He Yong (Han dynasty)

He Yong (d.c.191-192),[1][2] courtesy name Boqiu, was an official and scholar who lived in the Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was born in Nanyang and went to the Imperial University in Luoyang where he became known for being a well-connected talent spotter. Exiled to Runan during the Disasters of Partisan Prohibitions incidents in 169 until 184, he would then serve the Han court. Plotting against Dong Zhuo, he would be arrested on a separate matter and took his own life. [3]

He Yong
何顒
Chief Clerk (長史)
In office
c. 189 (c. 189)–? (?)
MonarchEmperor Xian of Han
ChancellorDong Zhuo
Beijun Zhonghou (北軍中侯)
In office
? (?)–? (?)
MonarchEmperor Ling of Han
Personal details
BornUnknown
Zaoyang, Hubei
Diedc.191-92
OccupationOfficial, scholar
Courtesy nameBoqiu (伯求)
In this Chinese name, the family name is He.

Early life

He Yong was born in Nanyang in Jing province, as a young man in the 160's he attended the Imperial University, though its status as an educational institution was in decline.[4] However, the University had become a centre for political protest, and he made a reputation for himself as a judge of talent. He made friends with influential figures like Guo Tai (郭泰) and Jia Biao (賈彪), leading talent assessors and opponents of the eunuchs favoured at court.[5] Gaining a reputation, he also made friends with leading anti-eunuch figures at the court, like the Grand Tutor Chen Fan and Director of Retainers Li Ying (李膺).[6]

He also met and admired the future warlord Cao Cao remarking “The Han house will fall. The one who can pacify the empire must be this man.”[7] A useful endorsement for Cao Cao[8] though Carl Leban raises questions about how similar this sort of comment is to other figures about Cao Cao.[7] He would become acquainted with a young Xun Yu[9] and predicted he had the talent to serve a king.[10][1]

His reputation would be further enhanced as he engaged in the growing trend of vendetta's. He Yong had a friend called Yu Weigo (虞偉高) whose father was killed in a vendetta, Yu Weigo planned revenge but fell mortally ill. He Yong visited his friend and, finding him in some distress at being unable to avenge his father, He Yong carried out the killing and brought the head to the Yu family tomb.[11][12][13]

Exile

In 168, Chen Fan was made Grand Tutor to the new Emperor Ling and soon he and his allies sought to remove the eunuchs, but their plot was slow, they were outmanoeuvred, and they were destroyed.[14] In 169 the eunuchs persuaded the young Emperor to restart the Prohibitions, purging their opponents including at the Imperial University via charges of faction. Many would be killed or driven into exile, all accused were banned from office till 184.[15] He Yong was a prominent enough figure that he had to flee to Runan back in his home Jing Province under a false identity.[16] He Yong was a figure who, wherever he was, built close ties with those from leading families[17] and he quickly built support as he befriended fellow exiles.[3][18]

He Yong would work with and befriend the wealthy future warlord Yuan Shao to run escape lines for those at risk in the capital, often travelling into the capital Luoyang himself, despite the personal risk.[19] However, this gained He Yong the enmity of the adventurer and future warlord Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao's sibling-turned-cousin and rival.[20] Yuan Shu attacked He Yong's record as a judge of talent, questionable friends and being greedy when others needed help[21] and once even vowed he would kill He Yong[22] but others rebuked Yuan Shu who was persuaded it was better to show good treatment to such a man as He Yong.

Service At Court

In 184 with the Yellow Turban Rebellion causing alarm, Emperor Ling agreed to end the Partisan Prohibitions and, with his exile and ban now over, He Yong was recruited into the office of the Excellency of Works as . He Yong was an active planner, but others serving the Three Excellencies felt his plans could not be implemented.[23] Upon the death of Emperor Ling, the General-in-Chief He Jin, brother to the Empress Dowager He, recruited He Yong to his service. He Yong became Adjutant of the Northern Army,[24] putting He Yong in charge of discipline of the Northern Army,[25] the professional defence force at the capital that was a key part of He Jin's authority.[26]

In 189, He Jin was assassinated and in the ensuing chaos, the general Dong Zhuo seized power. The new controller of the Han admired He Yong's reputation[27] so offered He Yong a position on his staff as Chief Clerk[28] but He Yong refused on grounds of ill-health.[3] Despite the refusal, Dong Zhuo trusted He Yong, and he helped Zheng Tai, Zhou Bi and Wu Qiong in the selection of officers for the regime.[3][24] However, He Yong was an ally to his old friend Yuan Shao, helping persuade Dong Zhuo not to kill Yuan Shao after a confrontation but to soothe him with position, from which Yuan Shao would raise forces against Dong Zhuo.[27] Many of those He Yong and his allies recommended would likewise use their position to raise forces against Dong Zhuo.[29]

Death

After Dong Zhuo retreated to Chang'an, many plots were formed against the brutal ruler. He Yong would be involved, but there is some confusion as to which plots he was involved with. The Sanguozhi places him in a plot with Xun You, Zheng Tai, Wu Qiong and Zhong Ji,[30] He Yong's entry in the Hou Hanshu puts him in a plot with the Excellencies Xun Shuang and Wang Yun.[31][1] On another, unknown matter, He Yong would be arrested and He Yong killed himself to avoid the risk of implicating others involved in the plot.[3]

When Cao Cao took control of the Emperor Xian and the government, moving the court to Xuchang, in 196, Xun Yu sent for the body of his uncle Xun Shuang to be taken to the family tombs. He also had He Yong's body taken to be buried in Xun Shuang's tomb complex in Yingchuan.[32] Howard Goodman suggests this burial shows He Yong and Xun Shuang were very close and Xun Yu wished to provide proper memorial care for He Yong.[1][2]

References
  1. L Goodman, Howard (2009). "Sites of Recognition: Burial, Mourning, and Commemoration in the Xun family of Yingchuan, AD 140-305". Early Medieval China (15): 65–66.
  2. Goodman, Howard L (2010). Xun Xu and the Politics of Precision in Third-Century AD China. Leiden: Brill. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978 90 04 18337 7.
  3. De Crespigny, Rafe (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms 23–220 AD. Leiden: Brill. pp. 318–319. ISBN 978-90-04-15605-0.
  4. De Crespigny, Rafe (2017). Fire over Luoyang: A History of the Later Han Dynasty 23–220 AD. Leiden: Brill. pp. 381–384. ISBN 978 90 04 32491 6.
  5. 少與郭泰、賈彪等遊學洛陽，泰等與同風好。顒顯名太學，Zhāng Fán’s Hànjì in Sanguozhi vol.10
  6. 顒顯名太學，於是中朝名臣太傅陳蕃、司隸李膺等皆深接之 Zhang Fan's Hanji, annotation in Sanguozhi vol.10.
  7. Leban, Carl. T'sao T'sao and the Rise of Wei: The Early Years. pp. 54–55.
  8. De Crespigny, Rafe (2010). Imperial Warlord: A Biography of Cao Cao 155-220 AD. Leiden: Brill. p. 31. ISBN 9789004185227.
  9. 顒既奇太祖而知荀彧 Zhang Fan's Hanji in Sanguozhi vol.10.
  10. Sanguozhi vol.10.
  11. De Crespigny, Rafe (2017). Fire over Luoyang: A History of the Later Han Dynasty 23–220 AD. Leiden: Brill. p. 302. ISBN 978 90 04 32491 6.
  12. 王且伯求嘗為虞偉高手刃復仇，義名奮發 Hànmò Míngshì Lù annotation in Sanguozhi vol.10.
  13. De Crespigny, Rafe (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms 23–220 AD. Boston: Brill. p. 1001. ISBN 978-90-04-15605-0.
  14. De Crespigny, Rafe (2017). Fire over Luoyang: A History of the Later Han Dynasty 23–220 AD. Leiden: Brill. pp. 365–368. ISBN 978 90 04 32491 6.
  15. De Crespigny, Rafe (2017). Fire over Luoyang: A History of the Later Han Dynasty 23–220 AD. Leiden: Brill. pp. 378–380. ISBN 978 90 04 32491 6.
  16. 及黨事起，顒亦名在其中，乃變名姓亡匿汝南間，所至皆交結其豪桀。Zhang Fan's Hanji in Sanguozhi vol.10.
  17. Lewis, Mark Edwards (2006). The Construction of Space in Early China. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 399. ISBN 0-7914-6608-6.
  18. 所至皆交結其豪桀 Zhang Fan's Hanji in Sanguozhi vol.10.
  19. 袁紹慕之，與為奔走之友。是時天下士大夫多遇黨難，顒常歲再三私入洛陽，從紹計議，為諸窮窘之士解釋患禍。 Zhang Fan's Hanji in Sanguozhi vol.10.
  20. 而袁術亦豪俠，與紹爭名。顒未常造術，術深恨之。Zhang Fan's Hanji in Sanguozhi vol.10.
  21. 術常於眾坐數顒三罪，曰：「王德彌先覺雋老，名德高亮，而伯求疏之，是一罪也。許子遠凶淫之人，性行不純，而伯求親之，是二罪也。郭、賈寒窶，無他資業，而伯求肥馬輕裘，光耀道路，是三罪也。Hànmò Míngshì Lù in Sanguozhi vol.10.
  22. 何伯求，凶德也，吾當殺之 Hànmò Míngshì Lù in Sanguozhi vol.10.
  23. 後黨禁除解，辟司空府。每三府掾屬會議，顒策謀有餘，議者皆自以為不及。Hànmò Míngshì Lù in Sanguozhi vol.10.
  24. Chapter 59 of the Zizhi Tongjian
  25. De Crespigny, Rafe (1996). To Establish Peace. Australian National University: the Asian Studies Monographs. p. 4. ISBN 0 7315 2526 4.
  26. History of the Later Han chapter 69
  27. 侍中周毖、城門校尉伍瓊、議郎何顒等，皆名士也，卓信之，而陰為紹 Sanguozhi vol.6.
  28. 董卓以為長史 Hànmò Míngshì Lù in Sanguozhi vol.10.
  29. De Crespigny, Rafe (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms 23–220 AD. Leiden: Brill. p. 873. ISBN 978-90-04-15605-0.
  30. 攸與議郎鄭泰、何顒、侍中种輯、越騎校尉伍瓊等謀 Sanguozhi vol.10.
  31. De Crespigny, Rafe (1996). To Establish Peace Being the Chronicle of Later Han for the years 189 to 220 AD as recorded in Chapters 59 to 69 of the Zizhi tongjian of Sima Guang (Internet Edition 2020 ed.). Australian National University. p. 90. ISBN 0 7315 2526 4.
  32. 後荀彧為尚書令，遣人迎叔父司空爽喪，使并置顒尸，而葬之於爽冢傍。Hànmò Míngshì Lù in Sanguozhi vol.10.
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