Shou Chen

Born in 233 and living until 297, Chen Shou was a Chinese historian of the Three Kingdoms era. He is chiefly remembered as the compiler of Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi), one of the key historical works for the period.

His book drew together accounts of the rival states of Wei, Shu, and Wu, preserving biographies and political history from a time of war and upheaval. Because later readers, scholars, and storytellers relied so heavily on this work, Chen Shou's writing had an enormous influence on how the age was remembered.

Although many details of his life are less widely highlighted than his book itself, his reputation rests firmly on the care and scale of that achievement. For anyone interested in early medieval China, he remains one of the essential voices behind the story of the Three Kingdoms.