Life

Chen Sheng was born in Yangcheng (陽城; in present-day Fangcheng County, Henan). In 209 BC, he was a military captain along with Wu Guang when the two of them were ordered to lead 900 soldiers to Yuyang (漁陽; southwest of present-day Miyun County, Beijing) to help defend the northern border against Xiongnu. Due to storms, it became clear that they could not get to Yuyang by the deadline, and according to law, if soldiers could not get to their posts on time, they would be executed. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, believing that they were doomed, led their soldiers to start a rebellion. They announced that Fusu, the crown prince of Qin, who had wrongly been forced to commit suicide, and Xiang Yan, a general of Chu, had not died and were joining their cause. They also declared the reestablishment of Chu.

Using 900 men to resist an empire seemed to be a suicidal move, but the people, who had felt deeply oppressed by the Qin regime, joined Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's cause quickly. More than 20,000 men joined. Soon, there were people asking Chen Sheng to declare himself "King of Chu". Acting against the advice of Zhang Er and Chen Yu, Chen Sheng declared himself "King of Rising Chu".

Chen Sheng, setting his capital at Chen County (陳縣; in present-day Huaiyang, Henan), then commissioned various generals to advance in all directions to conquer Qin territory. Among these were: Wu Guang, whom he created acting "King of Chu"; Zhou Wen (周文), whom he ordered to head west toward Qin proper; his friend Wu Chen (武臣), whom he ordered to head north toward the old territory of Zhao; Zhou Fu (周敷), whom he ordered to head northeast toward the old territory of Wei. However, none of these generals returned. After initial defeats Qin forces regrouped under general Zhang Han. Wu Guang was assassinated by generals under him; Zhou Wen was defeated by Qin forces; Wu Chen was initially successful but then declared himself the King of Zhao and became independent of Chu; and Zhou Fu supported a descendant of the royal house of Wei to be the King of Wei, also independent of Chu. A major reason why Wu Chen and the generals who assassinated Wu Guang broke away was that Chen Sheng was paranoid as a king: generals were executed at any sign of infidelity, even by rumours. Chen Sheng's ruthlessness and constant defeats in battle made it harder and harder for him to gather followers. Chen Sheng was greatly weakened, and as he suffered losses at the hands of the Qin army, he personally led a force to try to gather reinforcements, but he was assassinated by his guard Zhuang Jia in winter 209/208 BC. His rebellion ended just six months after it started.

Legacy

Chen Sheng was often idealized by versions of history promulgated by Chinese historians as a great leader of the peasants against intolerable oppression of the Qin nobility and bourgeois. However, that perception is not reality. Chen Sheng's decisions, while motivated by his desire to overthrow Qin, was also often motivated by self-interest and self-aggravation. He also failed to take in good advice and overly estimated himself. As the Song Dynasty historian Sima Guang wrote in the Zizhi Tongjian:

While Chinese historians may quibble with Sima Guang's characterization of Chen, it appears to be quite correct. He claimed the title of king only months after the start of his rebellion, without a sufficient foundation, and once he did he effectively became stuck in Chen County and could not firmly hold territories that were conquered, because the people in the territories did not view him with great affection.

Chen Sheng appears to be the person who coined the Chinese proverb, "How can a little songbird understand the ambitions of a grand swan!" (燕雀安知鴻鵠志), a saying that figures prominently in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

He sometimes appears as a door god in Chinese and Taoist temples, usually paired with Wu Guang.

The pattern of an impostor and his general, founded by Chen Sheng, was closely followed by Han Shantong and Liu Futong in the end of Yuan Dynasty.

生平

陳勝早年窮困，出身為農家的僱工，胸有大志，曾因說「如果我富貴了，不會忘記你的」而遭嘲笑，自嘆：「唉，燕子、麻雀這些小鳥，怎能知道鴻雁的志向呢！」

秦二世元年（前209年）七月陳勝和吳廣為屯長（小軍官），隨著兩名秦的「尉」官，帶領九百名戍卒前往漁陽（今日北京密雲西南）戍邊，遇雨誤期。按法令，誤期者當斬首。于是陳、吳二人討論，「現在逃亡也是死， 作大事也是死，同樣是死，死於國家大事也可以罷？」，喊出「王侯將相，焉有種乎？」意即「我們也能當上王侯將相」藉以激勵戍卒，並以為號召，在蘄縣大澤鄉（安徽宿州東南的劉村集）起義，殺掉兩名秦尉，「斬木為兵，揭竿為旗」，並以扶蘇和項燕的名義號召民眾。陳勝自稱將軍，而吳廣自稱都尉。

陳勝起兵後，收集大澤鄉的軍隊，攻打蘄縣。蘄縣攻克後，陳派葛嬰率兵攻取蘄縣以東的地方，攻占銍、酂、苦、柘、譙等地。陳勝所部進攻沿途不斷髮展壯大，到陳縣時已擁有兵車六七百輛，騎兵一千餘，步卒上萬。隨後農民軍對陳縣發起進攻，但沒有攻占，直到陳縣的守丞（郡守、縣令的佐官）死後，才占領了那裡。

占領陳縣（今河南淮陽）後，當地的三老與豪強認為陳勝論功勞應該稱王，陳勝就此徵求陳餘、張耳的看法，二人認為陳勝不應稱王，應迅速向西進軍，擁立六國君王的後裔，為秦朝大量樹敵。同時二人還警告陳勝，如果現在就稱王，則天下諸侯恐怕不會相從。陳勝沒聽從他們的意見。于是陳勝稱王，國號為「楚」或「張楚」（取「張大楚國」之意）。

陳勝稱王之後，他早年的同伴來看望他說：「傢俱真多啊！陳涉稱王，居然住了這樣大的房子？」 這個來客在宮中隨便放肆，常常跟人講陳勝過去的逸聞。有人對陳勝說此人有損陳勝的威嚴，陳勝便殺死了來客。從此以後，陳勝的舊交都紛紛自動離去。另外，陳勝稱王之後，他的岳父和妻兄都前去投靠。陳勝以對待普通賓客的禮節對待他們。岳父憤怒地說：「自以為很強大就怠慢長者，沒辦法囂張多久！」于是不告而別。陳勝又任用朱房為「中正」，胡武為「司過」，考核百官。諸將領作戰結束回都後，讓朱胡二人不滿的，都關入監獄，以苛刻地尋求群臣的過失作為對陳勝的忠心。凡是他倆不喜歡的人，一旦有錯，不交給負責司法的官吏去審理，就擅自予以懲治，陳勝卻很信任他們。

陳勝任命吳廣為「假王」，率重兵進攻滎陽（今河南滎陽東北古滎鎮），命令武臣、張耳、陳餘進攻故趙國領地，命令鄧宗進攻九江郡，命令周市進攻故魏國領地。又以周文（周章）為將軍，率部由陳縣出發西擊秦，攻破函谷關。再以數十萬兵進抵關中戲地（今陝西臨潼境），逼近咸陽。陳勝派出周章後，認為秦政府混亂，有輕視秦政府的意思，不再設立防備。博士孔鮒勸諫陳勝注重防備，被陳勝拒絕。秦朝少府章邯率領幾十萬在驪山修墓的刑徒，武裝起來迎擊周文軍。周文因為孤軍深入，吃了敗仗，退出函谷關，駐紮曹陽（今河南靈寶縣東），等待救援不至。三個月後，退到澠池，周文自剄。

滎陽城池堅固，在三川郡郡守李由的堅守下久攻不下，陳勝徵召國內「豪傑」商議辦法，任命房君蔡賜為上柱國。章邯兵鋒漸近，吳廣卻堅守、不理會，部將田臧認為應該與章邯決鬥，於是刺殺了吳廣，奪得兵權，陳勝只能承認既成事實，委任田臧為令尹。吳廣死後，軍心渙散。秦大將章邯率軍攻來，田臧率精兵西進至敖倉迎戰，兵敗被殺。隨後，章邯軍又接連擊破陳勝所屬鄧說、伍逢部，鄧說逃跑，被陳勝誅殺。

前209年12月，章邯率軍進攻陳地（今河南淮陽），上柱國蔡賜戰死。章邯又進兵進攻陳地以西張賀部，陳勝親自迎戰，但仍然失敗。臘月，陳勝敗退至下城父（今安徽渦陽東南），車夫莊賈殺害陳勝，隨即投降秦軍。陳勝自起兵稱王到最後被殺，總共有六個月。陳勝部將呂臣率蒼頭軍兩度收復陳縣，殺莊賈，葬陳勝于芒碭山，追諡「隱王」。

評價

• 陳勝乃亡秦第一人，賈誼《過秦論》說：「一夫作難而七廟隳，身死人手，為天下笑者，何也？」一夫即是指陳勝。漢高祖時為陳涉置守塚30家，按時犧牲血食祭祀，直到王莽敗落後斷絕。《史記》中被歸入世家類，與孔子齊平，評價之高可見一斑。

• 郭嵩燾評說：「案陳涉首事僅一攻蘄下陳，而所遣諸將武臣則自立為趙王，韓廣則自立為燕王，周市則立魏咎為魏王，葛嬰則立襄彊為楚王，秦嘉又立景駒為楚王，其自立者，齊王田儋而已，餘皆陳涉所遣將也。陳涉起未久，事跡無可紀者，而楚、漢相爭大局並由陳涉發端，史公敘漢世家，首陳涉以此。」

注釋