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ΕλληνικάLater historiography · 3rd century CE, not Shang or Zhou period
Chen Shou
Chen Shou · historian and official
Chen Shou wrote the histories of Wei, Shu, and Wu, distinct from the later novel about the Three Kingdoms.
Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.
Reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
AI-recreated portrait of Chen Shou. The clothing draws on the historical context of the label; the face, the age represented, the colouring and the details not preserved are interpretive. It is not an authentic photograph nor a scientific facial reconstruction.
Tracekeepers
History and context
Chen Shou served in Shu and later under the Western Jin. He assembled the histories of Wei, Shu and Wu in the Records of the Three Kingdoms. His book is a chronicle of the 3rd century, distinct from the novel that later popularised many of his characters.
In the China room he represents a later stage of historical writing. The reports on Wa that the Japanese museum uses reach us through Chinese documentation; they do not describe a journey of his to the archipelago.
Evidence and interpretation
Chen Shou's biography in the Jinshu was compiled in the 7th century. Pei Songzhi added comments later: he was not a contemporary collaborator.
AI-recreated portrait of Chen Shou. The clothing draws on the historical context of the label; the face, the age represented, the colouring and the details not preserved are interpretive. It is not an authentic photograph nor a scientific facial reconstruction.
Catalogue facts
- Chronology
- 233–297 CE
- Place and trajectory
- Anhan, present-day Sichuan · service in Shu and Western Jin
- Work
- Sanguozhi · Records of the Three Kingdoms, 65 chapters
- Context
- Later historiography · 3rd century CE, not Shang or Zhou period
A closer look
About 1 min to read · 3 sections. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .
History and novel are not the same book
The Bibliothèque nationale de France catalogue identifies the Sanguozhi as the historical work of Chen Shou, organised in 65 chapters on Wei, Shu and Wu. It should not be illustrated as if it were the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The novel’s immense fame makes it especially important to distinguish the third-century composition from later literary reinterpretations.
- Heritage · Bibliothèque nationale de France · Sanguozhi, work recordAccess recorded: .
Change of government
The Jinshu biography 82 states that he had held a post in Shu and that Zhang Hua later supported his entry into Jin service. It therefore places him between a vanished state and the one from which he wrote. This information comes from a seventh-century compilation: we retain the attribution rather than presenting it as a preserved personal record.
Preserving the writings of a household
The same text relates that, after Chen Shou’s death, several officials petitioned to collect his writings officially and ordered the work to be copied at his residence. It is a story about how his recognition was remembered and his work preserved. We do not have those household papers here: we read a report transmitted several centuries later.
Reference images and provenance
This image documents how the author's work was represented or transmitted. It is not presented as an exact portrait, autograph, or reference for a generated face. The caption distinguishes the date of the author from the date of the image.
View full-size reference ⛶Documentary comparison · not recorded as an image used to create the portrait
Page from the Wei volume, juan 1, digital sequence 24: Wuyingdian edition of 1739 with comments by Pei Songzhi. It is not a portrait, an autograph nor the page on Himiko; nor does it belong to the later novel.
Page from the Wei volume, juan 1, digital sequence 24: Wuyingdian edition of 1739 with comments by Pei Songzhi. It is not a portrait, an autograph nor the page on Himiko; nor does it belong to the later novel.
Contextual image · Contextual correspondence
Harvard College Library Imaging Services · 2011 digitisation · Harvard-Yenching Library · Inventory: T 2560 7954b
Additional visual documentation
A cited publication does not establish which image was used to create the character.
Where it is held
Harvard-Yenching Library
Reference material evidence · Documented collection
Preserves the visual reference, not personal remains of the author. Public display may change.
The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.
Sources and references
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