Chen Gong () (died 7 February 199), courtesy name Gongtai, was an adviser to the warlord Lü Bu in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. However, he had started his career under another warlord, Cao Cao, before defecting to Lü Bu. He was executed along with Lü Bu after Cao Cao defeated Lü Bu at the Battle of Xiapi.
Chen Gong was given a positive makeover in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which romanticises the events before and during the Three Kingdoms period. In the novel, Chen Gong initially held office as a minor magistrate under the Han government, but he gave up his job after deciding to follow Cao Cao, who was then on the run after attempting to assassinate Dong Zhuo, a tyrannical warlord and regent who was holding the Emperor hostage. However, after witnessing Cao Cao killing Lü Boshe, he secretly left Cao Cao and ultimately joined Lü Bu. His eventual fate in the novel is similar to that in history.
Life
Chen Gong was from Wuyang County (), Dong Commandery, which is located at the border between present-day Henan and Shandong provinces. He joined Cao Cao around 190, at the time when regional warlords around China formed a coalition against Dong Zhuo, a powerful warlord who held Emperor Xian hostage in the imperial capital, Luoyang and former imperial capital, Chang'an, respectively. Chen Gong's most significant contribution while serving Cao Cao was the taking over of Yan Province (兖州; covering present-day western Shandong) in 193 through diplomatic efforts, a strategic move which laid down the foundation for Cao Cao's subsequent rise in power.
In 194, however, while Cao Cao was away on a campaign against Tao Qian in Xu Province (徐州; covering present-day northern Jiangsu), Chen Gong defected to a rival warlord, Lü Bu, along with his colleague, Zhang Miao. With the assistance of the two defectors, Lü Bu quickly took over most of Yan Province. Cao Cao hastily returned and laid siege on Lü Bu in Puyang (). After more than hundred days of stalemate, a famine forced Lü Bu to give up his position and seek refuge under Liu Bei, successor of Tao Qian, in Xiapi (下邳; present-day Pizhou, Jiangsu), capital of Xu Province.
In 196, Lü Bu turned on his host and took over Xiapi, proclaiming himself the governor of Xu Province and sending Liu Bei to the nearby county of Xiaopei ().
In 198, Lü Bu launched an offensive against Liu Bei, who sought help from Cao Cao. This was one of Cao Cao's plots for he much desired the Xu Province. He placed two spies in Lü Bu's camp to sow discord between Lü Bu, Liu Bei and Chen Gong. These spies became the left and right advisers to Lü Bu and told him to attack Liu Bei. This was all against Chen Gong's advice. Cao Cao personally led his forces to attack Xiapi. When Cao Cao's army reached Pengcheng (彭城; present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu), which was located east of Xiapi, Chen Gong advised Lü Bu to grasp the initiative to strike because he didn't know of Cao Cao's ploy but Lü Bu, heeding his wife's advice, decided to stay put. After initial attempts to break the siege failed, Lü Bu intended to surrender but was dissuaded by Chen Gong.
The siege dragged on for two months until Cao Cao ordered his troops to dig ditches to divert the Si River and Yi River () to flood Xiapi. On 7 February 199, Lü Bu's subjects Hou Cheng, Song Xian () and Wei Xu () captured Chen Gong and defected with their troops. Lü Bu made a last stand on the city gate but was eventually overpowered and captured. When brought to Cao Cao, Chen Gong refused to return to his service and chose death so that the law could be upheld; Cao Cao had maintained a general rule that those who surrendered to him, after rejecting an initial call from him to surrender, would not be spared. Cao Cao was moved and provided for Chen Gong's family after Chen's death.
The heads of Lü Bu, Chen Gong, Gao Shun and some of Lü Bu's other followers were sent to Xuchang, capital of Cao Cao.
In Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a 14th-century historical novel by Luo Guanzhong, is a romanticisation of the events that occurred before and during the Three Kingdoms period. In this dramatised version of history, Chen Gong was credited with much undue moral righteousness and craftiness, perhaps to accentuate the unscrupulousness of Cao Cao and incompetence of Lü Bu.