Cheng Bing was from Nandun County (),
Runan Commandery (), which is located west of present-day
Xiangcheng,
Henan. He was a student of the
Confucian scholar
Zheng Xuan. When chaos broke out in China towards the
end of the Han dynasty, Cheng Bing left for
Jiao Province in southern China. Around this time, he studied with Liu Xi () and became well versed in the
Five Classics.
Shi Xie, the Administrator of
Jiaozhi Commandery, appointed him as a Chief Clerk (). Sometime in the early 220s,
Sun Quan, the founding emperor of
Eastern Wu, heard of Cheng Bing's fame as a learned Confucian scholar so he sent a messenger to Jiao Province to recruit Cheng to serve under him. Cheng Bing agreed and was appointed by Sun Quan as the Crown Prince's Tutor (). In 225, Sun Quan arranged a marriage between his heir apparent,
Sun Deng, and
Zhou Yu's
daughter. Cheng Bing was designated as the Minister of Ceremonies () and was in charge of the wedding reception in
Wu Commandery (around present-day
Suzhou,
Jiangsu). Sun Quan boarded Cheng Bing's ship during the ceremony and treated him with the utmost respect. Cheng Bing also guided Sun Deng on the formalities associated with the marriage. Cheng Bing died in office. No details about his death were recorded in history. Throughout his life, he wrote three major works:
Selections from the Book of Changes (),
Discussions on the Book of History (), and
Guide to the Analects (). ==See also==