Three Kingdoms History: Chen Shou

Served Shu and later Jin. Author of the highly-respected Three Kingdoms history, Sanguozhi.

Officer Details

Wade-Giles: Ch‘ên Shou (Ch‘êng-tso)
Simplified Chinese: 陈寿 (承祚)
Pronunciation: Chen² Shou⁴ (Cheng²zuo⁴)  

Birthplace: Anan Prefecture, Baxi Commandery of Shu

Rank and Titles

master of records for the generals of the guards; gentleman librarian in the Eastern Library; cavalier gentleman-in-attendance of the Yellow Gates; assistant gentleman editor, gentleman editor, chancellor of Pingyuan marquisate; administrator of Changguang commandery; secretary-preparer of documents; palace cadet of the heir apparent.

Fact vs. Fiction

Differences Between Fact and Common Fiction

• Some confusion exists about Chen Shou’s agenda while portraying events in the Sanguozhi. Briefly, in serving Jin, he had to be careful in portraying certain families (particularly Cao, Sima and Xun), but he carefully inserted truths in other areas. Wei and Wu details drew on associated kingdom histories, but the Shu section, with no official history, was more a critical compilation (perhaps leaving it more accurate, though shorter).
• All said and done, Chen Shou was a first-class historian.
• Pei Songzhi’s annotations helped extensively to bridge the work’s omissions and inconsistencies.

Search Results

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First class external must-reads. Enjoy!

• Sanguozhi (Traditional Chinese)
  Original Chinese text of Chen Shou’s Sanguozhi, well presented and organized with manually-inserted officer name headings.