courtesy name
A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...
Yuanze, was an official and military general of the state of
Three Kingdoms
The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...
period of China.
Life
Huan Fan was from Pei State (), which is around present-day
Suixi County, Anhui
Suixi County () is a county in the north of Anhui Province, China, bordering Henan province to the southeast. It is under the administration of Huaibei
Huaibei () is a prefecture-level city in northern Anhui Province, China. It borders Suzhou ...
. He started his career in the late
Eastern Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
as a minor official in the office of the Imperial Chancellor, the position held by
Cao Cao
Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...
, the warlord who controlled the central government and the figurehead
Emperor Xian
Emperor Xian of Han (2 April 181 – 21 April 234), personal name Liu Xie (劉協), courtesy name Bohe, was the 14th and last emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. He reigned from 28 September 189 until 11 December 220.
Liu Xie was a so ...
at the time. Sometime in early 220, he was promoted to Left Supervisor () of the Feathered Forest () section of the imperial guards. Later that year, Cao Cao's son
Cao Pi
Cao Pi () ( – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the eldest son ...
usurped the throne from Emperor Xian and established the
state with himself as the new emperor. Cao Pi put Huan Fan, Wang Xiang () and Liu Shao in charge of writing the ''Huang Lan'' ().
During the reign of the second Wei emperor
Cao Rui
Cao Rui () (204 or 206 – 22 January 239), courtesy name Yuanzhong, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His parentage is in dispute: his mother, Lady Zhen, was Yuan Xi's wife, but she later remarr ...
( 226–239), Huan Fan served as a Master of Writing () and Commandant of the Central Army (). Later, he was promoted to East General of the Household () and General Who Attacks Barbarians (), granted imperial authority, and put in charge of overseeing military affairs in
Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
and Xu provinces. During his tenure, Huan Fan got into a housing dispute with Zheng Qi (), the Inspector () of Xu Province. He attempted to abuse his powers by executing Zheng Qi, but the latter reported him to the imperial court first, resulting in Huan Fan being dismissed from office. However, Huan Fan was soon recalled to serve in the Wei government, first as the Inspector of
Yan Province
Yan Province or Yanzhou was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China. During the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), it covered roughly present-day southwestern Shandong, eastern Henan, and the northwestern corner of Jiangsu
Jiangsu (; ...
and later as the Governor of Ji Province. When he saw that Lü Zhao () had reached a higher position than him even though he started serving in the Cao Wei state later than him, he became unhappy and claimed to be ill and stayed at home.
During the Zhengshi era (240–249) in the reign of the third Wei emperor
Cao Fang
Cao Fang () (232–274), courtesy name Lanqing, was the third emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. He was an adopted son of Cao Rui, the second ruler of Wei. Cao Fang ruled from 239 to 254 as a nominal emperor bef ...
, Huan Fan was appointed as the Minister of Finance (). He gained a reputation for being an honest and thrifty official, and was even referred to as "a bag of wisdom" ().
Cao Shuang
Cao Shuang (died 9 February 249), courtesy name Zhaobo, was a Chinese military general and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the eldest son of Cao Zhen, a prominent general of Wei. He initially hel ...
, the general serving as a regent for the emperor Cao Fang, treated Huan Fan cordially and respectfully, but was not close to him. During his regency, Cao Shuang and his brothers often went out on excursions because they believed that no one posed a threat to them. Huan Fan tried to advise them to be more mindful but they ignored him.
In early 249, Cao Shuang and his brothers followed the emperor Cao Fang out of the imperial capital
Luoyang
Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...
to visit the Gaoping Tombs. During their absence, Cao Shuang's co-regent,
Sima Yi
Sima Yi ( ; 179 CE – 7 September 251 CE), courtesy name Zhongda, was a Chinese military general, politician, and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
He formally began his political career in 208 un ...
, used the opportunity to stage a ''coup d'état'' against Cao Shuang in Luoyang. He ordered all the gates of Luoyang to be shut and then issued an order to Huan Fan in Empress Dowager Guo's name, ordering him to take command of the troops under Cao Xi (), Cao Shuang's brother. Just as Huan Fan was about to follow the order, his son urged him to side with Cao Shuang instead since Cao Shuang had a political advantage over Sima Yi because the emperor Cao Fang was with him. Huan Fan agreed and headed to Gaoping Tombs, against the advice of his subordinates. He managed to leave Luoyang through the Changping Gate because Si Fan (), the officer guarding the gate, used to serve under him and trusted him when he said he had authorisation to leave.
After meeting Cao Shuang and his brothers at Gaoping Tombs, Huan Fan urged them to bring Cao Fang to
Xuchang
Xuchang (; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province of China, province in Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe to the s ...
, issue an imperial edict in the emperor's name and denounce Sima Yi as a traitor and call all military forces in the Cao Wei state to attack Sima Yi. He also reassured the Cao brothers that they would not run out of food supplies because he, as the Minister of Finance, had full control over the distribution of food supplies. However, Cao Shuang and his brothers eventually decided to surrender to Sima Yi after Sima Yi promised them that they and their families would not be harmed if they handed over power to him. When Huan Fan heard about it, he cried, "How could a hero like Cao Zidan have pigs and dogs like you as his sons? How could he have not foreseen that one day his family will be doomed because of you!" After returning to Luoyang, Huan Fan was arrested along with Cao Shuang and his brothers, charged with treason, and executed along with the rest of their families.
See also
*
Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms
The following are lists of people significant to the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of Chinese history. Their names in Mandarin pinyin are sorted in alphabetical order.
Fictional characters in the 14th-century historical novel ''Romance of ...
Records of the Three Kingdoms
The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...
Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms
Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms () by Pei Songzhi (372-451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After leaving his native land, Pei ...