RJudged to surpass Zong Yu in refinement of character; alone kept away from Huang HaoShu 5 §64
NWent with the Later Sovereign to Luoyang when only a few men followed himCh. 119 §22
Fan Jian 樊建
| Occupation | RNOfficial · Director of the Imperial Secretariat | Faction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appears | RN | Biography in | |
| Born | Native place | Yiyang Commandery | |
| Existence | Historical | Mentions | R6 |
Profile
Fan Jian was a man of Yiyang and a civil official of Shu-Han. He has no biography of his own in the Records and is recorded together with Dong Jue in the account of Dong Jue appended to the end of the Biography of Zhuge Liang. In the 14th year of Yanxi (251) he went to Wu as an envoy with the rank of Colonel, later became Palace Attendant and acting Prefect of the Palace Secretariat, and replaced Dong Jue as Director of the Imperial Secretariat. When he took charge of the government together with Zhuge Zhan and Dong Jue, he alone kept away from close dealings with Huang Hao. After Shu fell he was enfeoffed as a full marquis, and he went with Dong Jue to the Wei capital and became Army Adviser to the Chancellor of State. Records, Shu 5 §63–64Records, Shu 3 §52
Chen Shou's assessment does not treat him separately. In the Romance he first appeared in Chapter 87 as an Officer accompanying Zhuge Liang's southern campaign against the Man, and featured in 6 of its 120 chapters, though his name never appeared in a chapter title. In Chapter 111 he tried to dissuade Jiang Wei from launching a campaign, and in Chapter 119, as Director of the Imperial Secretariat, he went with the Later Sovereign to Luoyang. Records, Shu 5 §66Romance, Ch. 87 §7Romance, Ch. 111 §5Romance, Ch. 119 §22
In the Records
After Zhuge Liang's death, Dong Jue was gradually promoted to Supervisor of the Imperial Secretariat and replaced Chen Zhi as Director of the Imperial Secretariat, then moved to General-in-Chief and handled the affairs of the Secretariat. His post as Director of the Imperial Secretariat was taken over by Fan Jian, a man of Yiyang. Records, Shu 5 §63
In the 14th year of Yanxi (251) Fan Jian went to Wu as an envoy with the rank of Colonel, but Sun Quan happened to be gravely ill and did not see Fan Jian in person. When Sun Quan asked Zhuge Ke, 'How does Fan Jian compare with Zong Yu?', Zhuge Ke replied, 'In talent and insight he does not match Zong Yu, but in refinement of character he surpasses him.' Records, Shu 5 §63–64
Fan Jian later became Palace Attendant and acting Prefect of the Palace Secretariat. After Zhuge Zhan, Dong Jue and Fan Jian took charge of the government, Jiang Wei was constantly away on campaigns while the eunuch Huang Hao secretly manipulated power; they all merely shielded him and could not correct him. Fan Jian alone, however, kept away from close dealings with Huang Hao. Records, Shu 5 §64
In the winter of the 6th year of Jingyao (263), the Wei General Who Subdues the West, Deng Ai, attacked Shu. After surrendering, the Later Sovereign moved east with his whole household and in the 3rd month of the 5th year of Jingyuan (264) was enfeoffed at Luoyang as Duke of Anle County, and at this time the Director of the Imperial Secretariat Fan Jian was enfeoffed as a full marquis together with the Palace Attendant Zhang Shao, the Grandee of Splendid Happiness Qiao Zhou, the Director of the Palace Library Xi Zheng and the Palace Guard Commander Zhang Tong. In the spring of the year after Shu fell, Dong Jue and Fan Jian went together to the capital and both became Army Advisers to the Chancellor of State, and in the autumn of that year, concurrently made Regular Mounted Attendants, they were sent as envoys to Shu to console its people. Records, Shu 5 §60 · 64Records, Shu 3 §46 · 48 · 52
The Biographies of Deng Zhi, Zhang Yi, Zong Yu and Yang Xi in Records of Shu 15 record that Liu Wu, the youngest son of Liu Yong, had literary talent and was equal in renown to Fan Jian, and that he too rose to the office of Master of Writing. The Records do not record Fan Jian's courtesy name or the years of his birth and death. Records, Shu 15 §59–60
In the Romance
In Chapter 87 of the Romance, as Zhuge Liang set out to attack the Man, he made Jiang Wan Army Adviser, Fei Yi Chief Clerk, and the two men Dong Jue and Fan Jian Officers. In the order of battle for the northern expedition in Chapter 91, Fan Jian served as Army Secretary (dianjun shuji). Romance, Ch. 87 §7Romance, Ch. 91 §42
In Chapter 99, Zhuge Liang called Dong Jue, Fan Jian and others into his tent and told them that his mind was so clouded that he could not attend to affairs, so he would return to Hanzhong to recover from his illness, and that they must on no account let this leak out lest Sima Yi learn of it. In Chapter 102 Fan Jian asked Zhuge Liang, who had imprisoned Zheng Wen after his feigned surrender, how he had known the surrender was false, and Zhuge Liang answered that he knew it was false because a general whom Sima Yi would not lightly employ had been killed by Zheng Wen in a single bout. Romance, Ch. 99 §37Romance, Ch. 102 §30–32
In Chapter 111, when Jiang Wei was discussing an attack on Wei at Zhongti, the Clerk Fan Jian remonstrated with him, saying that he had gone out many times without winning complete success, and that since the people of Wei already submitted to his prestige after the victory west of the Tao, there was no reason to go out again; if by some chance things went badly, all his earlier achievements would come to nothing. Jiang Wei rejected this, citing five reasons why Wei could be defeated. Romance, Ch. 111 §5–7
In Chapter 119, when the Later Sovereign was moved to Luoyang after the fall of Shu, the Director of the Imperial Secretariat Fan Jian was one of the few men who went with him, together with the Palace Attendant Zhang Shao, the Grandee of Splendid Happiness Qiao Zhou, the Gentleman of the Palace Library Xi Zheng and others. Liao Hua and Dong Jue pleaded illness and did not rise, and both died of grief. When Sima Zhao enfeoffed the Later Sovereign as Duke of Anle, Fan Jian, Qiao Zhou, Xi Zheng and others were all enfeoffed as marquises as well. Romance, Ch. 119 §22 · 25–26
Where the Romance differs
In Zhuge Liang's time: In Chapter 87 of the Romance, Fan Jian accompanied Zhuge Liang's southern campaign against the Man as an Officer together with Dong Jue, and he also appears in the northern expeditions in Chapters 91, 99 and 102. In the Records, Fan Jian's record begins with his mission to Wu in the 14th year of Yanxi (251), and the one recorded as having been a Clerk in the Chancellor's office in Zhuge Liang's time is Dong Jue. Romance, Ch. 87 §7Romance, Ch. 91 §42Romance, Ch. 102 §31Records, Shu 5 §63
The envoy to Wu: In the Records, Fan Jian went to Wu as an envoy with the rank of Colonel, and Sun Quan asked Zhuge Ke how Fan Jian compared with Zong Yu. This episode is absent from the passages of the Romance in which Fan Jian appears (Chapters 87, 91, 99, 102, 111 and 119). Records, Shu 5 §63–64Romance, Ch. 87 §7Romance, Ch. 91 §42Romance, Ch. 99 §37Romance, Ch. 102 §31Romance, Ch. 111 §5Romance, Ch. 119 §22 · 26
Jiang Wei and Huang Hao: In Chapter 111 of the Romance, Fan Jian, as a Clerk, tried to dissuade Jiang Wei from launching a campaign. The Records have no record of Fan Jian remonstrating with Jiang Wei; they state that while Jiang Wei was away on campaigns he took charge of the government together with Zhuge Zhan and Dong Jue, and although he could not correct Huang Hao, he alone kept away from close dealings with him. Romance, Ch. 111 §5Records, Shu 5 §64
Offices: In the Romance, Fan Jian appears as an Officer (Chapter 87), Army Secretary (Chapter 91) and Clerk (Chapter 111), and then in Chapter 119 as Director of the Imperial Secretariat. In the Records, he went to Wu as an envoy with the rank of Colonel, later became Palace Attendant and acting Prefect of the Palace Secretariat, and replaced Dong Jue as Director of the Imperial Secretariat. Romance, Ch. 87 §7Romance, Ch. 91 §42Romance, Ch. 111 §5Romance, Ch. 119 §22Records, Shu 5 §63–64
After going to Luoyang: In Chapter 119 of the Romance, only a few men such as Fan Jian went with the Later Sovereign, and Dong Jue pleaded illness, did not rise and died of grief. In the Records, in the spring of the year after Shu fell, Dong Jue and Fan Jian went together to the capital and became Army Advisers to the Chancellor of State, and in the autumn of that year, concurrently made Regular Mounted Attendants, they were sent as envoys to Shu to console its people. Romance, Ch. 119 §22Records, Shu 5 §64
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.
Abilities
The Records score (Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms, main text) is the baseline. Each ability compares how the Romance redrew the same person, and the evidence from both sources explains the difference.
Records total482 / 1000Rank 290 of 996 · Top 30%Romance total432 / 1000Rank 318 of 1,113 · Top 29%
Romance adaptation index−50Romance total − Records total
- LEA3131±0
- STR3131±0
- INT4550+5
- POL5548−7
- CHA4040±0
- VIR7560−15
- ADP5550−5
- SCH5845−13
- DIP5242−10
- DIS4035−5
Abilities shaped by the Romance — where it differs from the Records Differences of 10 or more
RRecorded as equal in renown to Liu Wu, a man of literary talentShu 15 §60
NNo direct record — estimated from the record of his serving as Army SecretaryCh. 91 §42
RWent to Wu as an envoy with the rank of Colonel, and later was sent as an envoy to Shu to console its peopleShu 5 §63Shu 5 §64
NRemonstrated with Jiang Wei but was not heededCh. 111 §5
7 similar abilities — show evidence
RZhuge Ke judged that in talent and insight he did not match Zong YuShu 5 §64
NRemonstrated against Jiang Wei's renewed campaign, noting that repeated expeditions had won no complete successCh. 111 §5
RTook charge of the government as Director of the Imperial Secretariat and acting Prefect of the Palace Secretariat, but could not correct Huang HaoShu 5 §63Shu 5 §64
NNo direct record — estimated from his post as Director of the Imperial SecretariatCh. 119 §22
RNo direct record — estimated from the assessment of his refined characterShu 5 §64
NNo direct record — estimated from his overall careerCh. 119 §22
RKept his distance from Huang Hao, and after the fall of Shu became a full marquis and Army Adviser to the Chancellor of StateShu 5 §64Shu 3 §52
NNo direct record — estimated from his being enfeoffed as a marquis after the fall of the stateCh. 119 §26
RNo direct record — estimated from his post of taking charge of the governmentShu 5 §64
NNo direct record — the record shows him failing to see through Zheng Wen's feigned surrender and asking about itCh. 102 §31
Records Romance Unverified No direct record; scored from their actions (evidence grade C)
3KDEX scoring — the Records use the main text of Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms; the Romance uses the 120-chapter Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Click a source tag to open that passage in the reader.
Romance chapters (6)
AppearsNot present Chapter list →