Sheng Xian, style name

Chinese style name

A Chinese style name, sometimes also known as a courtesy name , is a given name to be used later in life. After 20 years of age, the zì is assigned in place of one's given name as a symbol of adulthood and respect...

 Xiaozhang (孝章), was an official who lived during the late Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

 period of Chinese history

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

. He was from Kuaiji (會稽).

Biography

Sheng was at one point the Administrator of Wu Commandery (吳郡, roughly modern Suzhou

Suzhou

Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...

, Jiangsu

Jiangsu

' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...

), when he recommended Gao Dai (高岱) for government service. Around 193, when Xu Gong

Xu Gong

Xu Gong was the governor of Wu Commandery during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history.Xu Gong had opposed Sun Ce as an ally of Wang Lang, Yan Baihu, and Liu Yao. He eventually was forced to surrender to Sun's forces, but he was a disloyal officer, even attempting to write a secret memo...

 took over Wu Commandery by force, Gao took Sheng and hid him at the home of a military officer, Xu Zhao (許昭). To dissuade Xu Gong from further prosecution, Gao Dai went to Xu Province to seek the help of Tao Qian. Tao showed nominal support for their cause, and Xu Gong did not pursue them any further.

When Sun Ce

Sun Ce

Sun Ce was a military general and warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was the oldest of the children of Sun Jian who was killed during the Battle of Xiangyang when Sun Ce was only 16. Sun Ce then broke away from his father's overlord, Yuan Shu, and headed to...

 was conquering the commanderies near the region later in 199, Cheng Pu

Cheng Pu

Cheng Pu was a military general serving under the warlord Sun family of Eastern Wu for three generations during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history.-Early service under Sun Jian:...

 suggested attacking Xu Zhao, but Sun, citing Xu Zhao's giving sanctuary to Sheng and Yan Baihu

Yan Baihu

Yan Baihu was a bandit leader active in the Wu region during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history.-The White Tiger among bandits:Baihu was not Yan's real name, but a nickname given to him due to his physical prowess or skin color; thus his name should be translated to "White Tiger Yan"...

 as indication of Xu Zhao's faithfulness, did not do so. Nonetheless, Sun Ce saw Sheng's reputation as a threat to his own authority, and Sheng's life was in jeopardy. Around 202, Sheng's close friend Kong Rong

Kong Rong

Kong Rong was a politician, scholar, and minor warlord of the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was also a 20th generation descendant of Kong Qiu . As he was once the chancellor of Beihai Commandery , he was also known as Kong Beihai. He was defeated by Yuan Tan in 196 and escaped to...

 persuaded Cao Cao

Cao Cao

Cao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously titled...

 to give Sheng some imperial position as protection. Cao Cao gave Sheng the rank of Commandants of Cavalry (騎都尉), but before the commission arrived, Sheng was killed by Sun Ce's successor, Sun Quan

Sun Quan

Sun Quan , son of Sun Jian, formally Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He ruled from 222 to 229 as King of Wu and from 229 to 252 as Emperor of Wu....

.

As a result of Sheng's execution, two of his followers, Dai Yuan (戴員) and Gui Lan (媯覽), fled Sun Quan's court and killed Sun Yi and Sun He (孫河), members of Sun Quan's clan. They planned to defect to Cao Cao by summoning Liu Fu

Liu Fu

Liu Fu , style name Yuanying , was a politician of the Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He served as the Inspector of Yang Province...

. However, Sun Yi's widow devised a plan to trap the two, and the rebels were subsequently killed.

Sheng was survived by a son, Sheng Kuang (盛匡); he fled to Cao Cao and was given a junior military office there.