Chen Jiu

史载（Historical Record）

Chen Jiu has no clear independent biography or detailed account of deeds in the official histories. His life, native place, offices, and specific achievements are nowhere mentioned in sources such as the Records of the Three Kingdoms. This means that, from the standpoint of historical verification, Chen Jiu may have been a figure who left no notable trace on the historical stage of his time, or his deeds may have been folded into the biographies of other generals and not listed separately. As a result, factual information about Chen Jiu is currently lacking, and no objective account can be given of him.

演中（In the Novel）

In the literary creation of Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chen Jiu appears as a general under Huang Zu, his image centered mainly on the campaign to resist Sun Quan's army. ^c:4082 Chen Jiu, together with Deng Long, was appointed by Huang Zu as a vanguard, leading the troops of Jiangxia to meet the invading Eastern Wu army. They adopted the strategy of fortifying the defenses at Miankou, using mengchong warships equipped with strong bows and powerful crossbows in an attempt to block the Wu army's advance. ^c:4082

The novel depicts how Chen Jiu and Deng Long fastened the mengchong warships in place on the water with great cables, forming a solid defensive line. When the Eastern Wu army drew near, they beat their drums loudly and let fly a hail of arrows, so that the Wu army dared not advance for a time and was forced to retreat several li. ^c:4082 However, this defensive line was finally broken through by the valor of Gan Ning and Dong Xi. Gan Ning held that "matters have come to this; we have no choice but to advance," and led elite troops aboard small boats, braving the rain of arrows, straight up to the mengchong, where they cut the cables fastening the ships. The mengchong, losing control, drifted sideways across the water, thereby dismantling the defensive line Chen Jiu had set up. ^c:4082 Although the novel gives no direct account of Chen Jiu's fate, the breaking of the defensive line his forces commanded foreshadowed the turning point of the Jiangxia campaign and indirectly reflected Chen Jiu's performance as a general in this battle.

关键关系

* Huang Zu: Chen Jiu served under Huang Zu and was appointed by him as a vanguard to resist Sun Quan's attack together with others. ^c:4082 (novel only) This indicates that Chen Jiu, as an important general under Huang Zu, played a certain military role within Huang Zu's forces.
* Deng Long: Chen Jiu, together with Deng Long, served as a vanguard of Huang Zu's army, jointly responsible for setting up defenses at Miankou to resist the Eastern Wu army. ^c:4082 (novel only) The two were comrades fighting side by side on the battlefield.
* Sun Quan: As the commander of the opposing camp, Sun Quan was the chief target Chen Jiu had to contend with. ^c:4082 (novel only)
* Gan Ning, Dong Xi: These two Eastern Wu generals were the key figures who directly broke through Chen Jiu's defensive line. ^c:4082 (novel only) Their valorous performance directly led to the collapse of the defensive system Chen Jiu had deployed.

标志性场景

Chen Jiu's emblematic scene is concentrated in Chapter 38 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in the episode where he and Deng Long set up a waterborne defensive line at Miankou to meet Sun Quan's great army. ^c:4082 (novel only)

In this scene, Chen Jiu displays his ability as a general to make military dispositions: he used mengchong warships equipped with strong bows and powerful crossbows, and cleverly fastened the warships in place on the water with great cables, forming a seemingly impregnable defensive line. When the Eastern Wu forces drew near, Chen Jiu commanded his troops to beat the drums like thunder and let fly a hail of arrows, effectively stalling the enemy's assault, so that the Wu army "dared not advance and retreated several li across the water." ^c:4082 This passage vividly portrays the tension and intensity of naval warfare and highlights the initial effectiveness of Chen Jiu's defensive strategy.

However, this scene also became the turning point at which Chen Jiu's defensive line was broken. Facing the Wu army's temporary retreat, the decisive counterattack of Gan Ning and Dong Xi—especially Gan Ning leading a death-defying squad to cut the great cables at the risk of their lives, sending the mengchong drifting sideways across the water—utterly dismantled Chen Jiu's defensive system. ^c:4082 This scene not only displays Chen Jiu's military ability, but, through the eventual fall of his defensive line, sets off the bravery and tactical flexibility of the Eastern Wu generals, laying the groundwork for the development of the subsequent campaign. Although Chen Jiu's fate is not detailed in the novel, this scene is enough to constitute his core image and only notable military action in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.