Hán Yīng 韓嬰 was a Western-Hàn classical scholar from the state of Yān 燕 (modern Héběi 河北), founder of the Hán Shī — one of the four early-Hàn schools of Shī transmission, alongside Lǔ Shī (Shēn Péi 申培), Qí Shī (Yuán Gù 轅固), and Máo Shī (Máo Hēng 毛亨 / Máo Cháng 毛萇). Active under emperors Wéndì 文帝 (r. 180–157 BCE), Jǐngdì 景帝 (r. 157–141 BCE), and Wǔdì 武帝 (r. 141–87 BCE).
Per the Hàn shū rúlín zhuàn 漢書儒林傳: under Wéndì he was appointed bóshì (Erudite); under Jǐngdì he reached Chángshān tàifù 常山太傅 (Grand Tutor of Chángshān). Under Wǔdì he held a famous philosophical debate before the throne with Dǒng Zhòngshū 董仲舒, the Qí Shī and Chūnqiū master — Hán Yīng’s ground was so well-prepared that “Zhòngshū bù néng nán yě” (Zhòngshū could not refute him). His grandson Hán Shāng 韓商 served as bóshì under Xuāndì 宣帝, and the line continued through Hán Shēng 韓生 of Zhuōjūn 涿郡.
Hán Yīng’s principal work is the Hán Shī wài zhuàn 韓詩外傳 (KR1c0066) in 10 juǎn (the present transmitted form, in 6 juǎn per the Hàn shū yìwén zhì and 4 juǎn per the Suí shū jīngjí zhì; the variant counts reflect different recensions of the same text). His other works — the Hán Shī nèi zhuàn 韓詩内傳 in 4 juǎn; the Hán gù 韓故 in 36 juǎn; the Hán shuō 韓說 in 41 juǎn; and the Tàishǐ shī 太史詩 in 22 juǎn — were transmitted through the post-Hàn period; the Tàipíng yùlǎn still cites the Nèi zhuàn; Liú Ānshì records reading the Hán Shī in his youth — meaning the Nèi zhuàn survived to the late Northern Sòng Zhènghé / Jiànyán transition (early 12th century), then was lost. Only the Wài zhuàn survives.
Hán Yīng also taught the Yì; per the Hàn shū, “Hánshēng yì gǔyì shòu rén, tuī Yìyì ér wéi zhī zhuàn” (Hánshēng also transmitted the Yì-meaning to others, extending its meaning and composing his own commentary); the YānZhào region’s Shī studies derived from him, and a second Yì tradition was preserved as Hán shì until late Hàn.
CBDB has no entry under this name. Lifedates not securely datable; conventionally given as the broad bracket of the late Western-Hàn flourishing. Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, identifies the Hán Shī wài zhuàn in the standard reference table of early-Hàn texts (citing Hightower, ECT, 125–28; ICS 5).