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Zhong Hui
Cao Wei strategist and son of Zhong Yao who led the conquest of Shu in 263, then plotted with Jiang Wei to seize power in Chengdu and died in a mutiny
At dusk on a hilltop, a large tent stands open with a table holding a map marked with small stones inside, a saddled horse tethered outside, and fire stands burning; campfires dot the river plain below, and one tiny sentry stands on the slope.
Also known as Zi Shiji
Zhong Hui, courtesy name Shiji, was the youngest son of the grand tutor Zhong Yao of Changshe in Yingchuan. A precocious scholar of names and principles, he wrote the Treatise on the Four Bases (Siben lun) on talent and inner nature. He served Sima Shi against Guanqiu Jian and Sima Zhao against Zhuge Dan, and his schemes led contemporaries to compare him with Zhang Liang. In 263 he led more than a hundred thousand men against Shu but was held at Jiange by Jiang Wei, while Deng Ai slipped through Yinping and took Chengdu, ending the Shu Han state. Zhong then denounced Deng Ai for treason, had him carted away in a cage and was promoted minister over the masses. In the first month of 264 he conspired with Jiang Wei to make himself independent, but his troops mutinied and killed him at forty. The Jin History (Jinshu) says that after Xi Kang snubbed him, he spoke against Xi Kang to Sima Zhao and brought about his execution.
Life and times
Dates 225 CE–264 CE