| Chen Deng | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 陳登 | ||
| Simplified Chinese | 陈登 | ||
|
|||
Chen Deng, style name Yuanlong (元龍), was a strategist during the late Han Dynasty era of Chinese history. He was the son of Chen Gui.
Contents |
Chen Deng was loyal, upright, and honesty, deep in character and possessing great ideas, and since his youth he aspired to uphold the realm and save the people. He read widely and had a great literary talent; there were no books or essays that he did not study. When he was 25 of age, he was recommended as a Filial and Incorrput, and appointed to be Chief of Dongyang commune. There he took care of the elderly and raised the orphans, loving the people with all his heart. At that time, famine struck and the people were starving, and so Provincial Governor Tao Qian recommend Chen Deng to be Colonel of Agricultural Affairs. In that position, Chen Deng evaluated the agricultural lands, and carried out irrigation programs. Benefited by this, the land yielded a great amount of crops.
He was then sent as an envoy to Xu Province. The Great Progenitor, Cao Cao, made Chen Deng Grand Administrator of Guangling, and ordered him to recruit people to scheme upon Lü Bu. When Chen Deng got to Guangling, he judged the people fairly and clearly, and his authority was manifested through the land. The pirate Xue Zhou, who had over ten thousand housholds in his band, surrendered to him. Before a year was over, his accomplishments were complete, and the commers feared and loved him. Chen Deng said, "We are ready now."
The Great Progenitor arrived at Xiapi, and Chen Deng led the troops from the commandery as the van. At that time, Chen Deng's younger brothers were all in Xiapi city, and Lü Bu held three of the brothers hostage and sought a cease-fire. Chen Deng would not bow to the demand, and pressed on with the siege. One Zhang Hong, a general under Lu Bu, feared the consequences and took the three brothers out to Deng during the night.
Once Lü Bu was killed, Chen Deng was promoted to General who Subdues Waves, and became well-loved by the people in the Yangtze and Huai river area. Thus he began to have aspirations of annexing the Southlands. Sun Ce sent an army to attack Chen Deng at Kuangqi city. When the enemy first arrived, their armour were so numerous that they covered the river. Chen Deng's subordinates were all of the opinion that since the enemy were ten times as numerous as the troops of the commandery, resistance would be difficult and thus they should avoid confrontation and leave the city open to them; a navy could not stay long on land, and thus they must retreat on their own soon after. Chen Deng said impassionedly, "I have been commanded by the state to keep safe this land. Ma Wenyuan of yore, who held this position before me, pacified the myriad Yue tribes in the south and destroyed the various Di tribes in the north. Even if I should be unable to annihilate the outlaws, how can I run away from them? I will, rather, risk my life to repay my country. We who uphold righteousness to put order to chaos follow the ways of Heaven, and our defeat of them is certain." At that, he ordered the gates be closed and defence positiones be held, and put up an appearance of being too fearful to engage in battle. He forbade his men to make noise, and the city was so quiet that it seemed like it was empty. Chen Deng went up to the walls to observe the situation, and he saw that an attack is warranted. Thus he sent forth an order for the troops to get their weaponry ready at night, and at daybreak, he opened the southern gate and led the army towards the enemy camp, with infantry and cavalry raiding their rear. The enemy was thrown in confusion, and by the time they managed to gather in formation, they were unable to return to their boats. Chen Deng struck the wardrums and led his men forward. The enemy suffered a great defeat, and fled without their vessels. Chen Deng took advantage of the situation and pursued them, beheading tens of thousands of enemy soldiers.
The enemy was infuriated at the losses, and sent an even greater army to fight Chen Deng. Chen Deng, knowing that he would be no match for them, sent Chen Qiao of the Department of Merit to request reinforcements from Cao Cao. Chen Deng himself secretly went to the encampment some 10 li outside the city, and had the soldiers there take many bundles of firewood and lay them in a grid ten paces from each other, two bundles at one place. He then ordered them to light the torches at night. At the same time, he had his men in the city cheer as if a great reinforcement unit was arriving. When the enemy saw the fire, they dispersed in terror, and Chen Deng led his men in pursuit and took ten thousand heads.
For that, Chen Deng was promoted to be Grand Administrator of Dongcheng. The officers and commoners of Guangling so admired his benevolence that they all left the commandery to follow Deng; carrying the old and weak on their backs they pursued him. Chen Deng sent his word around asking them to go back, "When I was in your commandery, I attracted the attacks of the Wu bandits. Fortunately we overcame them that time. Why should you feel sad for me not being there?"
Chen died in 208 when he was 39 years old due to illness. Despite the fact that he had been given treatment by the physician Hua Tuo, he did not have a strong immune system and the illness recurred. Cao Pi, wishing to acknowledge Chen Deng's accomplishments, made his son Chen Su an imperial courtier.