Hu Yan

Hu Yan (715–629BC) was a Di tribesman who served as a minister and general of Jin during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. Hu Yan assisted Prince Chong'er (posthumously the "Wen Duke") during his long exile, his usurpation of his nephew Yu, and his rise to hegemonic status over the other states of the Zhou Kingdom. The Legalist Han Fei considered Hu Yan one of the best advisors of ancient China, and the historian Sima Qian listed him with Sun Tzu as the greatest tacticians of the age.

Names Hu Yan is a Chinese name: Hu is the surname and Yan is the given name. His courtesy name was Zifan Giles reads as Kao or Gao Fan. ("Master" or "Viscount Fan"). Classical sources also refer to him as Jiu Ji in reference to his relationship to Chong'er through his mother's line. He is also sometimes known as Sikong Jizi ("Minister of Works"). The family was closely tied to the branch of the House of Ji who ruled Jin in present-day Shanxi. Some sources even make the Hu descendants of Shu Yu and thus distant cousins of the dukes of Jin and the kings of Zhou. Hu Tu served as the charioteer for the Jin prince Shensheng against the Red Di tribes of Gaoluo . When Li Ji successfully framed him for an attempted rebellion, he was compelled to flee from his seat in Pu to his mother's tribe in the north. Hu Yan either fled with him from his court at Pu or joined his retinue among the Di.

After the Jin minister Li Ke had Li Ji, her son, and her nephew killed in 651BC, he offered the throne to Chong'er but was declined. Another of Chong'er's younger half-brothers, Yiwu (posthumously, the "Hui Duke"), then took his place. Yiwu was captured in battle by Duke Renhao of Qin (posthumously, the "Mu Duke"); upon his liberation and return to Jin, he found that many of his ministers supported his replacement by his half-brother Chong'er. Yiwu then sent assassins against him in 644BC, causing Chong'er and his followers to flee the Di and wander among the courts of China. The Discourses of the States records that it was Hu Yan who convinced Chong'er that it was necessary to leave. Hu Yan, Hu Mao, Jie Zhitui, Zhao Cui, Wei Chou , and Jia Tuo were among those who traveled with him from the Di to Qi.

In Qi, Duke Xiaobai (posthumously the "Huan Duke") treated Chong'er with such generosity that he did not wish to leave at all. When Chong'er recovered, he seized a spear and threatened Hu, crying, "If we succeed, fine! but if we don't, then I will eat your flesh as if I can never get my fill!"

Chong'er, Hu Yan, and the others were invited to Qin after Yiwu's death. There, Duke Renhao supported their overthrow of Yiwu's son Yu (posthumously, the "Huai Duke"). During Yu's brief period of rule in 637BC, he attempted to force Hu Tu to compel his sons to return to Jin and cease supporting the cause of Chong'er. When Hu Tu refused, he was executed. and, offering him a jade disk, tendered his resignation. Poised to be the next duke of Jin, Chong'er threw the disk into the Yellow River and called upon it to witness that he would not forget those who had followed him in adversity. (Han Fei has him untie the left horse from his chariot and swear by the river that he will countermand his order to hide his loyal but bedraggled followers from public view.)

Hu Yan served Chong'er as a general in the Jin army.

In 630BC, Hu Yan was one of the Jin representatives to the conference at Diquan , near present-day Luoyang in Henan, where Prince Hu tried to create a general alliance of the Zhou Kingdom's vassal states of Lu, Song, Qi, Chen, Qin, Cai, and Jin. By offending Jie Zhitui into early retirement, Hu Yan may also be considered indirectly responsible for China's Cold Food and Tomb-Sweeping Festivals.

Hu Yan was portrayed by Zhang Rihui in the 1996 TV documentary Later Years of the Zhou Dynasty: Spring and Autumn Period and by You Liping in the 2011 TV drama Song of Spring and Autumn.