[3] He Yong was born in Nanyang in Jing province, as a young man in the 160's he attended the Imperial University, though its status as an educational institution was in decline.
He made friends with influential figures like Guo Tai (郭泰) and Jia Biao (賈彪), leading talent assessors and opponents of the eunuchs favoured at court.
[5] Gaining a reputation, he also made friends with leading anti-eunuch figures at the court, like the Grand Tutor Chen Fan and Director of Retainers Li Ying (李膺).
[11][12][13] In 168, Chen Fan was made Grand Tutor to the new Emperor Ling and soon he and his allies sought to remove the eunuchs, but their plot was slow, they were outmanoeuvred, and they were destroyed.
[14] In 169 the eunuchs persuaded the young Emperor to restart the Prohibitions, purging their opponents including at the Imperial University via charges of faction.
In 184 with the Yellow Turban Rebellion causing alarm, Emperor Ling agreed to end the Partisan Prohibitions and, with his exile and ban now over, He Yong was recruited into the office of the Excellency of Works as .
[3] Despite the refusal, Dong Zhuo trusted He Yong, and he helped Zheng Tai, Zhou Bi and Wu Qiong in the selection of officers for the regime.