Li Hui (died 231),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

De'ang, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of

Shu Han Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu ( zh, t=蜀, p=Shǔ; Sichuanese Pinyin: ''Su'' < Middle Chinese: *''źjowk'' < Eastern Han Chinese: *''dźok''), was a Dynasties in ...

during the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

period of China. After refusing Liu Zhang's service, Li joined

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a China, Chinese warlord in the late Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty who later became the founding Emperor of China, emperor of Shu Han, one of the Three Kingdoms of ...

early in his campaign to pacify Yi province. After Liu Bei's death, Li Hui proved his talents during

Zhuge Liang Zhuge Liang () (181September or October 234), also commonly known by his courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman, strategist, and inventor who lived through the End of the Han dynasty, end of the Eastern Han dynasty ( 184–220) and t ...

'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

Li Hui was born during the late

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

in Yuyuan County (俞元縣), Jianning Commandery (建寧郡), which is present-day Chengjiang County,

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

. He started his career as a local inspector (督郵) in his native Jianning Commandery. His aunt married Cuan Xi (爨習), who served as the Prefect of Jianling County (建伶縣; present-day Jinning District,

Kunming Kunming is the capital and largest city of the province of Yunnan in China. The political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province, Kunming is also the seat of the provincial government. During World War II, Kunming was a Ch ...

, 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 Dong He (died early 221), courtesy name Youzai, was an official in the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He originally served under the warlord Liu Zhang before becoming a subordinate of Liu Bei (the founding emperor o ...

, 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. Around 212, Dong He then recommended Li Hui as a talent to Liu Zhang, the Governor of

Yi Province Yizhou (益州), Yi Province or Yi Prefecture, was a ''Zhou (country subdivision), zhou'' (province) of ancient China. Its capital city was Chengdu.de Crespigny, p. 256. During the Han dynasty, it included the commanderies Hanzhong Commandery, Han ...

, and sent him to the provincial capital

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

. During his journey to Chengdu, Li Hui heard that the warlord

had led his forces from Jiameng Pass (葭萌關; in present-day Zhaohua District,

Guangyuan Guangyuan ( zh, s= , t=廣元 , p=Guǎngyuán , w=Kuang-yüan) is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan Province, China, bordering the provinces of Shaanxi to the northeast and Gansu to the northwest. Guangyuan City is located on the northern edge ...

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

) to attack Liu Zhang.

Service under Liu Bei

Liu Bei's takeover of Yi Province

Li Hui knew that Liu Zhang would lose and

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. Liu Bei was overjoyed to see Li Hui. When they reached Luo County (雒縣; present-day

Guanghan Guanghan ( zh, s=广汉, t=廣漢, p=Guǎnghàn; formerly known as Hanchow) is a county-level city under the administration of Deyang in Sichuan province, southwest China, and only from Chengdu. The predominant industries are tourism, pharmaceut ...

), Liu Bei sent Li Hui as his representative to meet the general

Ma Chao Ma Chao () (176–222), courtesy name Mengqi, was a Chinese military general and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. A descendant of the general Ma Yuan, Ma Chao was the eldest son of M ...

Hanzhong Commandery Hanzhong Commandery (漢中郡) was an imperial Chinese commandery located in what is now southern Shaanxi Province, centered on the upper reaches of the Han River (Hubei and Shaanxi), Han River in the Hanzhong Basin. Established during the late ...

and lead him to

to force Liu Zhang to surrender to Liu Bei. 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). 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.

As the Area Commander of Laixiang

Following the end of the Eastern Han dynasty and start of the

period in 220, Li Hui served in the state of

, which Liu Bei established in 221. In the same year, as Deng Fang, the Area Commander of Laixiang (庲降都督), had just died, Liu Bei was eager to find someone to replace him so he asked Li Hui: "Who can replace him?". Li Hui replied: "People's abilities vary from one person to another. That was why

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

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." Liu Bei laughed and said: "I already have you in mind." 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 Wu (Chinese language, Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, was a Dynasties of China, dynastic state of China and one of the three major sta ...

. Li Hui's administrative headquarters were at Pingyi County (平夷縣; northeast of present-day

Bijie Bijie ( zh, s=毕节, t=畢節, p=Bìjíe) is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Guizhou Province, China, bordering Sichuan to the north and Yunnan to the west. The Daotianhe Reservoir, located to the north of the town was commissioned in ...

Guizhou ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = Guizhou in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_alt = Map showing the location of Guizhou Province , map_caption = Map s ...

) when he served as the Area Commander of Laixiang.

Service under Liu Shan

Nanzhong campaign

Following

's death in 223, rebellions broke out in three commanderies in the Nanzhong region of southern Shu: Yong Kai (雍闓), Gao Ding (高定) and Zhu Bao (朱褒) rebelled in Jianning (建寧; around present-day

Qujing Qujing ( zh, c= , p=Qūjìng) is a prefecture-level city in the east of Yunnan province, China, bordering Guizhou province to the north and east and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to the south; thus, it was called "Key between Yunnan and Gui ...

), Yuexi/Yuesui (越巂; around present-day

Xichang Xichang ( Northern Yi: /o̝˨˩dʐo̝˧/) is a city in and the seat of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in the south of Sichuan, China. History The Qiongdu were the local people at the time of contact with China. The county of Qiongdu is ...

) and Zangke (牂柯; around present-day

Guiyang Guiyang; Mandarin pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively as Kweiyang is the capital of Guizhou, Guizhou province in China. It is centrally located within the province, on the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, eastern part of the Yun ...

or Fuquan,

) commanderies respectively. In the spring of 225,

, 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

) to attack Jianning Commandery. When he reached

, 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. Li Hui then lied to the rebels: 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. 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).

Maintaining the peace in Nanzhong

After

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. 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

. At the same time, he also made the Sou (叟) and Pu (濮) 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 A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily Weapon, armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable ...

against its rival state Wei. In 229, after Shu reaffirmed its alliance with its ally state Wu and recognised the legitimacy of the Wu emperor

Sun Quan Sun Quan (; 182 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumous name, posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by hi ...

, 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

). Some time later, Li Hui received orders to move north to

. He died there in 231.

Family

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). 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 Deng Ai (197 – late March 264Vol.04 of ''Sanguozhi'' and vol.02 of ''Jin Shu'' both indicated that Deng Ai was arrested in the 1st month of the 1st year of the ''Xianxi'' era. The month corresponds to 15 Feb to 14 Mar 264 in the Julian calendar ...

at Mianzhu, where he was killed in battle.

Appraisal

Chen Shou Chen Shou ( zh , t = 陳壽 ; 233–297), courtesy name Chengzuo (), was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer who lived during the Three Kingdoms period and Jin dynasty of China. Chen Shou is best known for his most celebrated work, the ...

, who wrote Li Hui's biography in the ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' is a Chinese official history written by Chen Shou in the late 3rd century CE, covering the end of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE). It is regard ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''), appraised him as follows: "Li Hui was seen as brilliant in his will and actions... Along with Huang Quan, Lü Kai, Ma Zhong, Wang Ping,

Zhang Ni Zhang Ni (190s - 254), courtesy name Boqi, rendered also as Zhang Yi, was a military general of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Famous for his courage and generosity, Zhang Ni made his name known while rescuing a ...

, 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."(評曰：...李恢公亮志業，...咸以所長，顯名發跡，遇其時也。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 43.

Notes

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

'' (''Sanguozhi''). *

Chang Qu Chang Qu (291–361), courtesy name Daojiang, was a Chinese historian of the Cheng-Han dynasty during the Sixteen Kingdoms period and the Jin dynasty (266–420). Chang Qu is best known for his magnum opus, the '' Chronicles of Huayang'' or ''Re ...

(4th century). ''

Chronicles of Huayang The ''Chronicles of Huayang'' or ''Huayang Guo Zhi'' ( zh, t=華陽國志, s=华阳国志, first=t, l=Records of the Lands South of Mt. Hua) is the oldest extant gazetteer of a region of China. It was compiled by Chang Qu during the Jin dynast ...

'' (''Huayang Guo Zhi''). * Fan, Ye (5th century). ''

Book of the Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Lat ...

'' (''Houhanshu''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotated Records of the Three Kingdoms ''Annotated 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 the fall of the Eastern Jin ...

'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Hui Year of birth unknown 231 deaths Generals under Liu Bei Government officials under Liu Zhang People from Yuxi Political office-holders in Yunnan Shu Han generals Shu Han government officials