Chen Shi ( Three Kingdoms ) Chen Shi was a military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history . Biography . Not much was known about Chen Shi , but he at least participated in two major wars his lord , Liu Bei , waged — the Hanzhong Campaign , and the Battle of Xiaoting . Despite being treated as inconsiderable by many modern researchers , general Chen was highly valued by Liu Bei , who assigned the general important role in the wars they took part in . Service under Liu Bei . During the Hanzhong Campaign against Cao Cao , Chen Shi was given command of ten camps to cut the connection between Nanzheng and Chang ' an . On the other hand , the defender of Nanzheng , Xiahou Yuan , had placed his subordinate , Xu Huang , in Mamengge , protecting his supply line . When Chen Shi was marching through a mountainous terrain , he encountered Xu Huang , and the two forces clashed wherein many soldiers under Chen Shi fell from the cliff and died . Although being soundly defeated , there is no record that the loser received any punishment from his supervisor , and the forces under Liu Bei finally conquered Hanzhong region after Cao Cao had decided to withdraw from battle . In 219 AD , Guan Yu lost Jing Province , as well as his life , to the southern warlord , Sun Quan ; this unexpected incident had infuriated the Shu - Han emperor , Liu Bei , who launched an all - out assault on Sun Quan in the summer of 221 . Chen Shi was encumbered as a Deputy Naval Commander along Wu Ban to lead the navy downstream the Yangtze River toward Yiling . Chen and Wu achieved their mission as the enemy commander , Lu Xun , had performed a strategic retreat . Then , the Shu army detached some forces to control the high rounds along their advance , and set up countless camps with wooden barricades protecting each . The navy under Chen Shi guarded the water passages , and general Huang Quan stationed on the northern bank to prevent any interruption from the state of Cao Wei . At the time , Shu - Han forces thought they would score a complete victory , challenging Lu Xun on numerous occasions . Commander Lu never make any move . The patient defender was actually waiting the Shu emperor to relocate his parched troops into the forests when the campers could no longer bear the heat . Earlier , Lu Xun had noticed a fatal mistake committed by Liu Bei - Shu forces were garrisoned in over 50 camps along the 350 km line from Wuxia to Yiling on the banks of Yangtze River , and the emperor had his camps linked with mainly wooden fortifications , something inflammable . When autumn arrived , Lu Xun suddenly ordered a massive fire attack which burned most of Shu camps . Meantime , Chen Shi had been losing control of upstream Yangtze to Sun Quan ’ s generals , Song Qian and Zhu Ran , and the naval commander fled into Ma ' an Hills to rendezvous with the remnants of Liu Bei ' s once - refulgent army . The refugees were caught up and besieged on the top of a mountain , but they were able to sneak out under the cover of night , finally arriving Baidicheng with few survivors including Chen Shi . Service under Zhuge Liang . When Shu - Han regent , Zhuge Liang , launched his first Northern Expedition , a tragic event befell upon Chen Shi , as he was placed under the inexperienced Ma Su to guard the strategic Jieting , where Ma ' s force was annihilated by the enemy . Even being the most favored assistant of the regent , Ma Su was blamed for the campaign ' s failure ; thus , he was executed by Zhuge Liang in tears , and four subordinate generals including Chen Shi , whom Ma Su commanded during the Battle of Jieting , were also held responsible and punished severely . General Chen ’ s penalty was comparably puny to his executed comrades ' as he only got all hairs shaved . Nevertheless , being a man without hairs looked funny and shameful in the world Chen Shi lived ; yet , he seemed able to overcome this inglorious page of life , contributing much to Zhuge ' s 2nd expedition in 229 . Upon the painful lesson from Jieting , Zhuge Liang finally resorted to use veteran generals like Chen Shui , who had been valued by the deceased Liu Bei , to be the vanguard . Leading a separate command , Chen Shui ventured into Wudu and Yinping commanderies , while Zhuge Liang led the main force toward Jianwei County . A Wei general , Guo Huai , had planned to attack Chen Shui , but changed mind when he received intelligence that Zhuge Liang had led a sizable army to the northwest of Chen ' s position . An evacuation , rather than a defense , was carried out to deal with Shu ' s aggression , leaving the two commanderies to be conquered by Chen Shui . Even the exodus left the commanderies with nearly nothing of value , the gain of the lands translated into Zhuge Liang ' s political gain , reinstating him the official title of Prime Minister , a title that Zhuge deprecated and divested after the loss at Jieting . Relationship with Chen Shou . Historically , besides a trusted general of Liu Bei , Chen Shi was also one of the few Shu generals who achieved some merits during Zhuge ' s ill - fated northern expeditions . However , he was not given a separate biography by Chen Shou in his " Records of Three Kingdoms , " making him a rather obscure figure . As recorded , Chen Shou ' s father was punished by Zhuge Liang , so scholars in later dynasties deduced Chen Shi as the father of the Jin Dynasty historian ; however , such claim is lack of precise historical support . In fiction . In Luo Guanzhong ' s historical novel " Romance of the Three Kingdoms " , Chen was captured at the Battle of Mount Dingjun by Xiahou Yuan ' s forces , but was released in exchange for Xiahou Shang , who was captured by Liu Bei ' s forces . In the same novel , during the third Northern Campaign of Zhuge Liang , he tried to lay his failure to Wei Yan however Zhuge already knew the truth that Chen Shi tried to blame Yan , he was executed by Zhuge .