Let’s talk about Hán Fù.
Why?
You’ll see.
Summary
Hán Fù does not have his own biographical entry in the base texts of the Sān Guó zhì or the Hòu Hàn shū. He might have had something of a biographical entry in the no longer fully extant Yīngxióng jì, excerpts of which are annotated to the Standard Histories,1 but otherwise most of the information about Hán Fù must be pieced together from mentions in other biographical entries, namely Yuán Shào’s entries in SGZ 6 and HHS 74.
Hán Fù was probably from a well-established family given the government bureaucracy ranks he reached. As a registered native of Yǐngchuān, he might have been related in some way to the high-ranking officials also form Yǐngchuān Hán Sháo and Hán Róng,2 but if so there is no specific record of a connection extant. Fù initially serving in the Censorate in the capital, but was sent out to be Governor of Jì province in the north after Dǒng Zhuó’s seizure of power in 189,3 as part of Dǒng Zhuó’s wider attempts to attract gentry support by appointing famed elite and scholarly figures to the provinces.4
As part of this same effort, Yuán Shào had been appointed to Bóhǎi in Jì province, and Shào planned to use this authority to raise an army in Bóhǎi to attack Dǒng Zhuó. Hán Fù initially attempted to block Yuán Shào’s efforts, but as popular opposition to Dǒng Zhuó continued to spread, Hán Fù was persuaded to adjust his strategies, switching from suppressing to supporting Yuán Shào’s efforts.5 In 190, Yuán Shào and many other famed elites across the eastern part of the Empire, many of them actually installed in their posts by Dǒng Zhuó’s regime, mobilized armies and joined together in a coalition to remove Dǒng Zhuó from power, electing Yuán Shào as the coalition leader. Hán Fù stationed at Yè city, where he seems largely to served as a rear support and manager of supply lines for Yuán Shào’s more forward positions.6
The coalition was unable to make much headway, however, and at this stage Yuán Shào and Hán Fù together proposed enthroning Liú Yú, a distant relative of the Imperial clan, as an alternative Emperor to bolster their own legitimacy in opposing Dǒng Zhuó, though Liú Yú himself refused to accept or support their plans. Hán Fù and others then proposed having Liú Yú claim authority over Secretariat affairs, to be able to issue formal Imperial Orders to legitimize their actions, but Yú also refused to usurp such authority.7
Meanwhile, Yuán Shào and Hán Fù also were beginning to suspect one another. Hán Fù was reportedly jealous and suspicious of Yuán Shào’s great influence and prestige, while Shào was worried about lacking his own land base and having to depend on Hán Fù for supplies. Hán Fù reportedly attempted to use this as leverage to weaken Yuán Shào by decreasing Shào’s supplies, hoping to cause Shào’s armies to disperse.8 In 191, Hán Fù’s subordinate officer Qū Yì rebelled against him, possibly in support of Yuán Shào, and Yuán Shào himself allied with Qū Yì.9 Yuán Shào further sought to undermine Hán Fù by using the strategy of his advisors Páng Jì and others, writing to the northern officer Gōngsūn Zàn to suggest that Zàn attack Hán Fù and seize his territory, and then using the threat of Gōngsūn Zàn to pressure Hán Fù into surrendering to Yuán Shào. With Gōngsūn Zàn’s armies on their way, Hán Fù was indeed terrified and successfully persuaded by Yuán Shào’s envoys Gāo Gàn (who was also Yuán Shào’s sister’s son) and Xún Chén to surrender to Yuán Shào with promises that Shào would protect him and treat him generously, and that commentators would certainly praise him for having the wisdom to defer to a superior man.10
Hán Fù’s own officials protested, stating that they had sufficient soldiers and provisions to resist, and that as Yuán Shào was dependent on them for supplies Shào was really at their mercy. Fù however apparently had no will to fight, reportedly replying: “I am a former official of the Yuán clan, and moreover my talent does not compare to [Yuán Shào] Běnchū. To judge virtue and yield is what the ancients honored, why do you sirs alone complain?”11 Fù therefore resigned his position as Governor to Yuán Shào, sending his son to deliver his seal and ribbons of office to Shào. As Yuán Shào took power, he gave Fù a nominal title as a General, but without any actual authority.12
Previously, Hán Fù had disrespected an official Zhū Hàn, and after the change in regime, Zhū Hàn wished to presume on Yuán Shào’s intentions by leading troops to attack Hán Fù’s mansion. Hán Fù escaped upstairs, but Zhū Hàn captured Fù’s son and broke his legs. Shào had Zhū Hàn arrested and executed, but Fù remained afraid and asked to leave Jì province, which Shào permitted.13 Hán Fù went south to depend on Zhāng Miǎo, based in Chénliú in neighboring Yǎn province,14 but later a messenger from Yuán Shào arrived and whispered something into Zhāng Miǎo’s ear. Hán Fù saw this and suspected they were plotting against him (honestly, they probably were), excused himself to the lavatory and killed himself with a writing knife.15
Appraisal
Well, there’s not that much recorded, so not much say. Hán Fù seems to have probably been a scholarly type civil official from a well-off family, who fell in way over his head16 at the breakdown of authority of the Hàn Empire’s collapse into different warring military dictatorships. Despite holding office as governor of the province containing Bóhǎi and initially attempting to restrain Yuán Shào, he was pressured by his own subordinates to switch to supporting Shào, with Shào eventually becoming leader of the resulting coalition. Then, as Yuán Shào moved to take the province for himself, Hán Fù surrendered it all to Yuán Shào without a fight. After that he remained constantly afraid and at Yuán Shào’s mercy, was attacked by Zhū Hàn, fled from the province entirely, but even then he could not escape Yuán Shào’s influence, and killed himself in a lavatory in despair.
Since Hán Fù has tended to be considered to be a relatively minor figure of the time period, there seem to not be many appraisals of him by many later commentators and historians. So let’s just up copy a contemporary appraisal by Páng Jì instead:
Hán Fù is a mediocre talent.
韓馥庸才17
I think it would be safe to say that the popular imagination of Hán Fù tends to be that of a rather weak man constantly bullied by others.
Why Hán Fù
So why do I want to talk about Hán Fù at all then? Well, mostly because the film Dynasty Warriors (2021) decided to portray Hán Fù like this:
I’m not joking. That large tough-looking bald man is how the movie Dynasty Warriors wants to portray Hán Fù.
And here he is out of focus in the foreground of this shot. For some reason.
For comparison, here’s a shot of him in a line-up with several other characters. The flashy one in the center with white-ish hair is supposed to be Yuán Shào, the costume design being basically a copy of his portrayal in the Dynasty Warriors video game series on which the movie is based. I don’t remember who the other characters are supposed to be and can’t be bothered to look them up. Because Hán Fù keeps sticking out in comparison and grabbing all the attention.
So yeah, that is the direction we want to take with the character based on a man traditionally seen as a weak-willed civil official who was bullied into surrendering a province without a fight and who ultimately killed himself in a lavatory in fear. Seriously, this Hán Fù looks stronger and more intimidating than the movie’s Guān Yǔ and Zhāng Fēi.
Look at them! This Hán Fù could totally fight all three at once and snap them like little twigs.
I am completely serious when I say that Dynasty Warriors (2021) is one of the best comedy movies I have seen all year. Highly recommended. Hán Fù is just the beginning of all the fun the movie has to offer. The laughs just do not stop.
Just try to bully this Hán Fù. Kill himself in the lavatory? No, this Hán Fù will pick you up and stick your head down the toilet.
The largest excerpt on Hán Fù is annotated to SGZ 1.
HHS 62.
Yīngxióng jì annotated to SGZ 1: 英雄記曰:馥字文節,潁川人。為御史中丞。董卓舉為冀州牧。
SGZ 6: 初,卓信任尚書周毖,城門校尉伍瓊等,用其所舉韓馥、劉岱、孔伷、張諮、張邈等出宰州郡。而馥等至官,皆合兵將以討卓。卓聞之,以為毖、瓊等通情賣己,皆斬之。
Yīngxióng jì annotated to SGZ 1: 于時冀州民人殷盛,兵糧優足。袁紹之在勃海,馥恐其興兵,遣數部從事守之,不得動搖。東郡太守橋瑁詐作京師三公移書與州郡,陳卓罪惡,云「見逼迫,無以自救,企望義兵,解國患難。」馥得移,請諸從事問曰:「今當助袁氏邪,助董卓邪?」治中從事劉子惠曰:「今興兵為國,何謂袁、董!」馥自知言短而有慚色。子惠復言:「兵者凶事,不可為首;今宜往視他州,有發動者,然後和之。冀州於他州不為弱也,他人功未有在冀州之右者也。」馥然之。馥乃作書與紹,道卓之惡,聽其舉兵。
SGZ 1, SGZ 6, HHS 74.
SGZ 6, SGZ 8, HHS 74, HHS 75.
HHS 74: 馥意猶深疑於紹,每貶節軍糧,欲使離散。
HHS 74: 明年,馥將麴義反畔,馥與戰失利。紹既恨馥,乃與義相結。
SGZ 6, HHS 74.
SGZ 6: 馥曰:「吾,袁氏故吏,且才不如本初,度德而讓,古人所貴,諸君獨何病焉!」 HHS 74: 馥曰;「吾袁氏故吏,且才不如本初。度德而讓,古人所貴,諸君獨何病焉?」
SGZ 74: 紹遂領冀州牧,承制以馥為奮威將軍,而無所將御。
Yīngxióng jì annotated to SGZ 6 and HHS 74: 英雄記曰:紹以河內朱漢為都官從事。漢先時為馥所不禮,內懷怨恨,且欲邀迎紹意,擅發城郭兵圍守馥第,拔刃登屋。馥走上樓,收得馥大兒,槌折兩腳。紹亦立收漢,殺之。馥猶憂怖,故報紹索去。
Information on Zhāng Miǎo is attached to Lǚ Bù in SGZ 7.
SGZ 6: 後紹遣使詣邈,有所計議,與邈耳語。馥在坐上,謂見圖構,無何起至溷自殺。HHS 74: 後紹遣使詣邈,有所計議,因共耳語。馥時在坐,謂見圖謀,無何,如廁自殺。 Jiǔzhōu Chūnqiū annotated to HHS 74: 九州春秋曰:「至厠,因以書刀自殺。」
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/be+in+over+his+head
HHS 74: 紹客逢紀謂紹曰:「夫舉大事,非據一州,無以自立。今冀部強實,而韓馥庸才,可密要公孫瓚將兵南下,馥聞必駭懼。并遣辯士為陳禍福,馥迫於倉卒,必可因據其位。」