Hu Zong 胡綜

Hu Zong, courtesy name Weize, was a man of Gushi County in Runan Commandery. He lost his father as a child, and his mother took him to Jiangdong to escape the turmoil. When Sun Ce assumed the post of Administrator of Kuaiji, the fourteen-year-old Hu Zong became his Gate Inspector (menxia xunxing) and stayed at Wu, studying together with Sun Quan. Records, Wu 17 §12

After Sun Ce died and Sun Quan became General Who Attacks Barbarians, he made Hu Zong Attendant Officer of the Metal Bureau (jincao congshi). Hu Zong took part in the campaign against Huang Zu and was appointed Chief of E County. When Sun Quan, as general, made his seat at the city of Jing, he called Hu Zong back to take charge of the Secretarial Bureau (shubu), and Hu Zong, together with Shi Yi and Xu Xiang, managed military and state secrets. Records, Wu 17 §12

When Liu Bei came down to Baidi, Sun Quan, judging that he had too few troops at hand, had Hu Zong survey the counties to raise soldiers. Six thousand men were obtained and formed into the two Jiefan divisions, with Xu Xiang leading the Left Division and Hu Zong as commander of the Right. When the Wu general Jin Zong defected to Wei, became Administrator of Qichun and repeatedly raided Wu, Sun Quan had Hu Zong and He Qi march light and take him by surprise, and they captured Jin Zong alive. Hu Zong was given the additional title of General of the Household Who Establishes Martial Might (jianwu zhonglangjiang), and when Wei appointed Sun Quan King of Wu, Hu Zong, Shi Yi and Xu Xiang were enfeoffed as Marquises of a Village (tinghou). Records, Wu 17 §13

During the Huangwu era, when Peng Qi, a great chieftain of Poyang, rebelled and captured the cities under its jurisdiction, Zhou Fang, who had been made Administrator of Poyang, joined forces with Hu Zong to suppress him, captured Peng Qi alive and sent him to Wuchang. Records, Wu 15 §49

In the summer of the 8th year of Huangwu (229), when a yellow dragon appeared at Xiakou, Sun Quan took the imperial title and changed the era name. Sun Quan had a Great Yellow Dragon Banner made and kept it always with the central army, so that the various armies advanced and withdrew according to where it pointed, and he ordered Hu Zong to compose a rhapsody on it. The rhapsody sang that just as in the past a red crow had brought a writing in its beak to the house of Zhou, so now a yellow dragon had brought forth an auspicious tally for Great Wu. When Shu sent an envoy to renew their friendship, Hu Zong composed the text of the covenant, and Chen Shou wrote that its language and meaning were very fine. Records, Wu 17 §14–18

When Sun Quan moved down to make Jianye his capital, Xu Xiang and Hu Zong both became Palace Attendants, were promoted to District Marquis (xianghou), and concurrently served as Left and Right Commanders of the Army (lingjun). At that time a defector from Wei reported that Wu Zhi, Wei's Commander of Hebei and General Who Spreads Awe, was under considerable suspicion, so Hu Zong forged three letters of surrender in Wu Zhi's name. The letters said that Wu Zhi, slandered under the heir of the Cao house, feared disaster, and that if the Wu army entered by way of the Huai and Si rivers and occupied Xiapi, he would sweep south from Hebei to join them. By the time the letters circulated, Wu Zhi had already gone to court and become Palace Attendant. Records, Wu 17 §19 · 23–24 · 30 · 33

In the 2nd year of Huanglong (230), when Yin Fan of Qing Province came over to Wu and submitted a letter, Sun Quan at once summoned him. Yin Fan's eloquence in discussing current affairs was quite impressive, and when Sun Quan asked Hu Zong, who was sitting in attendance, what he thought, Hu Zong answered that Yin Fan's grand talk resembled Dongfang Shuo's and his clever, nimble sophistry resembled Mi Heng's, but that his talent fell short of both. Asked what office he could fill, Hu Zong said he should not yet be given charge of the people, but should be tried in a minor post in the capital. Records, Wu 2 §61Records, Wu 17 §34–35

Because Yin Fan discoursed much on criminal law, Sun Quan made him Inspector under the Commandant of Justice. Later, when Yin Fan plotted rebellion, was discovered and executed, the Commandant of Justice Hao Pu, who had praised him, was reprimanded and killed himself, and General of the Left Zhu Ju was placed under confinement. Hu Zong was appointed Lieutenant General and concurrently Law Enforcer of the Left, in charge of lawsuits. When, over the Liaodong affair, Zhang Zhao, General Who Supports Wu, remonstrated with Sun Quan so earnestly that Sun Quan too flew into a great rage, it was in part through Hu Zong's efforts that the two were reconciled with no rift left between them. Records, Wu 17 §36

Earlier, because there was much to do at home and abroad, a regulation had been set forbidding senior officials in mourning to leave their posts, but it was often violated. When, in the 1st month, in the spring of the 6th year of Jiahe (237), Sun Quan had the matter debated again, General Hu Zong argued that loyalty is placed in the state and filial piety established in the family, so that one who becomes a loyal minister cannot also be a filial son; a statute should be fixed making the penalty death, and once it was applied to one man, the practice would surely end. The Chancellor Gu Yong memorialized in favor of the death penalty, and when Hu Zong's proposal was adopted, officials stopped leaving their posts to hasten to mourning. Records, Wu 2 §81 · 84–85Records, Wu 17 §38

In the same year, when Lü Xi, Registrar of Lujiang in Wei, offered to open the city gates and act as an inside agent, Quan Cong and Zhu Huan led troops to meet him, but the affair came to light and they had to turn back. At this time Sun Quan had Lieutenant General Hu Zong convey his edicts and take part in military matters. When Quan Cong wished to divide his generals for a surprise attack, Zhu Huan went to him to dispute it, and Quan Cong, trying to excuse himself, said that the sovereign himself had made Hu Zong commander, and that it was Hu Zong's view that this was the right course. Zhu Huan, still more resentful, went back and sent for Hu Zong. Zhu Huan told his attendants that when he made his move they should each withdraw, but one of them slipped out by the side, warned Hu Zong and made him turn back, and Zhu Huan cut that man down. Records, Wu 11 §55–58

Hu Zong loved wine; after drinking he would shout boisterously as the mood took him, and sometimes pushed and pulled at the cups and struck those around him, but Sun Quan valued his talent and did not reproach him. From the time Sun Quan took charge of affairs, nearly all the documents, proclamations and patents of appointment, and the state letters and tallies sent to neighboring states, were composed by Hu Zong. He died in the 6th year of Chiwu (243), and his son Hu Chong succeeded him. Records, Wu 17 §37–38

Among the twenty matters on which Lu Kai is said to have remonstrated with Sun Hao, which Chen Shou, finding it hard to determine whether they were genuine, copied separately at the end of Lu Kai's biography, is the statement that the late emperor relied outside on the Gu, Lu, Zhu and Zhang and kept Hu Zong and Xue Zong close inside, so that all affairs were well ordered. In his assessment, Chen Shou said that Shi Yi, Xu Xiang and Hu Zong were all men who managed affairs and built up the enterprise in Sun Quan's time; Hu Zong put his literary grace and talent to use, and each of the three won trust, so that, likened to a great house, they were the rafters that held it up. Records, Wu 16 §34 · 40Records, Wu 17 §42