He Zong 何宗

He Zong, courtesy name Yanying, was a man of Pi County in Shu Commandery. He studied under Ren An of Guanghan and researched Ren An's learning in depth; he shared a teacher with Du Qiong, but his reputation was higher. Under Liu Zhang he became Administrator of Qianwei. When Liu Bei pacified Yi Province and took the post of its Governor, he summoned He Zong and made him Libationer Attendant Officer. Records, Shu 15 §52

In the 25th year of Jian'an (220) Emperor Wen of Wei proclaimed himself emperor and changed the era name to Huangchu. When word spread that the Han emperor had been killed, Liu Bei announced mourning, put on mourning garments and conferred on him the posthumous title Emperor Xiaomin. After this, reports of auspicious omens came in from many places, day after day and month after month. Thereupon the Consultant and Marquis of Yangquan Liu Bao, the Marquis of Qingyi Xiang Ju, the Lieutenant Generals Zhang Yi (張裔) and Huang Quan, the Subordinate of the Grand Marshal Yin Chun, the Attendant Officer Mounted Escort of Yi Province Zhao Zuo, the Headquarters Attendant Officer Yang Hong, the Libationer Attendant Officer He Zong, the Attendant Officer for Deliberation Du Qiong, and the Attendant Officers for Encouraging Learning Zhang Shuang, Yin Mo and Qiao Zhou, among others, submitted a document. Records, Shu 2 §55

The document said that the River Chart, the Luo Writing and the prophetic and apocryphal texts of the Five Classics had been sifted and made clear by Confucius, and cited a number of prophetic passages, beginning with the line of the Luoshu Zhenyaodu, 'in the ninth generation it meets Bei (備), and they unite to become the time of the emperor'. It also reported that a yellow vapour had risen straight up in the southwest for years, that a vapour like a banner had crossed the middle of the sky from the west to the far east, and that Mars had again followed Jupiter, the Year Star, and then asked that the Great King respond to Heaven and accord with the people by swiftly taking up the great enterprise. Records, Shu 2 §55–59

Next the Grand Tutor Xu Jing, the General Who Pacifies the Han Mi Zhu, the General Military Adviser Zhuge Liang and others also submitted a document, saying that more than eight hundred officials had submitted documents one after another, and asked him to take the imperial throne. In the 4th month of the 26th year of Jian'an (221) Liu Bei ascended the imperial throne south of Wudan in Chengdu. Chen Shou's record of He Zong states that he cited the charts and prophetic texts to urge Liu Bei to take the imperial title, and that after Liu Bei ascended the throne he was promoted to Grand Herald. Records, Shu 2 §60 · 65Records, Shu 15 §52

He Zong died during the Jianxing era. Chen Shou wrote that he composed no biography for him because his deeds had not been handed down. His son He Shuang, courtesy name Han'ou, was witty and fond of jesting, with something of the manner of Chunyu Kun and Dongfang Shuo; he became Chief of Shuangbai County and died young. Records, Shu 15 §52–53

Yang Xi composed the Encomia on the Supporting Ministers of Ji Han in the 4th year of Yanxi (241), and beneath the encomia Chen Shou recorded, from beginning to end, the careers of those in it for whom he wrote no biography. Yang Xi praised the four men Wang Yuantai (Wang Mou), He Yanying (He Zong), Du Fuguo and Zhou Zhongzhi together: 'The Minister Steward cultivated himself and was circumspect; the Grand Herald was clear-sighted and true. The Grandee Remonstrant had hidden virtue; the Colonel of the Forest of Scholars was versed in astronomy. They spread the great transformation far and wide, some as leaders and some as the forest.' Records, Shu 15 §33 · 48–49