Han Ji 韓暨 Gongzhi 公至

Contents

Biography

Origins and revenge

Han Ji was from Duyang, Nanyang (in present-day Fangcheng, Henan). He was a descendant of Han Wang Xin, the King of Han in the Qin–Han transition.

His grandfather Han Shu had served as Administrator of Hedong and his father Han Chun as Administrator of Nan Commandery. A powerful family in the same county, the Chen, had slandered Han Ji’s father and elder brother, who were nearly sentenced to death. Han Ji showed no outward reaction but secretly saved money and sought men willing to die. He eventually killed Chen Mao and used his head in sacrifice at his father’s tomb. Han Ji became famous for this.

He was recommended as Filial and Incorrupt and the Minister over the Masses invited him to office, but he did not accept. He changed his name and went into hiding in the Luyang Mountains. While there he encountered mountain people who had banded together as bandits to plunder. Han Ji bought cattle and wine, feasted their leaders, and explained to them the dangers and advantages of their course. The bandits disbanded and did not cause trouble. To avoid Yuan Shu’s recruitment he moved to the Shandu Mountains. When Liu Biao later invited him with courtesy, he fled again to the border of Chanling, where the people respected him. Liu Biao was angered; Han Ji feared him and finally accepted appointment as Magistrate of Yicheng.

Under Cao Cao

In 208, when Cao Cao took Jing Province, he recruited Han Ji as Clerk in the Personnel Section of the Chancellor’s Office. Han Ji later served as Administrator of Leling and then as Supervisor of Smelting. The smelting works used horse-powered bellows, which were inefficient. Han Ji replaced them with water-powered bellows (水排), which were three times more productive. He held the post for seven years and the supply of implements was ample. The court issued an edict praising him and promoted him to Director of Metal, with rank just below the Nine Ministers.

Grand Master of Ceremonies and Minister over the Masses

When Cao Pi became emperor, Han Ji was enfeoffed as Marquis of Yicheng. In 226 he was promoted to Grand Master of Ceremonies and advanced to Marquis of Nanxiang.

When Wei replaced Han, the new capital was at Luoyang but the institutions were not yet complete; the ancestral temples and spirit tablets remained at Ye. As Grand Master of Ceremonies, Han Ji proposed that the spirit tablets be brought from Ye to Luoyang, that a temple be built in Luoyang, and that the seasonal sacrifices be performed there according to proper ritual, with other irregular cults abolished. He held the office for eight years and then resigned on grounds of illness. He was made Grand Master of Palace Leisure.

In 238, on the recommendation of Lu Yu, Cao Rui issued an edict (second month, guimao day) appointing Han Ji as Minister over the Masses (司徒). He died in the fourth month on the gengzi day (10 April 238), aged over eighty. He was given the posthumous title Marquis Gong. His son Han Zhao succeeded to his marquis title.

Legacy

Han Ji’s descendants included Han Bang (son of Han Zhao), who served under Western Jin as Magistrate of Yewang and Administrator of Xincheng but was executed by Emperor Wu for promoting a former Yewang subordinate in Xincheng; and Han Shou (Han Hong’s son), who became Palace Attendant and Administrator of Henan under Jin and was posthumously granted General of Agile Cavalry. The Jin figure Han Yan (韓延), who appears in the Shishuo xinyu and elsewhere, was said to be a descendant of Han Ji.

Historical evaluations

The court edict on his smelting work praised the improvement in productivity and the ample supply of implements.
Lu Yu recommended him for Minister over the Masses as “dun du zhi xing” (敦篤至行—sincere and of the highest conduct), and Cao Rui chose him over Guan Ning and the other candidates.

References

Records of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 24, Biography of Han Ji
Records of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 22, Biography of Lu Yu