| NAME | |
|---|---|
| Chinese Name | 李譔, 李譔, Lǐ Zhuàn |
| Nickname | Shu Erudite (novel Ch. 91); tutor of heir Liu Xuan |
| Other name | Lý Soạn |
| Courtesy name | 钦仲, 欽仲, Qīnzhòng, Qin Zhong, tự Khâm Trung |
| INFORMATION | |
| Birth Place | Fu, Zitong (East of Mianyang, Sichuan) |
| Died | 261 |
| Death Reason | Died in office during the Jingyao era (258–263); no violent cause recorded |
| CAREER | |
| Allegiance | Shu Han |
| Battles | Not a combatant; Chapter 91 names him among Hanzhong civil posts before Zhuge Liang's first northern expedition |
Biography & Historical Record
Li Zhuan (李譔, Lý Soạn), courtesy name Qinzhong (钦仲, Khâm Trung), was a Shu Han (蜀汉, Thục Hán) scholar-official from Fu county in Zitong (梓潼浩; east of present-day Mianyang, Sichuan). Chen Shou gave him his own notice in Sanguozhi Shu 12 (vol. 42), beside the Jing-school classicists. He is one of the catalog names that is fully real: father Li Ren (李仁, Lý Nhân), styled Dexian (德贤, Đức Hiền), travelled to Jing with the fellow Zitong student Yin Mo (尹默, Doãn Mặc) and studied under Sima Hui (司马徽, Tư Mã Huy) and Song Zhong (宋忠, Tống Trung). Li Zhuan inherited that Old-Text training, then kept working through the Five Classics and the philosophers with Yin Mo. He also chased side arts — calculation, divination, medicine, crossbows, and mechanical devices — so the heir apparent later liked him for “knowing many things.”
Office, not the field, is his record. He began as a provincial scribe and Masters of Writing clerk, became a tutor-attendant (shuzi) when Liu Shan (刘禅, Lưu Thiện) named Liu Xuan (刘璿, Lưu Toàn) heir in Yanxi 1 (238), and stayed beside the prince as Supervisor, Attendant Counsellor, and Right General of the Household. Peers did not honour him: Chen Shou says he was light, fond of mockery, and so “the age could not respect him.” His commentaries on the Changes, Documents, Mao Odes, the three Rites, the Zuo Tradition, and the Taixuan zhigui followed Jia Kui and Ma Rong rather than Zheng Xuan, and — though he had never seen Wang Su’s books — often reached the same readings. He died in the Jingyao years (258–263); the catalog’s 261 is a midpoint, not a day-dated death. The novel’s Chapter 91 appointment as Erudite when Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮, Gia Cát Lượng) stations at Hanzhong is a one-line court list, not a campaign.
Role in Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Chapter 91 (The Sacrificial Prayer at the River; The Prime Minister Marches North): After the southern campaign Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮, Gia Cát Lượng) returns, buries the dead, and rebuilds the court for a northern war. Among the civil appointments made while the army is being set at Hanzhong, Li Zhuan (李譔, Lý Soạn) is named Erudite (博士). He is not given a speaking scene, a memorial, or a place in the later Qishan camps. The chapter’s real action is the ritual and the first northern departure; Li Zhuan stands in the scholarly household the novel wants standing behind that departure. Readers who want the teacher of the heir, the Jing-school bibliography, and the light character Chen Shou disliked will not find them in the chapter — they are in Shu 12.
Li Zhuan (李譔) — Historical & Literary Timeline
Jing-school inheritance
Father Li Ren and Yin Mo study in Jing under Sima Hui and Song Zhong. Li Zhuan takes the full curriculum, then debates principle with Yin Mo and adds mathematics, medicine, and devices.
Named Erudite at Hanzhong
Novel: Zhuge Liang, preparing the first northern expedition, lists Li Zhuan among court scholars as 博士. No battlefield role.
Tutor to the heir
Liu Shan names Liu Xuan heir; Li Zhuan becomes shuzi and remains the prince’s attendant through later promotions. The heir likes his breadth; colleagues dislike his jokes.
Death
Chen Shou: died in the Jingyao years. Catalog 261 is a conventional midpoint, not a documented calendar day.
For the official biography, see Li Zhuan on Wikipedia.
Key Relationships
Family
- Father Li Ren (李仁, Lý Nhân), courtesy Dexian (德贤): Zitong man who studied in Jing with Yin Mo. No mother, spouse, or children are named in Shu 12.
Friends
- Yin Mo (尹默, Doãn Mặc), courtesy Kongxiu (孔休) — site post Yin Guan (尹默): father’s classmate and Li Zhuan’s partner in reading the classics. Link is to the 尹默 post, not to the unrelated 殷模 /yin-mo/.
- Sima Hui (司马徽, Tư Mã Huy) and Song Zhong (宋忠, Tống Trung): Jing teachers of the father’s generation; Li Zhuan is their second-generation student.
- Liu Xuan (刘璿, Lưu Toàn), Shu heir: the pupil who “loved his many kinds of knowledge.” No reliable site post under that 汉字 — do not use /liu-xuan/ (刘旋).
Enemies
- No battlefield opponent. Chen Shou’s slight is social: light conduct and mockery cost him the respect of Shu scholars, not a feud with a named enemy.
Other
- Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮, Gia Cát Lượng) and Liu Shan (刘禅, Lưu Thiện): the chancellor who (in the novel) lists him as Erudite, and the emperor who (in history) posts him on the heir’s staff.
- Jia Kui, Ma Rong, Zheng Xuan, Wang Su: the commentarial map of his books — Jia/Ma against Zheng, accidentally near Wang Su. Chen Shu (陈术) of Hanzhong is appended in the same SGZ notice as another learned man, not a kinsman.
In Novel
Chapter 91
- Li Zhuan (李譔, Lý Soạn), courtesy Qinzhong (钦仲, Khâm Trung): When Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮, Gia Cát Lượng) stations the army at Hanzhong after the southern campaign and fills civil posts for the northern war, Li Zhuan is appointed Erudite (博士). He does not speak, march, or appear in later expedition chapters. The novel uses him as a named scholar in the Hanzhong court list; the teacher of Liu Xuan and the Shu 12 bibliography are historical, not this scene.
In History
Summary
- Li Zhuan (李譔, Lý Soạn), styled Qinzhong, of Fu in Zitong, was a Shu classicist and attendant of heir Liu Xuan. He wrote Old-Text commentaries in the Jia Kui / Ma Rong line and died in the Jingyao era. Chen Shou notes his learning and his frivolity together.
Year: 238 AD
- Yanxi 1: Liu Shan names Liu Xuan heir; Li Zhuan is made shuzi, later Supervisor, Attendant Counsellor, and Right General of the Household, still serving the prince.
Year: 258–263 AD
- Died "in Jingyao." No battle death, exile, or Wei capture is recorded.
Historical Record
- Sanguozhi Shu 12 (vol. 42), biography of Li Zhuan. Father's Jing study is in the same notice (and Yin Mo's biography). Novel Chapter 91 is a name-drop only.
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