审食其 / Shen Yiji

Overview

Shen Yiji / 审食其 appears first as a companion of 刘太公 and 吕雉 captured after the 彭城之战, later as Biyang Hou and an investigator in the 卢绾 crisis, and finally as a court figure whose connection to Lu Zhi exposes him to 汉惠帝刘盈’s anger.

Current Profile

The source set moves Shen Yiji through three distinct positions. In the Pengcheng aftermath, he belongs to Liu Bang’s vulnerable family group and becomes hostage leverage for 项羽. Late in Liu Bang’s reign, he holds enough official standing to be sent with 赵尧 to investigate Lu Wan after the Yan king refuses summons.

Hanji 372-3 then adds a dangerous court relationship: it says Liu Ying wants to kill Shen Yiji because of his intimacy with Lu Zhi, but 平原君朱建 works through 闳孺 to avert the killing. The episode thereby makes Shen Yiji a point where dowager intimacy, imperial anger, and favorite mediation intersect.

Key Characteristics

• His earliest role is relational and vulnerable rather than independently political: he is captured with Liu Bang’s family group.
• His later Biyang Hou status places him inside formal investigation and court service.
• His association with Lu Zhi becomes both a source of proximity and a cause of lethal exposure.
• He survives the episode’s threatened killing through indirect mediation rather than his own demonstrated access to Liu Ying.
• The latest identification is contextually strong but textually qualified because the transcript corrupts his name.

Evidence

Hostage vulnerability:

• Hanji 152 part 2 says Shen Yiji, Liu Taigong, and Lu Zhi are captured after failing to catch Liu Bang during the Pengcheng flight.

Formal investigative role:

• Hanji 191 sends Shen Yiji and Zhao Yao to investigate Lu Wan’s refusal of summons and concealed contacts.

Court exposure and mediation:

• Hanji 372-3 says Zhu Jian persuades Hong Ru to intervene after Liu Ying threatens Shen Yiji.

Qualifications

Hanji 372-3’s supplied summary calls the threatened figure “沈逸季,” which the wiki normalizes to Shen Yiji from the quoted [[Hanshu|《汉书》·朱建传]] context and the Lu Zhi relationship. The episode’s characterization of that intimacy and Liu Ying’s motive is not independently verified here. The current sources also do not provide a full account of Shen Yiji’s offices, later career, or death.

What Changed

• Extended Shen Yiji beyond hostage and investigator roles into the Hui-era court dispute involving Lu Zhi, Hong Ru, and Zhu Jian.
• Marked the “沈逸季” to 审食其 normalization and retained the motive claims as source-scoped.
• Migrated the page to the synthesis-v1 structure without changing the prior source inventory order.

Relationships

• 吕雉 - captured companion and later intimate political association in the episode’s account.
• 刘太公 - companion in the family-hostage group after Pengcheng.
• 刘邦 - ruler whose family group Shen Yiji accompanies and whose later investigation he serves.
• 赵尧 - fellow investigator in the Lu Wan crisis.
• 汉惠帝刘盈 - emperor who threatens him in Hanji 372-3.
• 闳孺 - favorite whose mediation averts the threatened killing.
• 平原君朱建 - intermediary who activates Hong Ru’s access.
• 宫廷亲密关系作为政治资源 - explains the competing intimate channels surrounding the dispute.