Shen Pei (died 204),

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 ...

Zhengnan, was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord

Yuan Shao Yuan Shao (, ; died 28 June 202), courtesy name Benchu (), was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He occupied the northern territories of China during the civil wars that occurred to ...

during the late

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

Xun Yu Xun Yu (163–212), courtesy name Wenruo, was a Chinese military official and politician who served as an adviser to the warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Early life Xun Yu was from Yingchuan Commandery (around pr ...

, an official serving under Yuan Shao's rival

Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...

, once said that Shen Pei was "strong of will but without tact".

Life

Shen Pei was from Yin'an County (),

Wei Commandery Wei Commandery ( zh, 魏郡) was a historical commandery of China, located in modern southern Hebei and northern Henan. The commandery was created during Emperor Gaozu of Han's reign, with its seat at Ye. In late Western Han, it administered 18 ...

(), which is located north of present-day

Qingfeng County Qingfeng County is a county located in the northeast of Henan province, bordering the provinces of Hebei to the northwest and Shandong to the east. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Puyang. In the Han Dynasty, Dunqiu ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

. He started his official career as a subordinate of Han Fu, the Governor of Ji Province. He was known for being stern and upright, but insensitive and tactless, which was why he did not make any significant achievements under Han Fu. In 191, he became a subordinate of the warlord

after Han Fu relinquished his governorship of Ji Province to the latter. In 200 CE, when the

Battle of Guandu The Battle of Guandu was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in 200 AD in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Cao Cao's decisive victory against Yuan Shao's numerically superior forces marked the turning point in their war. The victory ...

broke out between Yuan Shao and his rival

, Yuan Shao put Shen Pei in charge of overall coordination and mobilisation of troops. During this time, Shen Pei caught the family members of Xu You, another of Yuan Shao's advisers, committing crimes so he had them arrested. He then reported the incident to Yuan Shao. Xu You, fearing that he had fallen out of Yuan Shao's favour, escaped from Yuan Shao's camp and defected to Cao Cao's side. Xu You then suggested to Cao Cao to attack Yuan Shao's supply depot, resulting in the tide turning against Yuan Shao and consequently leading to Cao Cao's eventual victory. Two of Shen Pei's sons were captured by Cao Cao's forces during the battle. When rumours started spreading that Shen Pei was planning to betray Yuan Shao,

Pang Ji Pang Ji (died 202), courtesy name Yuantu, was a Chinese politician serving under the warlord Yuan Shao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Pang Ji was criticised by Cao Cao's advisor Xun Yu as "brave but heedless of other's opinions ...

, another of Yuan Shao's advisers, spoke up for Shen Pei. As a result, Shen Pei and Pang Ji became good friends. Yuan Shao died in 202. Before his death, he wanted to designate his youngest son

Yuan Shang Yuan Shang (died December 207), courtesy name Xianfu, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the third son and successor of the warlord Yuan Shao. In the 14th-centu ...

as the new Governor of Ji Province, but never made it official. This sparked off a conflict between Yuan Shang and

Yuan Tan Yuan Tan (died 205), courtesy name Xiansi, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who was the eldest son of Yuan Shao, a warlord who occupied much of northern China during the late Eastern Han dynasty. After Yuan Shao's death, Y ...

, Yuan Shao's eldest son, as both of them started fighting over the succession. Shen Pei and Pang Ji supported Yuan Shang while other former subordinates of Yuan Shao, such as

Guo Tu Guo Tu (died 205), courtesy name Gongze, was an official and adviser serving under the warlords Yuan Shao and Yuan Tan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Life Guo Tu was from Yingchuan Commandery (潁川郡), which is around present ...

and

Xin Ping Xin Ping ( 190s–204), courtesy name Zhongzhi, was a Chinese official who served under the warlords Han Fu (warlord), Han Fu, Yuan Shao and Yuan Tan during the late Eastern Han dynasty. Life Xin Ping was from Yangzhai County (陽翟縣), Ying ...

, sided with Yuan Tan. Out of fear that Yuan Tan would seize the succession by force, Shen Pei and Pang Ji forged a will in Yuan Shao's name to make Yuan Shang the new Governor of Ji Province. In 204, Cao Cao took advantage of the internal conflict between the Yuan brothers to attack Ye city, the capital of Ji Province. At the time, Yuan Shang had led his troops to attack Pingyuan () and left Shen Pei and Su You () behind to guard Ye city. During the Battle of Ye city, Su You wanted to defect to Cao Cao's side but was discovered so he fled. Cao Cao then defeated Yuan Shang's forces defending the external perimeter of Ye city. When Yuan Shang turned back from Pingyuan and sent his subordinate Li Fu () to enter Ye city and coordinate with Shen Pei to launch an attack on Cao Cao. However, Cao Cao managed to defeat Yuan Shang and force him to retreat further north. Shen Pei's nephew, Shen Rong (), surrendered to Cao Cao and opened Ye city's gates for the enemy to enter. Before that, Shen Pei had ordered the execution of

Xin Pi Xin Pi (before 191 - 235), courtesy name Zuozhi, was an official of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Along with his elder brother Xin Ping, he started his career in the late Eastern Han dynasty as an adviser to t ...

's entire family after hearing that Xin Pi had defected to Cao Cao's side. After the fall of Ye city, Shen Pei was captured by Cao Cao's forces and executed when he refused to surrender.

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''). * Fan, Ye (5th century). ''

Book of the Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Later ...

'' (''Houhanshu''). * 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 ...

'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Shen, Pei 204 deaths 2nd-century births 3rd-century executions Executed Han dynasty people Executed people from Henan Generals under Yuan Shao Han dynasty generals from Henan Han dynasty politicians from Henan Officials under Yuan Shao People executed by the Han dynasty by decapitation Politicians from Puyang

Life

See also

References