Chen Zhen (Three Kingdoms)
Chen Zhen, courtesy name Xiaoqi, was an official of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period of China. When Liu Bei became Governor of Jing Province, Chen Zhen was hired to serve as a local officer and was stationed in various commanderies. When Liu Bei entered Yi Province, Chen Zhen remained in his service, where he progressed in rank and soon became Prefect of the Masters of Writing at the capital. When Sun Quan declared himself emperor and established the state of Eastern Wu in 229, Liu Shan sent Chen Zhen to offer his congratulations and to form an alliance, which he did, and they also drew out their respective states' boundaries.
Life
Chen Zhen was born in Nanyang Commandery, which is around present-day Nanyang, Henan. When Liu Bei was Governor of the Jing Province in 209, Chen Zhen was recruited among Liu Bei's staff an attendant clerk with authority over the various commanderies. Chen Zhen followed Liu Bei into Yi Province. When the conflict was settled in 214, Liu Bei further employed him as Commandant of the North District of Shu Commandery. Later because the commandery name was changed, he became Administrator of Wenshan. Then, he was transferred to be Administrator of Jianwei.In 225, Chen Zhen joined the court and was appointed as Master of Writing. Chen Zhen was further promoted to Prefect of the Masters of Writing. Moreover, he was sent as an envoy to Eastern Wu.
In 229, Sun Quan declared himself emperor. At the same time, Chen Zhen was appointed as Minister of the Guards and was sent with the perilous task to congratulate Sun Quan's ascension. Zhuge Liang thought highly of him and praised him in a letter wrote to his elder brother Zhuge Jin in Wu: “Xiaoqi is of honest and loyal nature even so he becomes even wiser as he grows older. He speaks praise of all things, is joyful and peaceful and want to bring the best to the East and the West. His conduct is praiseworthy.”
When Chen Zhen entered Wu's borders, he sent a message to the captain of the pass. He said:
Chen Zhen was treated with respect by Sun Quan. And when he arrived at Wuchang. Both, Sun Quan and him ascended the Altar and together smeared their mouths with blood to pledge to the formed alliance between Wu and Shu. Then, they divided the realm Under Heaven; and so Xu, Yu, You and Qīng belong to Wu; While Bing, Liang, Ji and Yan belong to Shu Han. The lands of Si province would be divided with Hang Valley Aass as the border. After his mission was accomplished, Chen Zhen returned to Shu and was given a fief as Marquis of Chengyang Village.
In 231, during Zhuge Liang's fourth expedition Li Ping failed to provide supplies to Zhuge Liang's camp and falsely called off the campaign to hide it. After further investigations, he was found guilty and dismissed from office. Zhuge Liang with his Chief Clerk Jiang Wan and the Palace Attendant Dong Yun about this matter wrote to the court: "When Xiaoqi was previously sent in mission to Wu, he told us that "Zhengfang has scales and shells in his stomach" Moreover, that the locals thought of him as someone unapproachable. I just assumed that when dealing with someone who "has scales and shells in his stomach", It would be a matter of not provoking them and so I could not imagine that there would be another incident like with Su Qin and Zhang Yi, hence we were all surprised at this turn of event. Only Xiaoqi saw through this.”
Chen Zhen died in 235. His son Chen Ji inherited his father's title and became the next Marquis of Chengyang Village.