He Sui (Shu Han)
He Sui, courtesy name Jiye, was an official and scholar of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period of China. After the fall of Shu in 263, he continued serving under the Jin dynasty, that succeeded Cao Wei state in 266.
Life
He Sui was born in Pi County, Shu Commandery, which is present-day Pi County, Sichuan, and was a descendant of the Han minister He Wu. He came from a family with a reputation for virtue and was recruited to serve in the Shu Han government. He studied the Han shi waizhuan and Ouyang Gao 's version of the Book of Documents, delving deeply into literature and mastering astronomy and the calendar systems. He served in his home commandery Shu as Officer of Merit, then for the State government as Assistant Officer and Main Adviser to the guanglu langzhong. Furthermore, he was appointed as Prefect of Anhan.After the Conquest of Shu by Wei, he left his office. At that time, the Ba region suffered from a severe shortage of food, causing famine. As He Sui traveled, he would take yam from the fields to feed his entourage, leaving a piece of cotton behind as a way of payment. The locals, recognizing the cotton, would say: "We heard that He Sui, the Prefect of Anhan is an honest and upright man. He must have been passing by. His followers are short of food so he most likely had no other options." They would then return the cotton to He Sui, who consistently refused to accept it. As a result, a saying arose: "When the officials of Anhan take food, they make sure to compensate for it." He Sui was later nominated as a xiaolian.
Following Cao Wei's abdication to Jin, He Sui was summoned by the imperial court but declined to attend. Again, he was appointed as the Director of the Palace to the Prince of Hejian, but refused the position. Living in poverty, he maintained a simple lifestyle, wearing worn out clothes and eating vegetarian meals. He spent his days working in the fields and his evenings teaching and reciting texts. He did not accept gifts or bribes from his fellow villagers or powerful clans. Neither was he swayed by personal interests. Moreover, he authored ten volumes of Tan Yan, a text discussing morality, benevolence, and humility.
As an example of his behaviour, one day, a butcher lost his pig when its leash broke. The butcher falsely accused He Sui of taking it. He Sui simply handed over another pig to the butcher without protest. When the butcher later found his lost pig, he apologized to He Sui and returned the pig, which He Sui then accepted. Another anecdote. He Sui had a bamboo garden at his home and someone once stole bamboo shoots from it. When He Sui happened upon the thief, he was afraid that the thief would be frightened and injure himself trying to escape so He Sui quietly left the scene. Such was his benevolence. During the Taikang, He Sui was appointed as the Administrator of Jiangyang from his current home and the people longed for his rule. He died while serving in office at the age of 71.
After his death, people in the township of Houzhou referred to any fair and just person as "He of Jiangyang". Even the indigenous people of Wenshan, who were known for their integrity and humility, were also called "He of Jiangyang" by other tribes. Du Jingwen and He Xingren both wrote biographies about He Sui. Around the same time as He Sui, Zhang Chong, born from the same commandery of Shu, was well known among his contemporaries for his incorruptible character.