Hua He 華覈

Hua He, courtesy name Yongxian, was a man of Wujin County in Wu Commandery. He first served as Commandant of Shangyu and Agricultural Commandant, then on account of his literary learning entered the court as Gentleman of the Imperial Archives and was promoted to Assistant of the Palace Secretariat. When Sun Liang took the throne and Zhuge Ke was assisting in the government, Wei Yao became Prefect Grand Astrologer and compiled the Book of Wu, and Hua He took part in it together with Xue Ying and others. When Zhou Zhao, who had compiled the Book of Wu with them, was imprisoned while serving as Gentleman of the Palace Secretariat after becoming implicated in an affair, Hua He submitted a memorial to save him, but Sun Xiu would not listen and Zhou Zhao was executed. Records, Wu 20 §54 · 39Records, Wu 7 §98

Lu Yin, who had been summoned in the 1st year of Yong'an (258) to become Area Commander of Xiling and was later transferred to Left Hulin, was recommended in a memorial by the Assistant of the Palace Secretariat Hua He. Hua He wrote that while in Jiao Province Lu Yin had proclaimed the court's grace, so that drifting refugees returned and submitted and the remote seacoast was set in order, and that, unlike the other generals who gathered followers by intimidation, he bound them with kindness and good faith. Records, Wu 16 §52 · 54

When Shu was annexed by Wei, Hua He went to the palace gate and submitted a memorial. He said that from Lu Kang's memorial he had heard for certain that Chengdu had not been held, that ruler and ministers were wandering in exile and that the altars of the state had collapsed; in ancient times, when the state of Wey was destroyed by the Di, Duke Huan had preserved it, but now the distance was too great for any rescue, and he could not bear his grief and sorrow. When Sun Hao took the throne, Hua He was enfeoffed as Marquis of Xuling Village. Records, Wu 20 §54–55

In the 2nd year of Baoding (267) Sun Hao again built a new palace, adorning it with pearls and jade at enormous cost, and because the work was begun in high summer both farming and garrison duty were abandoned. Hua He memorialized that the situation which Jia Yi had likened to sleeping on top of a pile of firewood with fire hidden beneath it was now even more pressing. He said that the Great Emperor had promoted farming and sericulture and been careful in imposing labor on the people, but that afterwards powerful ministers had repeatedly raised armies, so that the soldiers were exhausted and the people impoverished. He also said that Shu, the western bulwark, had collapsed in a single morning; 'when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold' was what the ancients feared, and the two commanderies of Jiaozhi and Jiuzhen had already fallen. Records, Wu 20 §55–60

Hua He urged that the palace construction be halted and that efforts be devoted to clearing land and sowing, citing the Monthly Ordinances, which say that no earthworks should be undertaken in the last month of summer. He also said that if, by the time the palace was finished, five thousand had died or deserted, the northern army would grow by fifty thousand, and if the number reached ten thousand, it would grow by a hundred thousand. The memorial was submitted, but Sun Hao did not accept it. Records, Wu 20 §61 · 65 · 67 · 71

When he was later transferred to Director of the Eastern Pavilion and concurrently made Historian of the Right, Hua He declined, saying that the Eastern Pavilion was the office of the Confucian scholars and asking that an outstanding worthy be chosen instead. Sun Hao replied that since Hua He had made a deep study of the ancient classics and was widely read and learned, he ought to surpass the likes of Yang Xiong, Ban Gu, Zhang Heng and Cai Yong, and told him to devote himself to his duties and raise no further objections. Records, Wu 20 §71

The Director of the Eastern Pavilion Hua He memorialized on behalf of Lou Xuan, who had been sent to Guang Province, saying that among all the officials there was no one better than Lou Xuan to be trusted with affairs, and asking that his past faults be pardoned and that he be promoted to a ministerial post. Sun Hao, however, hated Lou Xuan's reputation and had him moved to Jiaozhi, and Lou Xuan in the end took his own life. On the last day of the first month of the 3rd year of Jianheng (271), Sun Hao raised a great army and set out for Huali, taking even his mother and his consorts and concubines, and turned back only when the Director of the Eastern Pavilion Hua He and others remonstrated firmly. Records, Wu 20 §9–12Records, Wu 3 §63

As Historian of the Right, Hua He also memorialized on behalf of Xue Ying, who had been exiled to Guang Province. He said that in the time of the Young Emperor five men — Wei Yao, Zhou Zhao, Xue Ying, Liang Guang and himself — had compiled the Book of Wu, but Zhou Zhao and Liang Guang had died first, Wei Yao had committed a crime and Xue Ying had been exiled, so the work had stalled, and that he himself was fit only to keep records and notes for Xue Ying and the others. Sun Hao at last recalled Xue Ying and made him Historian of the Left. Hua He also recommended Lu Kai's son Lu Yi, saying there was no one better to guard Xiakou. Records, Wu 8 §56–59Records, Wu 16 §30–31

When the granaries held no reserves and popular customs grew more extravagant by the day, Hua He memorialized again. He said that the various offices levied labor separately without regard for the people's strength and robbed them of the farming season, and urged that labor service be suspended for a time so that the people could devote themselves to farming and sericulture. If every household of officials and soldiers had one daughter weave, and each wove one bolt a year, a hundred thousand households would produce a hundred thousand bolts, and so he urged that useless ornaments such as patterned and embroidered silks be prohibited. Records, Wu 20 §72–73 · 77–78

When Wei Yao was imprisoned, Hua He submitted memorial after memorial to save him. He said that just as Emperor Wu of Han could not bring himself to execute Sima Qian, so that his book was completed, Wei Yao was the Sima Qian of Wu, and the prefaces and eulogies of the Book of Wu had not yet been written. He asked that, since Wei Yao was already seventy, his punishment be reduced by one degree to lifelong penal servitude so that he could finish his writing, but Sun Hao refused and put Wei Yao to death. Records, Wu 20 §46–52

Because Hua He was old, Sun Hao ordered him to write his memorials in cursive script, but Hua He did not dare. When Sun Hao again ordered him to compose a piece in cursive and stood waiting for it, Hua He wrote a text calling himself a commonplace man, as lowly as grass and mustard, who dared not disobey the command. Records, Wu 20 §80–81

Over the years Hua He submitted more than a hundred writings setting out measures of benefit, recommending the good and able, and pleading for the release of those accused of crimes; Chen Shou noted that all were of help but were too numerous to include in full. In the 1st year of Tiance (275) he was dismissed for a minor fault, and he died a few years later. The memorials in which Wei Yao and Hua He discussed affairs were all handed down to later generations. Records, Wu 20 §82

In his assessment Chen Shou cited Hu Chong's remark that Hua He's talent for prose and rhapsodies exceeded Wei Yao's but that in classical documents he fell short of him. Chen Shou then wrote that in his own view Hua He had repeatedly offered good counsel and was resolved to give his utmost, so that he could almost be called a loyal minister, and that since these few men held fame and rank in an age when calamity struck without warning, it was only natural that they should not die a natural death, and escaping disaster was merely good fortune. Records, Wu 20 §84–85