Hu Zhong

Biography & Historical Record

Hu Zhong (胡忠, Hồ Trung) is a fictional Shu Han staff officer in Luo Guanzhong’s novel, with no independent biography in Chen Shou’s Sanguozhi. He appears exclusively in Zhuge Liang’s Wooden Oxen and Flowing Horses (木牛流马) arc — the logistical innovation that extended Shu’s supply lines during the northern expeditions and provoked Wei’s attempts to copy and intercept the transport system.

Hu Zhong is paired with Du Rui (杜叡/杜睿) as a deputy whom Zhuge Liang entrusts with the secret manufacture of the wooden transport devices. His role is technical and administrative: supervising craftsmen in a hidden valley, not leading cavalry charges. He embodies the novel’s emphasis on Zhuge Liang as an inventor-organizer whose campaigns depend on engineering as much as on generals.

Role in Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 102 (Sima Yi Occupies the Bridge Pavilion; Zhuge Liang Constructs the Wooden Transport): After Wei forces under Sima Yi threaten Shu’s supply lines, Zhuge Liang returns to camp and summons staff officers Du Rui (杜叡) and Hu Zhong (胡忠), whispering secret instructions. He orders more than a thousand camp craftsmen assembled to build the wooden oxen and flowing horses according to his specifications in a hidden valley. Du Rui and Hu Zhong supervise the work; Ma Dai is sent elsewhere on a decoy mission so the secret will not leak. The devices later carry grain to the front and become the target of Wei’s copycat efforts.

Hu Zhong (胡忠) — Historical & Literary Timeline

For detailed historical records, archives, and official chronicles, explore List of fictional people of the Three Kingdoms on Wikipedia.

Key Relationships

Family

• No family recorded — fictional staff officer.

Friends

• Du Rui (杜叡, Đỗ Duệ): Co-deputy supervising wooden oxen manufacture with Hu Zhong in Chapter 102.
• Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮, Gia Cát Lượng): Chancellor who entrusts Hu Zhong with the secret construction project.

Enemies

• Sima Yi (司马懿, Tư Mã Ý): Wei commander whose threats to Shu’s supply lines prompt the wooden transport innovation Hu Zhong helps build.

Other

• Ma Dai (马岱, Mã Đại): General sent on a decoy mission while Hu Zhong and Du Rui supervise craftsmen.
• Wooden Oxen and Flowing Horses (木牛流马): The logistical devices Hu Zhong helps manufacture — central to Chapter 102’s supply-line drama.
• Wei copycat efforts: Later chapters show Wei attempting to replicate the devices — the strategic consequence of Hu Zhong’s work.