| Hua Xin | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 華歆 | ||
| Simplified Chinese | 华歆 | ||
|
|||
Hua Xin (157 – 232),[1] style name Ziyu (子魚), was an adviser serving under the warlord Cao Cao during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was originally a minister of the Han Dynasty imperial court, but later switched to serving under the warlord Sun Ce, and then later under Cao Cao. He served as a minister over letters after the establishment of Cao Wei of the Three Kingdoms.
Contents |
In Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Hua Xin was portrayed as a treacherous official who played up to the villains in power.
Hua Xin was first introduced as the Administrator of Yuzhang (豫章太守). He surrendered to Sun Ce during the latter's conquests of Jiangdong territory, and played a minor role under Sun Ce's successor Sun Quan. After the Battle of Red Cliffs, Sun Quan heeded Gu Yong's suggestion to stir up conflict between his rivals Cao Cao and Liu Bei, so he sent Hua Xin, who was known to be an admirer of Cao Cao, to meet the chancellor. Cao Cao appointed Hua Xin as a dali siqing (大理寺卿) and Hua remained with him in the imperial court.
Emperor Xian was unhappy that Cao Cao monopolized state power, so he plotted with Empress Fu Shou and Fu Wan (伏完, the empress' father), to eliminate Cao Cao, but the plan was leaked out. Hua Xin led soldiers into the palace to arrest the empress and caught her hiding behind a wall. Hua Xin dragged the empress out by her hair and brought her to Cao Cao, who ordered the empress to be executed.
When Cao Cao died in Ye city, his followers were discussing on how his son Cao Pi would succeed him. Just then, Hua Xin arrived hastily from the capital, bringing with him an imperial edict from Emperor Xian, which authorized Cao Pi's inheritance of his later father's title of "King of Wei". In fact, Hua Xin had foreseen that Cao Pi would succeed Cao Cao, so he had already prepared a draft edict, and he forced Emperor Xian to approve it. Hua Xin later played an important role in forcing Emperor Xian to abdicate and give up the throne to Cao Pi.
|
||||||||||||||||||||