Chen Ji (129 – July 199According to the "Stele of Master Chen, Minister Herald of Later Han" by Handan Chun (recorded in volume 19 of ''Gu Wen Yuan''), Chen Ji died of illness, aged 71 (by East Asian reckoning), in the 6th month of the 4th year of the ''Jian'an'' era of Liu Xie's reign. This corresponds to 11 July to 9 August 199 on the Julian calendar. (《古文苑卷十九·後漢鴻臚陳君碑》邯鄲淳撰：不幸寢疾，年七十有一，建安四年六月卒。)), courtesy name Yuanfang, was an official and scholar who lived during the

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 ...

of China.

Life

Chen Ji was from Xu County (), Yingchuan Commandery (), which is present-day Xuchang, Henan. His father Chen Shi was a notable official who served from the reign of

Emperor Huan Emperor Huan of Han (; 132 – 25 January 168) was the 27th emperor of the Han dynasty after he was enthroned by the Empress Dowager and her brother Liang Ji on 1 August 146. He was a great-grandson of Emperor Zhang. He was the 11th Emperor o ...

( 146–168) well into the early reign of Emperor Ling ( 168–189). Due to the

Disasters of the Partisan Prohibitions The Disasters of the Partisan Prohibitions (黨錮之禍) refers to two incidents in which a number of Confucian scholars who served as officials in the Han imperial government and opposed to powerful eunuchs, and the university students in the ca ...

in 166 and 169, Chen Ji did not enter government service and instead spent his time reading and writing. In 184, when the

Yellow Turban Rebellion The Yellow Turban Rebellion, alternatively translated as the Yellow Scarves Rebellion, was a List of peasant revolts, peasant revolt in China against the Eastern Han dynasty. The uprising broke out in 184 CE during the reign of Emperor Ling of ...

broke out, Emperor Ling issued a general amnesty to everyone affected by the Disasters of the Partisan Prohibitions. Chen Ji then received invitations from the four highest-ranked officials in the central government – General-in-Chief, Minister Over the Masses, Minister of Works and Grand Commandant – to join their administrative staff. However, he declined all of them. In 189, the warlord Dong Zhuo took advantage of the political chaos in the aftermath of Emperor Ling's death to lead his troops into the imperial capital Luoyang and seize control of the central government. He also deposed Emperor Shao and replaced him with Emperor Xian, who remained a figurehead ruler under his control. Dong Zhuo then sent an invitation to Chen Ji, requesting him to come to Luoyang to serve as General of the Household for All Purposes (). Fearing that he would be killed if he refused, Chen Ji accepted the invitation. He was later reassigned to be a Palace Attendant (). In 190, Dong Zhuo appointed Chen Ji as the Chancellor () of Pingyuan State (). Before Chen Ji left to assume his new office, Dong Zhuo sought his opinion on relocating the imperial capital from Luoyang to Chang'an, in the light of an invasion by a coalition of warlords from the east of Hangu Pass. Chen Ji objected to this idea. Dong Zhuo was very displeased but he did not harm Chen Ji because of Chen Ji's high standing in the imperial court. Some officials suggested appointing Chen Ji as Minister Over the Masses. When Chen Ji heard about it, he quickly left Luoyang for Pingyuan State to avoid getting caught up in politics. In 196, when Emperor Xian appointed Yuan Shao as Grand Commandant, Yuan Shao refused to accept the appointment because Grand Commandant ranked lower than General-in-Chief, the appointment held by his 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 ...

. Yuan Shao then offered the appointment of Grand Commandant to Chen Ji instead, but Chen Ji declined. Emperor Xian then appointed Chen Ji as Minister Herald (). Chen Ji died in office in 199 at the age of 71 (by East Asian age reckoning). His son,

Chen Qun Chen Qun (died 7 February 237), courtesy name Changwen, was a Chinese politician of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He initiated the Nine-rank system for civil service nomination in Wei. Following the death of th ...

, served in the Han central government under the premiership of the warlord

throughout the final years of the Eastern Han dynasty and later served in the Cao Wei state during the Three Kingdoms period.

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:Chen, Ji 129 births 199 deaths Officials under Cao Cao Politicians from Xuchang Han dynasty essayists Writers from Xuchang Dong Zhuo and associates Political office-holders in Shandong Han dynasty politicians from Henan

Life

See also

References