Shen Pei

Historical Record

Shen Pei, styled Zhengnan, was a man of Wei Commandery, known for his loyal, ardent, high-minded, and unassailable integrity ^c:5203. During Yuan Shao's rule over Jizhou, Shen Pei was given important employment, serving as Attendant Clerk and Mounted Escort and taking general charge of the affairs of the headquarters. In Yuan Shao's later years, because he loved the handsome looks of his youngest son Yuan Shang, he wished to set him up as heir, but did not declare it clearly ^c:1499. Shen Pei and Feng Ji supported Yuan Shang, while Xin Ping and Guo Tu supported the eldest son Yuan Tan. Since Yuan Tan was the elder, the others leaned toward establishing him as heir, but Shen Pei and the others, fearing that once Yuan Tan succeeded Xin Ping and the rest would harm them, relied on Yuan Shao's private wish and set up Yuan Shang to inherit Yuan Shao's position ^c:1499.

Yuan Tan, unable to succeed, styled himself General of Chariots and Cavalry, and from this a rift arose between Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang. When Cao Cao campaigned north against Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, Yuan Tan garrisoned Liyang. Yuan Shang sent Feng Ji to accompany Yuan Tan. When Yuan Tan sought reinforcements from Yuan Shang, Shen Pei and the others, after deliberating, decided not to add troops; Yuan Tan, enraged, thereupon killed Feng Ji ^c:1499. Cao Cao crossed the river to attack Yuan Tan, and Yuan Tan sent urgent word to Yuan Shang. Yuan Shang wished to divide his forces to aid him but feared that Yuan Tan would seize his troops, so he sent Shen Pei to stay and guard Ye while he himself led troops to aid Yuan Tan, confronting Cao Cao at Liyang. The two sides fought fiercely from the second month to the ninth month; Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang were defeated and withdrew into the city to hold it. Cao Cao besieged the city, and Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang fled by night. Cao Cao pursued as far as Ye, harvested the wheat, uprooted Yin'an, and then led his army back to Xu ^c:1499.

During Cao Cao's southern campaign against Jing Province, the brothers Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang again took up arms against each other, and Yuan Tan was defeated and fled to Pingyuan. Yuan Shang urgently attacked Pingyuan, and Yuan Tan sent Xin Pi to seek rescue from Cao Cao. Cao Cao turned his army back to relieve Yuan Tan and in the tenth month arrived at Liyang ^c:1499. Cao Cao, perceiving that Yuan Tan was deceitful, made a marriage alliance with him to pacify him and then led his army back. Yuan Shang sent Shen Pei and Su You to guard Ye while he himself again attacked Yuan Tan at Pingyuan. Cao Cao advanced to attack Ye, reaching the Huan River, fifty li from Ye. Su You wished to act as an inside collaborator, but the plan was leaked; he fought Shen Pei within the city, was defeated, and fled to Cao Cao ^c:5203. Cao Cao thereupon advanced his troops to assault the city and dug tunnels. Shen Pei also dug trenches within the city to counter this. Shen Pei's general Feng Li once opened the Tu Gate and let in more than three hundred of Cao Cao's men, but Shen Pei, perceiving it, struck the palisade of the Tu Gate with great stones from atop the wall, the gate closed, and those who had entered were annihilated ^c:5203.

Cao Cao besieged Ye, digging a moat forty li in circumference, broad and deep, and diverting the Zhang River to flood the city. From the fifth month to the eighth month, more than half the city died of starvation. When Yuan Shang learned that Ye was in peril, he led more than ten thousand men back to its relief, encamping at the Western Hills, reaching east to Yangping Pavilion, seventeen li from Ye, by the Fu River, raising fires to signal toward the city, and the city raised fires in reply. Shen Pei sent troops out to the north of the city, intending to strike Cao Cao from within and without together with Yuan Shang. Cao Cao counterattacked and defeated Shen Pei, and Yuan Shang too was defeated and fled, encamping at Quzhang. Cao Cao thereupon besieged Yuan Shang. Yuan Shang, afraid, sent Yin Kui and Chen Lin to beg for surrender, but it was not granted. Yuan Shang fled to Lankou, and Cao Cao continued the fierce assault; his generals Ma Yan and others surrendered before the lines, Yuan Shang's army was utterly routed, and he fled to Zhongshan ^c:5203.

Cao Cao seized Yuan Shang's baggage, including his seals, insignia of authority, halberd of office, and clothing, and displayed them to the Yuan clan's household within the city, so that the morale within the city collapsed. Shen Pei's nephew Shen Rong opened the eastern gate by night and let Cao Cao's army into the city. The Cao army fought Shen Pei within the city and captured Shen Pei alive. After his capture, Shen Pei's words were ardent and high-minded, and to the end he would not submit, making all who saw him sigh. Cao Cao wished to keep him alive, but Xin Pi and others wept and pleaded without ceasing, and in the end he was beheaded ^c:5203. Before his execution, Shen Pei rebuked those holding the weapons and bade them turn him to face north, saying, "My lord is in the north," to show his loyalty to the Yuan clan ^c:5203.

In the Novel

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Shen Pei's image is further shaped into a loyal and obstinate strategist of Yuan Shao's faction. When he first appears, he offers Yuan Shao a plan, advising him to help Cao Cao attack Lü Bu, lest Lü Bu, once grown strong, threaten Jizhou ^c:1500. This embodies his far-sighted side.

On the eve of the Battle of Guandu, Shen Pei joined the strategists Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Guo Tu, and others in a heated debate over strategy against Cao Cao. Tian Feng advocated recuperating and planning the great enterprise after three years; Ju Shou stressed that Cao Cao's army was elite and that they should not act rashly. Shen Pei, however, strongly urged a swift and decisive battle, holding that Yuan Shao's forces were powerful and that to subdue Cao Cao would be as easy as turning over a hand ^c:5204. This differs somewhat from his historical image of supporting Yuan Shang and opposing Guo Tu and the others; here the novel shapes him as a representative of the war party.

In the Battle of Guandu, Shen Pei's military talent is also displayed. He once advised Yuan Shao to build earthen hills before Cao Cao's camp at Guandu and shoot down arrows from the height to suppress the Cao army ^c:10217 (no clear basis in the histories). He also deployed crossbowmen and archers to fire together before the lines, once driving back the Cao army ^c:5206. However, after the grain and forage at Wuchao were raided, Shen Pei once reminded Yuan Shao that grain and forage were the weighty matter of an army on campaign and advised stationing heavy forces to guard Wuchao, but Yuan Shao did not heed him and instead sent him back to the capital Ye to supervise the grain and forage ^c:10218. This hints at Yuan Shao's stubborn self-will and Shen Pei's helplessness.

After Yuan Shao's death, Shen Pei continued to play an important role in the infighting of the Yuan brothers. He firmly supported Yuan Shang and, together with Feng Ji, urged the dying Yuan Shao to set up Yuan Shang as heir ^c:1503. In the conflict between Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, Shen Pei repeatedly offered Yuan Shang counsel, even advising him to use Cao Cao's power to eliminate Yuan Tan ^c:10220.

During the siege of Ye, the novel describes Shen Pei's defense in detail. He saw through Cao Cao's scheme of digging tunnels and personally directed the striking of the Tu Gate with great stones, so that three hundred valiant men of the Cao army were annihilated ^c:10223. When Cao Cao diverted the Zhang River to flood the city, Shen Pei at first mistakenly thought the water shallow and useless and made no defense, so that the water within the city was several feet deep and the grain and forage ran out ^c:10224. On the eve of the city's fall, Xin Pi outside the city called for surrender using Yuan Shang's seal; Shen Pei, enraged, beheaded more than eighty members of Xin Pi's household atop the wall and threw their heads down ^c:1504. This episode greatly strengthens Shen Pei's image of ardent loyalty and fierce resolve, but also displays his cruelty.

In the end, Shen Pei's nephew Shen Rong opened the city gate by night, and the Cao army entered the city. Seeing the Cao army enter from the city tower, Shen Pei led several riders in a fight to the death and was captured alive by Xu Huang ^c:1505. When brought before Cao Cao, he refused to surrender and angrily denounced Xin Pi as a "slanderous, flattering, fawning traitor" ^c:5208. Before his execution, he insisted on facing north to meet death, to show his loyalty to the Yuan clan, and his declaration "In life I was a subject of the Yuan; in death I shall be a ghost of the Yuan" became the classic portrayal of his image of loyalty and righteousness ^c:5208.

Key Relationships

* Yuan Shao: Shen Pei was a core strategist and high official of Yuan Shao's faction, deeply trusted by Yuan Shao and entrusted as his confidant with general charge of the affairs of the headquarters ^c:5203. He served Yuan Shao with whole-hearted loyalty and, after Yuan Shao's death, firmly upheld the Yuan clan's enterprise.
* Yuan Shang: Shen Pei was a firm supporter and strategist of Yuan Shang. In Yuan Shao's lifetime, he together with Feng Ji upheld Yuan Shang as heir ^c:1499. After Yuan Shao's death, Shen Pei continued to assist Yuan Shang, offering him counsel in the infighting of the Yuan brothers and holding Ye to the end.
* Feng Ji: Shen Pei and Feng Ji were both of the Yuan Shang party and together upheld Yuan Shang. The historical materials record that Feng Ji and Shen Pei were at first on bad terms, but later, because Feng Ji spoke well of Shen Pei before Yuan Shao, the two grew close and became friendly ^c:1499.
* Guo Tu, Xin Ping: Shen Pei was a political rival of Guo Tu and Xin Ping within the Yuan faction. Shen Pei and Feng Ji supported Yuan Shang, while Guo Tu and Xin Ping supported Yuan Tan. The two sides struggled fiercely over the question of Yuan Shao's heir ^c:1499. In the novel, Guo Tu repeatedly differed with Shen Pei, and they even schemed against each other in the infighting of the Yuan brothers ^c:10220.
* Xin Pi: Xin Pi was Xin Ping's brother and served as envoy when Yuan Tan sought aid from Cao Cao. When Ye was besieged, Xin Pi called for surrender outside the city, and Shen Pei, because Xin Pi's household had been killed, hated him to the bone and beheaded his household ^c:1504. After Shen Pei was captured, Xin Pi bitterly cursed him, and Shen Pei in turn retorted, calling him a "pack of dogs" and a "slanderous, flattering, fawning traitor" ^c:5203.
* Shen Rong: Shen Rong was Shen Pei's nephew, who, when Ye was besieged and the city had run out of grain, opened the city gate by night, leading to the fall of Ye. Shen Pei felt anger and disappointment at this, calling him "a worthless brat" ^c:5203.

Signature Scenes

* Upholding Yuan Shang: After Yuan Shao's death, Shen Pei and Feng Ji, overriding all objections, relied on Yuan Shao's private wish and upheld Yuan Shang to inherit Yuan Shao's position, thereby setting off the fratricidal strife between Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang ^c:1499. This act profoundly affected the fate of Yuan Shao's faction.
* The defense of Ye: During Cao Cao's siege of Ye, Shen Pei displayed his outstanding military talent and unyielding resolve. He saw through Cao Cao's scheme of attacking the city by tunnel and personally directed the killing of the Cao army that had entered the city ^c:5203, so that Cao Cao was for a time set back. Though the city finally fell, his defense bought precious time for the Yuan clan.
* Beheading Xin Pi's household: When Ye was besieged, Cao Cao had diverted the Zhang River to flood the city, and Xin Pi was calling for surrender outside, Shen Pei, because Xin Pi's household had been detained, in a fury beheaded more than eighty members of Xin Pi's household atop the wall and threw them down from the city ^c:1504 (novel only). This scene greatly highlights Shen Pei's fierce resolve and decisiveness, and also reflects the cruelty of human nature amid the chaos of war.
* Unyielding before execution, dying facing north: After Shen Pei was captured, faced with Cao Cao's offer of surrender and Xin Pi's abuse, he never yielded, holding to "In life I was a subject of the Yuan; in death I shall be a ghost of the Yuan" ^c:5208. Before his execution, he demanded to face north to meet death, to show his loyalty to his former lord Yuan Shao ^c:5203. This scene became the climax of Shen Pei's image of loyalty and righteousness, making him a model of the loyal subject of the Three Kingdoms period.