Hu Zhao

Hu Zhao was from Yingchuan Commandery. He initially sought refuge in Ji province, where he declined Yuan Shao's offer of recruitment, and lived in the countryside. When Cao Cao was appointed Minister of Works (sikong) and later Imperial Chancellor, he repeatedly requested Hu Zhao to join him. While Hu accepted the offers, after joining Cao's service, he explained that he was useless in both state governance and military matters, and sincerely asked to be released from service. Cao Cao replied, "To each his own; different people have different preferences, be they serving a government or leaving service. I respect your decision and will not force you."^[3]

Before Sima Yi became a government official, he was a good friend of Hu Zhao's. A man named Zhou Sheng (周生), who hailed from the same commandery as Hu, wanted to kill Sima Yi. Once Hu Zhao heard of the plot, he went to meet Zhou in a mountainous area between the Xiao Mountains (崤山) and Mianchi County (渑池) (both in modern-day Henan). At first, Hu tried to persuade Zhou to stop the plot; Zhou refused. Hu then began crying; touched by Hu's sincerity, Zhou agree not to kill Sima. Before they parted, Hu chopped down a jujube tree as a part of the vow. Although Hu helped saved Sima, he never told anyone else about it. Yet, word of his honour and reputation spread among the people in his hometown.^[4]

Hu Zhao was well versed in historical texts. His calligraphy, alongside those of Zhong Yao, Handan Chun, Wei Ji (卫觊),^[b] and Wei Dan (韦诞)^[c] were widely emulated by others.^[5]

One final attempt was made to recruit him in 250, but did not succeed due to his death at the age of 88.^[6]