Hua Xin 華歆

Hua Xin, courtesy name Ziyu, was a man of Gaotang County in Pingyuan Commandery. Gaotang was a famous city of Qi, and the gentry all strolled about its markets, but whenever Hua Xin, serving as an official, was given leave, he went straight home and shut his gate. His judgments were fair and he never disparaged others. When Wang Fen plotted with powerful men to depose Emperor Ling and secretly called on Hua Xin and Taoqiu Hong of the same commandery, Hua Xin stopped Taoqiu Hong from going, saying that Wang Fen was careless and lacking in military ability, would certainly fail, and would bring disaster on their clans. Wang Fen did indeed fail, and only then did Taoqiu Hong acknowledge Hua Xin's judgment. Records, Wei 13 §28–29

He was recommended as Filial and Incorrupt and became a Gentleman of the Palace, but left office because of illness. When Emperor Ling died and He Jin took charge of the government, Hua Xin was summoned together with Zheng Tai, Xun You and others and became a Gentleman of the Imperial Secretariat. When Dong Zhuo moved the Son of Heaven to Chang'an, Hua Xin asked to go out as Prefect of Xiagui, but illness prevented him from going, and he went from Lantian to Nanyang. Yuan Shu, who was at Rang County, detained him, and Hua Xin urged him to send troops against Dong Zhuo, but Yuan Shu did not accept this. Just then the Grand Tutor Ma Midi, who had come to pacify the region east of the passes, called him to be his Clerk, and on reaching Xu Province he was appointed Administrator of Yuzhang by edict. He governed with a clear and quiet hand and did not burden the people, and officials and people were moved and loved him. Records, Wei 13 §29–30

When Sun Ce overran Jiangdong, Hua Xin, knowing that Sun Ce was skilled in war, welcomed him wearing only a plain headcloth, and Sun Ce, regarding him as a venerable elder, treated him with the courtesy due to an honoured guest. After Sun Ce died, Cao Cao, at Guandu, memorialised the Son of Heaven to summon Hua Xin. When Sun Quan did not wish to let him go, Hua Xin said that since Sun Quan's newly formed friendship with Lord Cao was not yet firm, it would be better for him to go and do his utmost on the general's behalf, and that keeping him for nothing would be raising a useless thing. Sun Quan was pleased and let him go. Records, Wei 13 §30–31

When he left, more than a thousand guests and old acquaintances came to see him off, and their gifts amounted to several hundred pieces of gold. Hua Xin refused none of them but secretly marked each one, and on the day of departure gathered them all together and asked them to consider that, travelling a long road with a single carriage, he feared that carrying jade would become a crime. Each guest took back what he had given, and they admired his virtue. Records, Wei 13 §32

On his arrival he became Consultant and Adviser to the Army of the Minister of Works, and after serving as Imperial Secretary and Palace Attendant he replaced Xun Yu as Director of the Imperial Secretariat. When Cao Cao campaigned against Sun Quan, he memorialised to make Hua Xin Military Adviser. The Biography of Hua Xin says that he became Imperial Counsellor when the state of Wei was established, and the Annals of Emperor Wu record that in the 6th month of the 22nd year of Jian'an (217) the Military Adviser Hua Xin was made Imperial Counsellor. When Cao Pi became king, in the 2nd month of the 1st year of Yankang (220) Hua Xin was made Chancellor of State and enfeoffed as Marquis of Anle District, and when Cao Pi ascended the imperial throne he was changed to Minister over the Masses. Records, Wei 13 §33Records, Wei 1 §157Records, Wei 2 §2

Hua Xin was by nature pure and poor, and because he distributed his salary and gifts to relatives and old friends, his household did not have even a single measure of grain in store. When confiscated slaves were bestowed on the high ministers, Hua Xin alone set them free and married them off. Emperor Wen sighed and issued an edict saying that while the Grand Provisioner served rich dishes, the Minister over the Masses ate vegetables, and he bestowed on him imperial garments and even had clothes made for his wife and children. Records, Wei 13 §33–34

When the Three Offices proposed no longer requiring an examination in the classics for those recommended as Filial and Incorrupt, Hua Xin said that since the upheavals the Six Classics had fallen into neglect, and that abolishing the examination would cause learning to decline, and the emperor followed his advice. In the 4th year of Huangchu (223), when the high ministers were ordered to recommend gentlemen of solitary integrity, he recommended Guan Ning. When Emperor Wen was about to put Bao Xun to death, Hua Xin, together with Zhong Yao, Chen Qun and others, submitted a memorial asking that his crime be pardoned, but Emperor Wen did not allow it. Records, Wei 13 §35–36Records, Wei 11 §80Records, Wei 12 §75–76

When Emperor Ming ascended the throne, Hua Xin was advanced to Marquis of Boping with a fief of 1,300 households, and in the 12th month of the 7th year of Huangchu (226) he was transferred from Minister over the Masses to Grand Commandant. Hua Xin pleaded illness and wished to withdraw and yield his post to Guan Ning, but Emperor Ming did not permit it. Before a grand court assembly, Emperor Ming sent the Cavalier Regular Attendant Miao Xi to convey his wishes by edict, telling him not to return until he had seen Hua Xin get up. Hua Xin had no choice but to rise. Records, Wei 13 §36–37Records, Wei 3 §4

In the Taihe era, when Cao Zhen attacked Shu by the Ziwu Road and Emperor Ming went to Xuchang, Hua Xin submitted a memorial asking him first to set his mind on the way of good government and to put campaigns second. Transporting grain over a thousand li was no advantage in war, he said, and that year's labour levies had spoiled farming and sericulture. Emperor Ming replied that he would take as his mirror the time King Wu of Zhou turned his army back, and when heavy rains fell in the autumn he ordered Cao Zhen to lead his army home. Records, Wei 13 §38–41

In the 12th month of the 5th year of Taihe (early 232 CE) the Grand Commandant Hua Xin died, and he was given the posthumous name Marquis Jing. His son Hua Biao succeeded him. Earlier, Emperor Wen had divided Hua Xin's fief to enfeoff his younger brother Hua Ji as a full marquis. Records, Wei 13 §42Records, Wei 3 §21 · 24

In his assessment, Chen Shou said that Zhong Yao was broad-minded and capable in affairs, Hua Xin pure and unmixed and of simple virtue, and Wang Lang widely read and richly learned, and that all were outstanding men of their age. He wrote that when Wei was first founded they rose for the first time to the Three Excellencies, and how splendid that was. Records, Wei 13 §99