Hua Xin

Hua Xin (157 – 30 January 232), courtesy name Ziyu, was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms period of China. He initially served directly under the central government of the Eastern Han dynasty. Later, he served under the warlord Sun Ce and then under the warlord Cao Cao. He continued to serve in the Cao Wei state during the Three Kingdoms period.

Biography As a clerk in Gaotang County, Hua Xin was nominated as xiaolian, and appointed as Langzhong (郎中). In 187, Hua was appointed as Shangshu Lang (尚书郎). When Dong Zhuo evacuated the court from Luoyang to Chang'an, Hua requested a position as the administrator of Shanggui County (上邽). He encountered Yuan Shu's army en route and was accepted to the latter's court. However, Hua left after his advice for Yuan to attack Dong Zhuo was dismissed.

In 192, Hua was appointed as the administrator of Yuzhang (豫章) Commandery. After Liu Yao, governor of Yang Province died, his troops were willing to transfer the commandership to Hua. Hua declined, believing it to be inappropriate as an official of the Han. He joined the forces of Sun Ce as the latter was preparing the conquest of Jiangdong. Sun treated him as an honored guest.

In 200, after Sun Ce was assassinated, the imperial court under Cao Cao called Hua back to Luoyang. Sun Quan was hesitant to allow him to go, but Hua convinced Sun that his departure would be a sign of goodwill to Cao Cao. Eventually, Hua replaced Xun Yu as the Shangshu Ling (尚书令, Prefect of the Masters of Writing). In 213, Hua was Junshi (军师, military advisor) in Cao's war against Sun Quan. Around August 217, Hua became the first Grandee Secretary (御史大夫) in the Kingdom of Wei, after Cao Cao became Prince of Wei (魏王). In April 220, after Cao Pi became Prince of Wei, Hua became the Chancellor of Wei, and the Marquis of Anle Ting (安乐亭侯).

In late December 220, Cao Pi assumed the title of emperor after usurping the Han, and Hua was appointed the Minister over the Masses. In 226, Hua was granted the Marquis of Boping (博平侯), and appointed as Grand Commandant. In October 230, after more than a month of slow progress, he sent a memorial to the Imperial Court to oppose Cao Zhen's campaign, resulting in Cao Rui ordering the troops to retreat. Hua Xin died in January 232.

On the other hand, Hua Xin was disparaged in the classic Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. As related in the novel, he was serving Cao Cao, when a plan to assassinate Cao Cao, was discovered. Since it had been instigated by Empress Fu, Cao Cao dispatched him with a detachment of soldiers to the palace. The empress was hiding but he found her and dragged her out by her hair. The novel then offers an assessment of Hua Xin's character that begins by repeating his description in Chen Shou's Records of Three Kingdoms. It notes he was a member of a renowned trio of scholars known as the "Dragon" and was referred to as the Dragon's Head. The novel quotes an apparently fictitious poem, which, in the Moss Roberts translation, ends with the lines For one day spent, Cao Cao's cruelty to abet: / A name forever cursed, "Dragon Pate" [Dragon Head].

The C. H. Brewitt Taylor translation of the poem differs but makes the same point:

Note however, there is no mention in the biography of Hua Xin in Chen Shou's Records indicating that he was actually involved in the arrest of Empress Fu.