Chen Ping
Aided Liu Bang with six ingenious stratagems, and later wiped out the Lü clan with Zhou Bo and installed Emperor Wen.
Life
Left Chu for Han
Chen Ping was poor in his youth and loved to read. He first served Xiang Yu, then went over to Liu Bang. He devised many ingenious stratagems: he used large sums of gold to sow discord between Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng, causing Fan Zeng to leave in anger; when Xingyang was besieged he sent 2,000 women out of the east gate at night to lure the enemy, covering Liu Bang's escape.
Six ingenious stratagems
He also advised Liu Bang to feign an excursion to Yunmeng in order to seize Han Xin; and when Liu Bang was besieged at Baideng, he contrived to bribe the yanzhi (consort) of Modu Chanyu, allowing Liu Bang to escape. Historians credit him with "six ingenious stratagems."
Secured the Liu clan
While Empress Lü dominated power he outwardly complied. When she died in 180 BCE, he joined forces with Zhou Bo to wipe out the Lü clan and installed Liu Heng, Prince of Dai, as Emperor Wen, rising to chancellor. He died in 178 BCE.
Legacy
Chen Ping was famed for his brilliant stratagems; he turned danger into safety in many early Han crises and in the end preserved the Liu clan's hold on the realm.
Major works & achievements
- Sowed discord against Fan Zeng
- Broke the siege at Baideng
- Wiped out the Lü clan
Did you know? As a young man he divided the sacrificial meat in his village so fairly that the elders praised him, and he replied: "If I were given the world to govern, I would divide it just like this meat."
Key dates
- 205 BCELeft Xiang Yu and submitted to Liu Bang
- 204 BCESowed discord between Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng
- 200 BCEDevised the escape from the Siege of Baideng
- 180 BCEWiped out the Lü clan with Zhou Bo
- 178 BCEDied