Ministers › Diplomat / Envoy
Shen Baoxu
Chu official of the Spring and Autumn period who, after Wu armies took the Chu capital, wept at the Qin court for seven days until Qin sent troops to save Chu
On a road beside a desert gateway, a camel train carries a lidded chest and rolled bundles while travellers walk along the path; a large sailing ship lies in the harbour at the right, a stone waymark stands by the road, and dunes and mountains fill the distance.
Also known as Bao Xu · Fenmao Bosu
- Roles
- Diplomat / Envoy
Shen Baoxu was an official of Chu in the Spring and Autumn period; the Intrigues of the Warring States (Zhanguo ce) calls him Fenmao Bosu. The Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) says that when Wu Zixu fled after King Ping of Chu killed his father and brother, he swore to overthrow Chu, and Shen answered that he would preserve it. In 506 BC Wu defeated Chu at Boju and entered the capital Ying, where Wu Zixu flogged King Ping's corpse, and Shen sent word that this revenge went too far. He then went to Qin for help and, when Duke Ai held back, leaned against the palace wall weeping day and night for seven days without taking water. The Zuo Tradition (Zuozhuan) says the duke recited the ode No Clothes for him, and the next year five hundred Qin chariots drove the Wu army back. When King Zhao returned to Ying and rewarded his helpers, Shen refused any reward and left.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; sought aid from Qin in 506 BCE