He was the third son of general Hou Yi (侯益) and married a sister of Zhao Pu. After Zhao's downfall, he was at odds with Zhao's political opponent, Lu Duoxun, and was banished to Yongzhou (邕州, modern Nanning, Guangxi).

At the end of 979, the emperor Đinh Tiên Hoàng and crown prince Đinh Liễn of Đinh dynasty were assassinated. The new emperor Đinh Phế Đế was too young to rule the country, general Lê Hoàn was made regent. Nguyễn Bặc launched a rebellion against Hoàn, and the country the felt into chaos. Hou sent the message to emperor Taizong of Song to encourage him to dispatch an army to invade Đại Cồ Việt (mordern Vietnam). The suggestion was adopted, and Hou was appointed as admiral to invade Đại Cồ Việt. He was defeated by Lê Hoàn at the Battle of Bạch Đằng River and killed in action.

侯仁寶是中書令侯益的第三子，因父親功勳而蔭封太子中允之職。侯仁寶也是宰相趙普的妹夫。趙普與盧多遜不睦，互相彈劾。970年，盧多遜任宰相之後，侯仁寶被外調到邕州。邕州的右江生長有毒藥樹，宣化縣人常常前往採集，當做貨物販賣。侯仁寶將此事上奏朝廷，宋太宗下令將這些樹全部砍掉。

979年，交趾的丁朝發生內亂，其皇帝丁部領、太子丁璉被殺，年幼的丁璿繼位。十道將軍黎桓陰謀篡位，與其他忠於丁朝的大臣發生衝突。侯仁寶向宋太宗秘密進獻征討交趾的策略，宋太宗大喜，令他立即馳歸汴京。盧多遜認為，若讓侯仁寶回到汴京，黎桓一定會對這次密謀有所耳聞，從而加強了兵備，使得攻打交趾變得困難；盧多遜還建議任命侯仁寶為主帥，另派荊湖士卒二萬人前往增援，長驅直入攻打交趾。宋太宗採納了這個建議，任命侯仁寶為交州水陸計度轉運使；又任命蘭陵團練使孫全興、漆作使郝守俊、鞍轡庫使陳欽祚、左監門將軍崔亮為兵馬都部署；寧州刺史劉澄、軍器庫副使賈湜、供奉官閣門祗候王僎為兵馬都部署，伺機南下。

黎桓得知此事後，篡奪了皇位，並增強了兵備。980年，侯仁寶、孫全興率陸軍主力到達諒山，一路勢如劈竹，長驅直入；但劉澄所率的水軍卻在白藤江遇阻。翌年春，侯仁寶率陸軍先行，孫全興則駐紮在花步地區等候劉澄的水軍。侯仁寶多次催促，孫全興仍止步不前，直到劉澄到達後方才合兵前進。黎桓向侯仁寶詐降，侯仁寶不以為備。當夜，黎桓夜襲宋軍軍營。宋軍援兵不至，大敗，侯仁寶戰死於支棱江。

侯仁寶的死訊傳到了汴京，宋太宗甚為悼惜，特贈工部侍郎官職，錄用其子侯延齡、侯延世為齋郎。

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