He Yan 何晏

He Yan was the grandson of He Jin. Because his mother, Lady Yin, became a consort of Cao Cao, He Yan grew up in the palace, and he also married a princess. From his youth he was known for his outstanding talent, and he loved the sayings of Laozi and Zhuangzi, writing several dozen works including the Treatise on the Dao and De and various essays and rhapsodies. Records, Wei 9 §89–90

He Yan of Nanyang enjoyed a reputation together with Deng Yang, Li Sheng, Ding Mi and Bi Gui, and they sought advancement by following the fashions of the day, but Emperor Ming held them all down and dismissed them as being all show and no substance. When Cao Shuang took power, he promoted them again and made them his confidants. At first Cao Shuang served Sima Yi like a father and did not dare act on his own, but He Yan and the others, all exalting Cao Shuang, persuaded him that his power was too weighty to be entrusted to others. So He Yan, Deng Yang and Ding Mi became Masters of Writing, with He Yan in charge of the selection of officials, and as matters seldom passed through Sima Yi any more, Sima Yi pleaded illness and kept away from Cao Shuang. Records, Wei 9 §73 · 76

He Yan and the others monopolized the government, divided among themselves several hundred qing of mulberry fields belonging to the agricultural offices of Luoyang and Yewang, broke up bath-town estates to make them their own property, and secretly embezzled state goods. Being on bad terms with Lu Yu, the Commandant of Justice, they used a minor fault of one of Lu Yu's clerks as a pretext to pin a crime on him, and reported it only after first having his seal and ribbon taken away. According to the Biography of Lu Yu, Cao Shuang, in order to plant his own faction, moved Lu Yu to Supervisor of the Imperial Secretariat and had the Palace Attendant He Yan take Lu Yu's place. Cao Shuang built a cave chamber, where he often gathered with He Yan and the others to drink and make merry. Records, Wei 9 §76–78Records, Wei 22 §104

Early in Zhengshi, when He Yan was Master of Writing for Personnel, Fu Gu, Gentleman of the Yellow Gate, told Cao Shuang's younger brother Cao Xi that 'He Pingshu is calm outside but sharp and crafty inside, loves profit and has no thought of attending to fundamentals', and that he would surely lead the Cao brothers astray first. Because of this He Yan and the others fell out with Fu Gu and used a minor matter as a pretext to deprive him of office. When Wang Su said that He Yan, Deng Yang and the others were of the same ilk as Hong Gong and Shi Xian, Cao Shuang warned He Yan and the others, 'We must all be careful,' saying that the ministers were already comparing them to the wicked men of former ages. Records, Wei 21 §87Records, Wei 13 §91–92

In autumn, in the 7th month of the 8th year of Zhengshi (247), He Yan, as Master of Writing, memorialized that one who governs a state well first governs himself, and one who governs himself is careful about what he practises, and that a ruler must choose upright men as his companions. He then asked that whenever the emperor went to the Shiqian Hall or took his leisure in the rear garden, senior ministers should attend him, reviewing documents, discussing affairs of state and lecturing on the classics. The annals record this as a remonstrance offered to correct the emperor's failings. Records, Wei 4 §22–26

On the 28th day of the 12th month of the 9th year of Zhengshi (248; early 249 in the Western calendar), He Yan, Master of Writing for Personnel, invited Guan Lu, asked him to divine whether he would rise to one of the Three Excellencies, and asked about a dream in which dozens of bluebottle flies settled on his nose and would not leave when he drove them away. Guan Lu said that his position was as weighty as the mountains and his power like thunder and lightning, but that those who cherished his virtue were few and those who feared his might were many, and that bluebottles were foul and filthy things, and those in lofty positions fall. When Deng Yang called this 'the commonplace talk of an old scholar', He Yan said, 'We must meet again when the year is out.' Guan Lu told his maternal uncle that he had been talking with dead men, and a little over ten days later He Yan and Deng Yang were put to death. Records, Wei 29 §73–77

In the 1st month of the 1st year of Jiaping (249), while the emperor was away paying homage at the Gaoping Tomb, Sima Yi had Cao Shuang and his brothers removed from office. When the Yellow Gate eunuch Zhang Dang was arrested for giving Cao Shuang palace ladies he had selected, Zhang Dang testified that Cao Shuang had secretly plotted rebellion with He Yan and the others, had even drilled troops in advance, and intended to rise in the 3rd month. He Yan and the others were thrown into prison, and the ministers and court officials ruled that Cao Shuang, together with He Yan, Deng Yang, Zhang Dang and others, had coveted the sacred vessel of the throne and was guilty of high treason. Thereupon Cao Shuang, Cao Xi, Cao Xun, He Yan, Deng Yang, Ding Mi, Bi Gui, Li Sheng, Huan Fan, Zhang Dang and others were all executed, and their three sets of kin were exterminated. Records, Wei 9 §80 · 85 · 87–88Records, Wei 4 §28