Chinese official of the Shu Han state (died 231)
Li Hui
(died 231),
courtesy name
De'ang
, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of
Shu Han
during the
Three Kingdoms
period of China. After refusing
Liu Zhang
's service, Li joined
Liu Bei
early in his campaign to pacify Yi province. After Liu Bei's death, Li Hui proved his talents during
Zhuge Liang
's
Southern Campaign
and was appointed the area commander in the south. He set the standard for his successors, such as
Ma Zhong
, for sound governance. After Shu-Han's co-regent
Li Yan
was removed from office, Li Hui was promoted again and sent to Hanzhong to assist in the
Northern Expeditions
but died a year later.
Early career
[
edit
]
Li Hui was born during the late
Eastern Han dynasty
in Yuyuan County (?元縣), Jianning Commandery (建寧郡), which is present-day
Chengjiang County
,
Yunnan
.
[2]
He started his career as a local inspector (督郵) in his native Jianning Commandery. His aunt married Cuan Xi (?習),
[a]
who served as the Prefect of Jianling County (建伶縣; present-day
Jinning District
,
Kunming
, Yunnan). When Cuan Xi committed an offence, Li Hui got implicated in the case because of his relationship to Cuan Xi and ended up being removed from office. However,
Dong He
, the Administrator of Yizhou Commandery (a.k.a. Jianning 建寧), considered that Cuan Xi wielded great influence in the commandery and decided to drop the case, so Li Hui was restored to office.
[4]
Around 212,
[b]
Dong He then recommended Li Hui as a talent to
Liu Zhang
, the Governor of
Yi Province
, and sent him to the provincial capital
Chengdu
. During his journey to Chengdu, Li Hui heard that the warlord
Liu Bei
had led his forces from Jiameng Pass (?萌關; in present-day
Zhaohua District
,
Guangyuan
,
Sichuan
) to attack Liu Zhang.
[6]
Service under Liu Bei
[
edit
]
Liu Bei's takeover of Yi Province
[
edit
]
Li Hui knew that
Liu Zhang
would lose and
Liu Bei
would eventually seize control of Yi Province, so he pretended to be a messenger from Jianning Commandery and headed north to join Liu Bei at
Mianzhu
.
[7]
Liu Bei was overjoyed to see Li Hui. When they reached Luo County (?縣; present-day
Guanghan
,
Sichuan
), Liu Bei sent Li Hui as his representative to meet the general
Ma Chao
at
Hanzhong Commandery
and lead him to
Chengdu
to force Liu Zhang to surrender to Liu Bei.
[8]
After Liu Bei seized control of Chengdu in 214,
he declared himself the new Governor of Yi Province and appointed Li Hui as a scribe, registrar and Officer of Merit (功曹).
[10]
On one occasion, Li Hui was falsely accused of plotting a rebellion, arrested and escorted as a prisoner to see Liu Bei. Liu Bei believed that Li Hui would never rebel against him so he not only freed Li Hui, but also promoted him to the position of an
aide-de-camp
.
[11]
As the Area Commander of Laixiang
[
edit
]
Following the
end of the Eastern Han dynasty
and start of the
Three Kingdoms
period in 220, Li Hui served in the state of
Shu Han
, which Liu Bei established in 221.
In the same year, as
Deng Fang
, the Area Commander of Laixiang (?降都督),
[c]
had just died, Liu Bei was eager to find someone to replace him so he asked Li Hui: "Who can replace him?".
[15]
Li Hui replied: "People's abilities vary from one person to another. That was why
Confucius
said, 'in his employment of men, he uses them according to their capacity.' When there is a wise ruler, there will be subjects who strive to do their best. During the Battle of Xianling,
Zhao Chongguo
said, 'none other than me, Your Majesty's old subject.' I humbly overestimate my ability and hope that Your Majesty will consider me."
[16]
Liu Bei laughed and said: "I already have you in mind."
[17]
[18]
Liu Bei thus appointed Li Hui as the Area Commander of Laixiang and granted him imperial authority to serve as the nominal Inspector of
Jiao Province
, which was actually a territory of Shu Han's ally state
Eastern Wu
. Li Hui's administrative headquarters were at Pingyi County (平夷縣; northeast of present-day
Bijie
,
Guizhou
) when he served as the Area Commander of Laixiang.
[19]
[20]
Service under Liu Shan
[
edit
]
Nanzhong campaign
[
edit
]
Following
Liu Bei
's death in 223,
rebellions broke out in three commanderies in the
Nanzhong
region of southern Shu: Yong Kai (雍?), Gao Ding (高定) and Zhu Bao (朱褒) rebelled in Jianning (建寧; around present-day
Qujing
,
Yunnan
), Yuexi/Yuesui (越?; around present-day
Xichang
,
Sichuan
) and Zangke (?柯; around present-day
Guiyang
or
Fuquan
,
Guizhou
) commanderies respectively.
[22]
In the spring of 225,
Zhuge Liang
, the
Imperial Chancellor
and regent of Shu, personally led
a military campaign
into Nanzhong to deal with the rebels.
During the campaign, Li Hui led a detachment of the Shu army from Pingyi County (平夷縣; northeast of present-day
Bijie
,
Guizhou
) to attack Jianning Commandery. When he reached
Kunming
, however, he lost contact with Zhuge Liang and the main Shu army. The rebels, who had twice as many troops as him, converged on his position and surrounded him.
[23]
Li Hui then lied to the rebels:
"We have run out of food supplies and we plan to retreat. We also miss our families as we have been away from home for a long time. Now, we finally have our chance to go home. If we can't return to our homes in the north, we will then join you in your rebellion. We are very frank in revealing our intentions to you."
[24]
Just as the rebels believed him and lowered their guard, Li Hui seized the opportunity to launch an assault and succeeded in breaking their encirclement. As the rebels retreated and scattered, Li Hui led his troops to attack them and inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy. He then moved south to Panjiang (槃江) to meet up with the Shu general
Ma Zhong
, who had just defeated Zhu Bao's rebel forces and recaptured Zangke Commandery. Ma Zhong and Li Hui then led their troops to rendezvous with Zhuge Liang and the main Shu army.
[25]
By the autumn of 225,
the Shu army had pacified all the rebellions in Nanzhong and restored peace in the region. As Li Hui was deemed to have made the greatest contributions during the campaign, he was promoted to the rank of General Who Pacifies Han (安漢將軍) and enfeoffed as the Marquis of Hanxing Village (漢興亭侯).
[26]
Maintaining the peace in Nanzhong
[
edit
]
After
Zhuge Liang
and the Shu army left
Nanzhong
, some indigenous tribes started another rebellion against Shu rule and killed the military officers in charge of guarding the commanderies in the region.
[27]
Li Hui personally led government forces to attack the rebels and eliminated them, after which he forced the tribal chiefs to relocate to the Shu capital
Chengdu
. At the same time, he also made the Sou (?) and Pu (?) tribes pay tribute to the Shu government in the form of cattle, horses, gold and silver, rhinoceroses' horns, leather, and other valuable resources. These resources served as sources of funding for Shu's
military campaigns
against its rival state
Wei
.
[28]
In 229, after Shu reaffirmed its alliance with its ally state
Wu
and recognised the legitimacy of the Wu emperor
Sun Quan
, it renounced its earlier claim to
Jiao Province
and agreed that it was Wu territory. As a result, Li Hui stopped holding the nominal appointment of Inspector of Jiao Province (交州刺史). He was then given a new appointment as the Administrator (太守) of his native Jianning Commandery (建寧郡) and was ordered to relocate to Jianning Commandery's capital at Pingyi County (平夷縣; northeast of present-day
Bijie
,
Guizhou
).
[29]
Some time later, Li Hui received orders to move north to
Hanzhong Commandery
. He died there in 231.
[30]
Family
[
edit
]
Li Hui's son, Li Yi (李遺), inherited his father's peerage and became the next Marquis of Hanxing Village (漢興亭侯).
[31]
Li Hui's nephew, Li Qiu (李球), served as a commander of the
yulin
section of the imperial guards. In 263,
during the
Wei invasion of Shu
, Li Qiu accompanied the Shu general
Zhuge Zhan
to resist the Wei general
Deng Ai
at
Mianzhu
, where he was killed in battle.
[33]
Appraisal
[
edit
]
Chen Shou
, who wrote Li Hui's biography in the
Records of the Three Kingdoms
(
Sanguozhi
), appraised him as follows: "Li Hui was seen as brilliant in his will and actions... Along with
Huang Quan
,
Lu Kai
,
Ma Zhong
,
Wang Ping
,
Zhang Ni
, It was thanks to their qualities that they were all well known through the empire and because they seized the opportunity given to them that they left strong legacies."
[34]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
(李恢字德?,建寧?元人也。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(華陽國志曰:習後官至領軍。)
Huayang Guo Zhi
annotation in
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(仕郡督郵,姑夫?習?建伶令,有違犯之事,恢坐習免官。太守董和以習方土大姓,寢而不許。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(後貢恢於州,涉道未至,聞先主自?萌還攻劉璋。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(恢知璋之必敗,先主必成也,乃託名郡使,北詣先主,遇於?竹。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(先主嘉之,從至?城,遣恢至漢中交好馬超,超遂從命。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(成都旣定,先主領益州牧,以恢?功曹書佐主簿。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(後?亡虜所誣,引恢謀反,有司執送,先主明其不然,更遷恢?別駕從事。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
Herman, John (2009). "The Kingdoms of Nanzhong: China's Southwest Border Region Prior to the Eighth Century".
T'oung Pao
.
95
(4): 241?286.
doi
:
10.1163/008254309X507052
.
ISSN
0082-5433
.
- ^
(臣松之訊之蜀人,云?降地名,去蜀二千餘里,時未有寧州,號?南中,立此職以總攝之。晉泰始中,始分?寧州。) Pei Songzhi's annotation in
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(章武元年,?降都督鄧方卒,先主問恢:「誰可代者?」)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(恢對曰:「人之才能,各有長短,故孔子曰『其使人也,器之』。且夫明主在上,則臣下盡情,是以先零之役,趙充國曰『莫若老臣』。臣竊不自量,惟陛下察之。」)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(先主笑曰:「孤之本意,亦已在卿矣。」)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(方亡卒,先主問代於治中從事建寧李恢,對曰:「西先零之役,趙充國有言:「莫若老臣。」)
Huayang Guo Zhi
vol. 4.
- ^
(遂以恢??降都督,使持節領交州刺史,住平夷縣。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(先主遂用恢?都督,治平夷縣。)
Huayang Guo Zhi
vol. 4.
- ^
(先主薨,高定恣?於越?,雍?跋扈於建寧,朱?反叛於??。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(丞相亮南征,先由越?,而恢案道向建寧。諸縣大相糾合,圍恢軍於昆明。時恢衆少敵倍,又未得亮聲息, ...)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(... ?謂南人曰:「官軍糧盡,欲規退還,吾中間?斥?里,乃今得旋,不能復北,欲還與汝等同計謀,故以誠相告。」)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(南人信之,故圍守怠緩。於是恢出擊,大破之,追?逐北,南至槃江,東接??,與亮聲勢相連。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(南土平定,恢軍功居多,封漢興亭侯,加安漢將軍。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(後軍還,南夷復叛,殺害守將。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(恢身往撲討,?盡惡類,徙其豪帥于成都,賦出?、?耕牛戰馬金銀犀革,充繼軍資,于時費用不乏。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(建興七年,以交州屬吳,解恢刺史。更領建寧太守,以還居本郡。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(徙居漢中,九年卒。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(子遺嗣。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(恢弟子球,羽林右部督,隨諸葛瞻拒鄧艾,臨陣授命,死于?竹。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
- ^
(評曰:...李恢公亮志業,...咸以所長,顯名發跡,遇其時也。)
Sanguozhi
vol. 43.
|
---|
Emperors
| |
---|
Empresses
| |
---|
Princes and royal figures
| |
---|
Regents
| |
---|
Civil officers
| |
---|
Military officers
| |
---|
Other notable women
| |
---|
Other notable figures
| |
---|