Life

Cheng Bing was from Nandun County, Runan Commandery (汝南郡), 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 (長史).

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 (太子太傅). 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 (太常) 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 (周易摘), Discussions on the Book of History (尚書駮), and Guide to the Analects (論語弼).

生平

程秉起初跟隨鄭玄，後來北方荒亂而到交州避難，期間與劉熙考究五經大義，因此通繞五經。後來交趾太守士燮任命程秉為長史。吳大帝孫權聽聞程秉的名聲，於是以禮徵召他，程秉到後，被任命為太子太傅。

黃武四年（225年），孫權為太子孫登娶周瑜之女為妃，程秉以太常身份於吳郡迎候，孫權親身上程秉的船，可見孫權對他的極為禮待。程秉又教誨孫登對婚後相處要尊重儒家禮教。後來因病在任職期間逝世。

著作

《三國志》載他著有《周易摘》、《尚書駮》、《論語弼》，都是論說五經的書籍，共計有三萬多字。