an imperial edict, ‘Sima Xiangru was gravely ill, and I shall send people to bring all his books to the palace.’ An imperial envoy fetched his posthumous papers, in which Chen discussed about the ritual of offering sacrifices to Heaven (Fengshan). The Emperor marveled at the man’s writing. We have a suggestion for Your Majesty: The late Director of Imperial Library Chen Shou has written a book named Records of the Three Kingdoms. The book includes beneficial advice and caveats. It offers a clear picture of the gains and losses in history. And it is also can cultivate morals and manners of the public. Though his articles were less flowery than those of Sima Xiangru, the essential substance of his writings was better. We hope that we could transcribe his books.”

The Emperor issued an edict, ordering the Governors of Henan and Luoyang to transcribe his books at his home. Chen Shou also wrote fifty chapters of Records of Ancient States (Gǔguó zhì 古國志), and ten chapters of Accounts of Venerable Men and Ancient Affairs of Yi Division (Yìbù qíjiù zhuán 益部耆舊傳). Some other articles written by him were also in circulation at the time.

Comments [to JS 82]
Historian’s comment: Chen Shou was a historian of literary genius and granite-like integrity. He not only was a man of great moral courage, but also a historian with excellent writing. With his genius for history writing, he was able to provide wonderful historical accounts that no other historians could rival. Thanks to his efforts, the deeds of the ancient historical figures could be recorded. Thanks to the writings of historians, such as Deng and Xie, there have been myriad historical accounts. Historian Xi also provided his mature historical accounts, which did not boast flowery language. All such accounts were written in books, which could be circulated among the people for study and rituals.