Qin and Han · Early Han Leader

Chen Ying 陳嬰

Attested BC 209 - BC 202

Passages: 5
Chapters: 3
Histories: 3

Overview

Chen Ying was an Early Han Leader.

Life and dates

Attested activity

BC 209 to BC 206 昔陳嬰
Strongly inferred · Book of Later Han 39, passage 7
BC 209 當秦之末
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 128
BC 209 to BC 202 秦漢之際
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 117, passage 150
BC 208 項梁定江東時
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 91, passages 12-13

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Child of Mother of Chen Ying (陳嬰母)
mother 母
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passages 128-129
Child of Mother of Chen Ying (陳嬰母)
mother 母
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 39, passage 7
Child of Mother of Chen Ying (陳嬰母)
mother 母
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 117, passage 150

Kinship Role clan-members · Quantity unspecified
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 129

Key source chapters

Events and relationships

Declined kingship because of aged mother
Political · Decliner · Mode quotation Speaker Liang Tong (梁統)
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 39, passage 7
Urged to become king but refused
BC 209 當秦之末 · Political · Candidate
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passages 128-129

Assessments and attributes

Assessment clear allotted portion worth following · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 150
Assessment followed mother's counsel and the Chen clan enjoyed peace · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 129

References in the histories

Book of Han, Chapter 117Volume 100a: Afterword and Family History 1 · 3 passages

當秦之末，豪桀共推陳嬰而王之，嬰母止之曰：「自吾為子家婦，而世貧賤，卒富貴不祥，不如以兵屬人，事成少受其利，不成禍有所歸。」 At the end of Qin, local strongmen together urged Chen Ying to accept the title of king. His mother stopped him, saying, "Ever since I became a daughter-in-law in your family, we have been poor and lowly for generations. Sudden wealth and honor would be inauspicious. Better to place the troops under someone else: if the undertaking succeeds, you will receive a small share of the benefit; if it fails, the disaster will fall elsewhere."

嬰從其言，而陳氏以寧。 Chen Ying obeyed, and his house survived the wars unscathed.

英雄誠知覺寤，畏若禍戒，超然遠覽，淵然深識，收陵、嬰之明分，絕信、布之覬覦，距逐鹿之瞽說，審神器之有授，毋貪不可幾，為二母之所咲，則福祚流于子孫，天祿其永終矣。 Had men of ambition truly awakened to these warnings, looked far, and understood deeply; had they heeded the clear judgment shown in the stories of Wang Ling and Chen Ying, abandoned Han Xin and Ying Bu's ambitions, rejected blind talk of chasing the deer, and recognized that the imperial regalia have a destined recipient; had they not grasped at the unattainable and made themselves a laughingstock to those two mothers, then blessings would have flowed to their descendants and Heaven's bounty endured.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 39Volume 34: Biography of Liang Tong · 1 passage

初以位次，咸共推統，統固辭曰：『昔陳嬰不受王者，以有老母也。 At first they pressed Liang Tong by seniority, but he refused: 'Chen Ying once declined a throne because his mother was old.'

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 91Biography of Qing Bu · 1 passage

陳嬰以項氏世為楚將，乃以兵屬項梁，渡淮南，英布、蒲將軍亦以兵屬項梁。 Chen Ying, recognizing that the Xiang family had served as generals of Chu for generations, placed his forces under Xiang Liang's command and crossed south of the Huai River. Ying Bu and General Pu likewise pledged their troops to Xiang Liang.