Han Song 韓嵩

Just as Taizu was facing Yuan Shao at Guandu, Yuan Shao sent men to ask for help; Liu Biao agreed but did not come, nor did he help Taizu, meaning to hold the land between the Yangtze and the Han and watch for changes in the realm. The Attendant Officer of the Household Han Song and the Attendant Officer with Separate Carriage Liu Xian told Liu Biao that now, with heroes contending together and two great rivals locked in a standoff, the weight of the realm rested on the general; if he wished to act, he should rise and take advantage of their exhaustion, and if not, he should choose whom to follow. Records, Wei 6 §86

The two said that if he held a host of 100,000 and merely sat at ease watching, two grievances, that he had seen a worthy man yet could not help him and that he had not responded when asked for peace, would gather upon him, and he would be unable to stay neutral. Since the able men of the realm were all flocking to Lord Cao for his enlightened wisdom, his momentum would surely bring down Yuan Shao and then turn his troops toward the Yangtze and the Han; so the surest plan was to bring the whole province over to Lord Cao, enjoy fortune and rank for a long time and hand them down to his descendants. Records, Wei 6 §87

Liu Biao's senior general Kuai Yue also urged him, but Liu Biao, doubtful as a fox, hesitated and then sent Han Song to Taizu to see how things truly stood. On his return Han Song spoke at length of Taizu's authority and virtue and urged Liu Biao to send a son in as a hostage. Suspecting that Han Song was instead persuading on Taizu's behalf, Liu Biao flew into a rage and meant to kill him, and had the men who had accompanied Han Song tortured to death. Then, learning that Han Song had no ulterior motive, he let the matter drop. Chen Shou wrote that Liu Biao appeared refined and scholarly but at heart was full of suspicion and jealousy, and that all his conduct was of this kind. Records, Wei 6 §88

In the 13th year of Jian'an (208) Taizu set out to attack Liu Biao, but before he arrived Liu Biao died of illness. Earlier, Liu Biao and his wife had loved their youngest son Liu Cong and wished him to succeed, and Cai Mao and Zhang Yun became his partisans, so Liu Cong became the heir. When Kuai Yue, Han Song, the Officer of the Eastern Bureau Fu Xun and others urged Liu Cong to submit to Taizu, Liu Cong asked why he could not hold the land of Chu together with them, preserve his late father's enterprise and watch the realm. Fu Xun said that for a subject to resist his sovereign was defiance and that even with Liu Bei he could not withstand Lord Cao, and when Taizu's army reached Xiangyang, Liu Cong surrendered with the whole province. Records, Wei 6 §89 · 91–93

Taizu made Liu Cong Inspector of Qing Province and enfeoffed him as a full marquis, and fifteen men, Kuai Yue among them, were enfeoffed as marquises. Kuai Yue became Superintendent of the Imperial Household, Han Song Grand Herald, Deng Yi Palace Attendant and Liu Xian Prefect of the Masters of Writing. The Annals of Emperor Wu likewise record that after Liu Cong surrendered, Taizu advanced to Jiangling, assessed the merit of Jing Province's submission, and summoned and employed noted men of Jing Province such as Han Song and Deng Yi. Chen Shou's text does not record the year of Han Song's death. Records, Wei 6 §94Records, Wei 1 §104

In his assessment in Records of Wei 6, Chen Shou said that Yuan Shao and Liu Biao were both outwardly tolerant but inwardly jealous, fond of scheming but unable to decide, unable to use the talent they had and unable to accept good advice when they heard it. Han Song's name does not appear in the assessment. Records, Wei 6 §96