| NAME | |
|---|---|
| Chinese Name | 胡邈, 胡邈, Hú Miǎo |
| Nickname | Courtesy Jingcai (敬才); Palace Attendant (侍中) |
| Other name | Hồ Miêu |
| Courtesy name | 敬才, 敬才, Jìng Cái, Jing Cai, tự Kính Tài |
| INFORMATION | |
| Birth Place | Anding County, Linjing (present-day Zhenyuan County, Gansu) |
| CAREER | |
| Allegiance | Eastern Han; Li Jue faction |
| Battles |
|
Biography & Historical Record
Hu Miao (胡邈, Hồ Miêu), courtesy name Jingcai (敬才, tự Kính Tài), was an Eastern Han court official who served as Palace Attendant (侍中) during the Li Jue–Guo Si occupation of Chang’an. From Anding commandery (present-day Gansu), he belonged to the small class of inner-court ministers who tried to survive between warlord factions while the Emperor remained a puppet in the capital.
Hu Miao’s literary significance rests on a single act of caution: when imperial envoy Huangfu Li accuses Li Jue of treason in open court, Hu Miao urgently silences him — “Do not speak such words! It will bring harm to yourself” — revealing the terror that governed Chang’an politics after Dong Zhuo’s death. He is not a hero in the novel’s moral scheme, but a realistic voice of self-preservation amid warlord violence.
Role in Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Chapter 13: After Huangfu Li warns Li Jue with the parable of Hou Yi and Dong Zhuo’s fate, Li Jue rages and nearly kills him. Jia Xu and Yang Feng intervene. Li Jue then pushes Huangfu Li out. Huangfu Li shouts: “Li Jue disobeys the imperial edict and intends to murder the Emperor and usurp the throne!” At this, Palace Attendant Hu Miao (侍中胡邈) urgently stops him: “Do not speak such words — it will bring harm to yourself!” Huangfu Li rebukes him: “Hu Jingcai! You too are a minister of the court — how can you side with the rebels? ‘When the lord is shamed, the minister must die’ — if Li Jue kills me, that is my duty!” and continues cursing until the Emperor recalls Huangfu Li to the west.
Hu Miao (胡邈) — Historical & Literary Timeline
Eastern Han
Anding scholar-official
From Anding County, Linjing (present-day Zhenyuan, Gansu); entered service as a Palace Attendant under the puppet Chang’an court.
Chapter 13
Silences Huangfu Li
When Huangfu Li accuses Li Jue of treason in open court, Hu Miao urgently warns him to stop — “Do not speak such words!” — fearing immediate reprisal.
Chapter 13 (same arc)
Rebuked by Huangfu Li
Huangfu Li calls him “Hu Jingcai” and accuses him of siding with rebels when ministers should die for the Emperor’s shame.
Chang’an crisis
Survivor politics
Represents courtiers who chose caution over martyrdom during Li Jue and Guo Si’s domination of the capital.
For detailed historical records, archives, and official chronicles, explore Hu Miao on Wikipedia.
Key Relationships
Family
- No family recorded in the novel passage or standard histories.
Friends
- Li Jue (李傕, Lý Quắc): Warlord whom Hu Miao implicitly protects by silencing Huangfu Li’s treason accusation.
- Chang’an court officials: Fellow ministers who, like Hu Miao, survive under warlord domination.
Enemies
- Huangfu Li (皇甫郦, Hoàng Phủ Lệ): Envoy whom Hu Miao silences; Huangfu Li rebukes Hu Miao as a rebel sympathizer.
Other
- Guo Si (郭汜): Li Jue’s rival warlord in the Chang’an struggle — the factional chaos Hu Miao navigates.
- Jia Xu (贾诩, Giả Hủ) and Yang Feng (杨奉): Officers who intervene when Li Jue nearly kills Huangfu Li in the same scene.
- Emperor Xian (献帝, Hiến Đế): Puppet sovereign whose court Hu Miao serves in Chapter 13.
In Novel
Chapter 13
- Hu Miao (胡邈, Hồ Miêu): Palace Attendant who urgently stops Huangfu Li from shouting that Li Jue intends to murder the Emperor and usurp the throne — "Do not speak such words! It will bring harm to yourself!"
- Hu Miao (胡邈, Hồ Miêu): Rebuked by Huangfu Li as "Hu Jingcai" for siding with rebels when a minister should die for the Emperor's shame.
In History
Summary
- Hu Miao (胡邈, Hồ Miêu), styled Jingcai, was an Eastern Han Palace Attendant associated with the Li Jue faction in Chang'an.
Historical Record
- Listed in Three Kingdoms-period catalogs as a politician from Anding; details from later histories and Pei Songzhi's notes.
- The novel's Chapter 13 scene of silencing Huangfu Li reflects the terror of Chang'an court politics under warlord control.
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