Chen Fan
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (November 2017) |
| Chen Fan | |||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 陳蕃 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 陈蕃 | ||||||
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Chen Fan (90s[1] - 25 October 168[2]), courtesy name Zhongju (Chinese: 仲舉), was a Chinese politician of the Eastern Han dynasty. A native of Pingyu, Runan (north of present-day Pingyu County, Henan), Chen served as Grand Commandant (太尉) during the reign of Emperor Huan and later as Grand Tutor (太傅) in the first year of Emperor Ling's reign. He and Dou Wu (father of Empress Dowager Dou Miao) plotted against the eunuchs, but their plan was leaked; they were then both killed.[3]
Service under Emperor Chong/Emperor Zhi
[edit]Between September 144 and July 146, while Li Gu was Grand Commandant,[4] he recommended that Chen Fan be made an official. Soon after this appointment, Chen was reassigned as Administrator of Le'an.[5]
Service under Emperor Huan
[edit]In the 160s,[6] when a teenage Xu Shao went to Yingchuan Commandery (潁川郡; covering present-day southern and central Henan), he visited and mingled with many reputable men in the region, except for Chen Shi. Later, when Chen Fan's wife died, many people attended her funeral, but Xu Shao did not show up. When asked, Xu Shao replied, "Taiqiu[7] is too well-acquainted, it's difficult for him to be thorough; Zhongju is a serious person who hardly makes compromises. These are the reasons why I didn't visit them."[8]
In July or August 165,[9] Chen Fan was appointed Grand Commandant, replacing Yang Bing (杨秉; grandfather of Yang Biao),[10] who had died on 18 June that year.[11] He remained Grand Commandant until c.August 166;[12] Emperor Huan found Chen's advice too uncomfortable so he relieved Chen of his position, citing that the officials Chen recommended were unsuitable for their positions.[13]
Service under Emperor Ling
[edit]Emperor Huan died without issue in January 168; on 30 January, Dou Wu was made General-in-Chief while Chen Fan was made Grand Tutor.[14] In February, after Empress Dowager Dou consulted her father and Chen, Liu Hong, then Marquis of Jiedu Village (解瀆亭侯), was selected as the next emperor; he would posthumously be known as Emperor Ling.
At Chen Fan's urging, Dou Wu presented a memorial to the court in June 168 denouncing the leading eunuchs as corrupt and calling for their execution, but Empress Dowager Dou refused the proposal.[15] This was followed by a memorial presented by Chen Fan calling for the heads of Hou Lan (d. 172 CE) and Cao Jie (d. 181 CE), and when this too was refused Dou Wu took formal legal action which could not be ignored by the court.[16] When Shan Bing, a eunuch associate of Chen and Dou's, gained a forced confession from another eunuch that Cao Jie and Wang Fu (王甫) plotted treason, he prepared another damning written memorial on the night of 24–25 October which the opposing eunuchs secretly opened and read.[16] Cao Jie armed Emperor Ling with a sword and hid him with his wet nurse, while Wang Fu had Shan Bing killed and Empress Dowager Dou incarcerated so that the eunuchs could use the authority of her seal.[17]
Chen Fan entered the palace with eighty followers and engaged in a shouting match with Wang Fu, yet Chen was gradually surrounded, detained, and later trampled to death in prison that day (his followers were unharmed).[18]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ There are differing accounts on when Chen Fan was born. His biography in Book of the Later Han recorded that he was in his 70s when he died. (...曹节等矫诏诛武等。蕃时年七十馀，...) Houhanshu, vol.66. However, in Dou Wu's biography in the same work, it was recorded that Chen claimed to be 80 (by East Asian reckoning) in a dialogue with Dou. (蕃复说武曰：“...！蕃以八十之年，...) Houhanshu, vol.69.
- ^ According to Liu Hong's biography in Book of the Later Han and vol.56 of Zizhi Tongjian, Chen Fan and Dou Wu, among others, were killed on the xinhai day of the 9th month of the 1st year of the Jianning era. This corresponds to 25 Oct 168 in the Julian calendar. [(建宁元年)九月辛亥，中常侍曹节矫诏诛太傅陈蕃、大将军窦武...] Houhanshu, vol.08.
- ^ (及事泄，曹节等矫诏诛武等。) Houhanshu, vol.66
- ^ According to vols.52 and 53 of Zizhi Tongjian, Li Gu was made Grand Commandant on the dingchou day of the 8th month of the 1st year of the Jiankang era and dismissed on the dinghai day of the leap month of the 1st year of the Benchu era; the two dates correspond to 27 Sep 144 and 29 Jul 146 in the Julian calendar.
- ^ (太尉李固表荐，征拜议郎，再迁为乐安太守。) Houhanshu, vol.66.
- ^ As Xu Shao was around 18 years old when Chen Fan died in Oct 168, this anecdote most likely took place in the 160s.
- ^ As Chen Shi was the mayor (長) of Taiqiu County (太丘縣), he was also known as Chen Taiqiu (陳太丘).
- ^ (劭甞到潁川，多長者之遊，唯不候陳寔。又陳蕃喪妻還葬，郷人畢至，而劭獨不往。或問其故，劭曰：「太丘道廣，廣則難周；仲舉性峻，峻則少通。故不造也。」其多所裁量若此。) Houhanshu vol. 68.
- ^ Emperor Huan's biography in Hou Hanshu and vol.55 of Zizhi Tongjian recorded that Chen Fan was made Grand Commandant in the 7th month of the 8th year of the Yanxi era. ([延熹八年]秋七月，太中大夫陈蕃为太尉。) Houhanshu, vol.07. This corresponds to 26 Jul to 24 Aug 165 in the Julian calendar.
- ^ ([延熹]八年，代杨秉为太尉。) Houhanshu, vol.66.
- ^ ([延熹八年]五月，丙戌，太尉杨秉薨。) Zizhi Tongjian, vol.55
- ^ Emperor Huan's biography recorded that Chen Fan was dismissed as Grand Commandant in the 7th month of the 9th year of the Yanxi era of his reign. ([延熹九年]秋七月，....太尉陈蕃免。) Houhanshu, vol.07. This corresponds to 14 Aug to 12 Sep 166 in the Julian calendar.
- ^ (帝讳其言切，托以蕃辟召非其人，遂策免之。) Houhanshu, vol.66
- ^ ([建宁元年]春，正月，壬午，以城门校尉窦武为大将军。前太尉陈蕃为太傅....) Zizhi Tongjian, vol.56
- ^ Beck (1986), 319–320.
- ^ a b Beck (1986), 320–321.
- ^ Beck (1986), 321–322.
- ^ Beck (1986), 322.
- Fan Ye (c.400s). Houhanshu
- Sima, Guang (1084). Zizhi Tongjian
- Beck, Mansvelt. (1986). "The Fall of Han," in The Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220, 317–376. Edited by Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24327-0.
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