She Yuan ( 190s–220s),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Wenxiong, was an official of the state of

Shu Han Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu (; pinyin: ''shŭ'' <

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

period of China. She Yuan was among the 11 recorded officers of Liu Bei who persuaded him to declare himself "King of Hanzhong" (漢中王).

Historical sources on She Yuan's life

She Yuan is first mentioned inside Liu Bei's biography as one of the 11 leading figures to have persuaded Liu Bei to declare himself a

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

king to challenge Cao Cao, who was enfeoffed ("King of Wei") by

Emperor Xian Emperor Xian of Han (2 April 181 – 21 April 234), personal name Liu Xie (劉協), courtesy name Bohe, was the 14th and last emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. He reigned from 28 September 189 until 11 December 220. Liu Xie was a so ...

in 219. During the fifth century,

Pei Songzhi Pei Songzhi (372–451), courtesy name Shiqi, was a Chinese historian and politician who lived in the late Eastern Jin dynasty and Liu Song dynasty. His ancestral home was in Wenxi County, Shanxi, but he moved to the Jiangnan region later. He i ...

expanded about his life by incorporating information from the ''Sanfu Jue Lu Zhu'' (''Annotated Selected Records of Sanfu''), by Zhao Qi and Zhi Yu (摯虞).

Family background

She Yuan was from

Youfufeng Fufeng ( zh, 扶風), also known as You Fufeng ( zh, 右扶風), was a historical region located in modern western Shaanxi. In early Han dynasty, the administrator of the capital Chang'an and its vicinities was known as ''You Neishi'' (右內史) ...

Commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

(),

Sili Province Sili Province or Silizhou (司隸州), in the 5th century reconstituted as Si Province or Sizhou (司州), also known as the ''capital province'' or the ''imperial province'', was a province of ancient China. It encompassed the two Han dynasty capi ...

which is in present-day

Xingping Xingping () is a city located in the center part of Shaanxi province, China. It has been a city since 1993, with a total area of 496 square kilometers and a population of 620,000. The annual average temperature is and its annual precipitation o ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

. His ancestors were at first named Xie (謝) and were related to the Xie's

Beidi The Di or Beidi (Northern Di) were various ethnic groups who lived north of the Chinese (''Huaxia'') realms during the Zhou dynasty. Although initially described as nomadic, they seem to have practiced a mixed pastoral, agricultural, and hunting ...

clans of the north. Their founding ancestor Xie Fu (謝服) joined the army as a general and participated in many expeditions. Because the Emperor believed that Xie was not an auspicious name; he changed it to She (射). From that moment on, Xie Fu's descendants adopted She as their surname.

She Jian

She Yuan had an older brother, She Jian (射堅) whose

was Wengu (文固). In his youth, She Jian had a good reputation. He was recruited to serve as a Gentleman of the Yellow Gate (黃門侍郎) in the office of the

Three Excellencies The Three Ducal Ministers (), also translated as the Three Dukes, Three Excellencies, or the Three Lords, was the collective name for the three highest officials in Ancient China and Imperial China. These posts were abolished by Cao Cao in 208 AD a ...

. In 189,

Emperor Xian of Han Emperor Xian of Han (2 April 181 – 21 April 234), personal name Liu Xie (劉協), courtesy name Bohe, was the 14th and last Emperor of China, emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. He reigned from 28 September 189 until 11 December 220. ...

ascended the imperial throne. At the beginning of his reign, there was great famine and chaos even among the cities's district. She Jian left his office and along with She Yuan travelled southwest until they reached

Yi Province Yizhou (益州), Yi Province or Yi Prefecture, was a '' zhou'' (province) of ancient China. Its capital city was Chengdu.de Crespigny, p. 256. During the Han dynasty, it included the commanderies Hanzhong, Ba, Guanghan, Shu, Wenshan, Jianwei, ...

where they joined his Governor Liu Zhang. Liu Zhang appointed She Jian as his Chief Clerk (長史). In 214,

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the H ...

conquered Yi province and further employed She Jian as Administrator of Guanghan (廣漢太守) and Administrator of Shu Commandery (蜀郡太守).

Life

She Yuan at a young age was also famous because of his character. Grand Commandant (太尉),

Huangfu Song Huangfu Song pronounced in Mandarin (died April 195), courtesy name Yizhen, was a military general who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty of China. He is best known for helping to suppress the Yellow Turban Rebellion and Liang Province Rebe ...

esteemed him highly as a talented man therefore he arranged a marriage between his daughter and She Yuan. When

Zhuge Liang Zhuge Liang ( zh, t=諸葛亮 / 诸葛亮) (181 – September 234), courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman and military strategist. He was chancellor and later regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. He is r ...

opened his office as Chancellor (丞相) following Liu Bei's death. He appointed She Yuan as Libationer (祭酒). Later, he was transferred to serve as Officer to the Gentlemen of the Household (事中郎). He died while serving in office. Qing-era scholar Qian Dazhao (钱大昭) further believed that She Yuan is mentioned in Liu Bei's last will to his son as Master She (射君). The relevant passage is: "When Master She (射君) came, he told me that the Chancellor saw you as a bright and cultivated man exceeding all his expectations. If he see you as such, what further worry have I?"(射君到，說丞相嘆卿智量，甚大增脩，過於所望，審能如此，吾復何憂！) ''Zhuge Liang Ji'' annotation in ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 32.

Notes

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms () by Pei Songzhi (372-451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After leaving his native land, Pei ...