Zhang Wen | |
---|---|
張溫 | |
Minister of the Guards (衛尉) | |
In office 191 | |
Monarch | Emperor Xian of Han |
Grand Commandant (太尉) | |
In office 186 –187 | |
Monarch | Emperor Ling of Han |
General of Chariots and Cavalry (車騎將軍) | |
In office 185 –186 | |
Monarch | Emperor Ling of Han |
Minister of Works (司空) | |
In office 184 –185 | |
Monarch | Emperor Ling of Han |
Minister of Finance (大司農) | |
In office ? –184 | |
Monarch | Emperor Ling of Han |
Personal details | |
Born | Unknown Dengzhou,Henan |
Died | 5 November 191 Chang'an,Jingzhao |
Spouse | Lady Cai |
Occupation | Official,general |
Courtesy name | Boshen (伯慎) |
Zhang Wen (died 5 November 191),courtesy name Boshen,was a Chinese official and military general of the Eastern Han dynasty. Zhang held prime ministerial office during the reign of Emperor Ling of Han,serving as Grand Excellency of Works from 184 to 185 and Grand Commandant from 186 to 187. Zhang oversaw the dynasty's military response to the Liang Province Rebellion from 185 to 186,supervising the future warlords Dong Zhuo and Sun Jian. After Dong seized control of the Eastern Han court in 189 and relocated it from Luoyang to Chang'an,Zhang continued to serve in ministerial office while conspiring against Dong. He was executed in November 191 at Dong's order.
Zhang's family was based in Nanyang Commandery. [1] He had at least one brother,Zhang Chang,who held commandery office under Emperor Huan and in the offices of General-in-Chief Dou Wu in 168 (De Crespigny,1036). Zhang Wen was a protégéof the influential court eunuch Cao Teng and served in the Imperial Secretariat during Emperor Huan's reign. [1] In 164,Zhang accompanied Emperor Huan on a progress to the Yangtze River,an event memorialized by an anecdote about an old man who piqued Zhang's curiosity by ignoring the passing imperial entourage. When Zhang approached him,the old man criticized the emperor's luxurious lifestyle and the accordant burdens placed on the populace,allegedly prompting Zhang to feel ashamed. [2]
Zhang later served as Administrator of Yingchuan Commandery. [1] By 184,he was Minister of Finance,and was promoted in the same year to the prime ministerial office of Grand Excellency of Works. Although Zhang was considered a competent official and well-qualified for the post,he was compelled to pay a bribe to secure his appointment, [1] pursuant to a much-criticized practice introduced by the reigning Emperor Ling. Zhang was serving as Grand Excellency at the time of the Yellow Turban Rebellion and persuaded the emperor not to dismiss the military commander Zhu Jun,who ultimately achieved success in his campaign against Yellow Turbans in Nanyang Commandery.
In 185,following the failure of the general Huangfu Song to suppress a multiethnic rebellion in Liang Province,Zhang was appointed General of Chariots and Cavalry and assigned to lead a 100,000-strong army against the rebels. [1] Zhang experienced difficulty in managing his subordinate general Dong Zhuo,who reportedly treated Zhang with disdain. Nevertheless,recognizing Dong's popularity among the soldiery,Zhang allegedly rejected the urgings of his military advisor Sun Jian that Dong be executed. Zhang's campaign was inconclusive,despite a victory scored by Dong in the winter of 185-186,and although he was appointed Grand Commandant in 186,he resigned in the following year due to the continued unrest (1078).
In 188,Zhang returned to office as Colonel-Director of Retainers,which,while not a prime ministerial office,was a highly influential position that reported directly to the emperor. While serving in this role,he recommended that Emperor Ling assign He Xun,who at the time was plotting a coup against the eunuch faction,as intendant of Jingzhao Commandery. Although Emperor Ling,who favored He,was reluctant to follow Zhang's recommendation,the eunuch Jian Shi persuaded him to do so and He was duly assigned to Jingzhao. [3] In the following year,Emperor Ling died and the court came under the control of Dong Zhuo,by now a preeminent western warlord. Establishing himself as a de facto regent,Dong deposed Emperor Ling's heir Emperor Shao and installed Emperor Ling's younger son,Emperor Xian,on the throne before moving the court west,from Luoyang to Chang'an,in the face of coalescing military opposition from the eastern aristocracy.
Zhang accompanied the court to Chang'an and was appointed Minister of the Guards by 191. Displeased with Dong's harsh rule,Zhang conspired against him with Wang Yun,the Grand Excellency Over the Masses and Prefect of the Masters of Writing. Before these efforts could bear fruit,Dong was advised by the court astronomer of a prophecy foretelling the death of a prominent minister and ordered Zhang's execution as a means of satisfying the prophecy,accusing him of communicating with the eastern coalition. Zhang was executed on 5 November 191 by being flogged to death in the Chang'an marketplace. [1]
In the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms ,Zhang Wen is murdered by LüBu at a dinner party with many officials present. LüBu is the foster son of the tyrannical warlord Dong Zhuo,who orders him to take Zhang Wen away from the assembly,cut off his head,and bring it back on a silver platter to show the other guests. Dong Zhuo then announces to the other officials that a letter has been discovered from Zhang Wen to Yuan Shu,one of Dong Zhuo's rival warlords,in which Zhang Wen had been collaborating against him. Dong Zhuo tells the rest of the assembly not to worry as none of them are implicated in the letter.
The Three Kingdoms from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei,Shu Han,and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the Western Jin dynasty. The short-lived state of Yan on the Liaodong Peninsula,which lasted from 237 to 238,is sometimes considered as a "4th kingdom".
Sun Jian (155–191?),courtesy name Wentai,was a Chinese military general,politician,and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He allied himself with Yuan Shu in 190 when warlords from eastern China formed a coalition to oust Dong Zhuo,a tyrannical warlord who held the puppet Emperor Xian in his power. Although he controlled neither many troops nor much land,Sun Jian's personal bravery and resourcefulness were feared by Dong Zhuo,who placed him among Yuan Shao,Yuan Shu and Liu Biao as the most influential men at that time. After the coalition disbanded in the next year,China fell into civil war. In 191,Sun Jian was killed in battle during an offensive campaign against Liu Biao.
Emperor Xian of Han,personal name Liu Xie (劉協),courtesy name Bohe,was the 14th and last emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. He reigned from 28 September 189 until 11 December 220.
Dong Zhuo,courtesy name Zhongying,was a Chinese military general,politician,and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. At the end of the reign of the Eastern Han,Dong Zhuo was a general and powerful minister of the imperial government. Originally from Liang Province,Dong Zhuo seized control of the imperial capital Luoyang in 189 when it entered a state of turmoil following the death of Emperor Ling of Han and a massacre of the eunuch faction by the court officials led by General-in-Chief He Jin.
Yuan Shao,courtesy name Benchu (本初),was a Chinese military general,politician,and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He occupied the northern territories of China during the civil wars that occurred towards the end of the Han dynasty. He was also an elder half-brother of Yuan Shu,a warlord who controlled the Huai River region,though the two were not on good terms with each other.
Yuan Shu,courtesy name Gonglu,was a Chinese military general,politician,and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. He rose to prominence following the collapse of the Han central government in 189. He declared himself Emperor of China in 197 under the short-lived Zhong dynasty,two years before his death in 199.
The military history of the Three Kingdoms period encompasses roughly a century's worth of prolonged warfare and disorder in Chinese history. After the assassination of General-in-chief He Jin in September 189,the administrative structures of the Han government became increasingly irrelevant. By the time of death of Cao Cao,the most successful warlord of North China,in 220,the Han empire was divided between the three rival states of Cao Wei,Shu Han and Eastern Wu. Due to the ensuing turmoil,the competing powers of the Three Kingdoms era found no shortage of willing recruits for their armies,although press-ganging as well as forcible enlistment of prisoners from defeated armies still occurred. Following four centuries of rule under the Han dynasty,the Three Kingdoms brought about a new era of conflict in China that shifted institutions in favor of a more permanent and selective system of military recruitment. This ultimately included the creation of a hereditary military class as well as increasing reliance on non-Chinese cavalry forces and the end of universal conscription.
He Jin,courtesy name Suigao,was a Chinese military general and politician. He was the military Grand Marshal and regent of the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was an elder half-brother of Empress He,the empress consort of Emperor Ling,and a maternal uncle of Emperor Shao. In 189,he and his sister shared power as regents when the young Emperor Shao was put on the throne following Emperor Ling's death. During the time,the conflict between He Jin and the influential eunuch faction intensified. The eunuch faction lured He Jin into a trap in the imperial palace and assassinated him. While He Jin's subordinates,led by the warlord Yuan Shao,slaughtered the eunuch faction in revenge,the warlord Dong Zhuo took advantage of the power vacuum to enter the imperial capital Luoyang and seize control of the Han central government. Dong Zhuo's seizure of control and the subsequent breakdown of central command that followed brought forth the beginning of massive civil wars that lasted for nearly a century,during which time the Han dynasty came to an end and the Three Kingdoms period began in its place.
The Disasters of the Partisan Prohibitions refers to two incidents in which a number of Confucian scholars who served as officials in the Han imperial government and opposed to powerful eunuchs,and the university students in the capital Luoyang who supported them (collectively referred to by the eunuchs as "partisans",were imprisoned. Some were executed;some were released but lost their civil rights. The first incident was largely bloodless,but the second incident,which came after the Confucian scholars Dou Wu and Chen Fan were defeated by eunuchs in a physical confrontation,saw a large number of the partisans lose their lives. The restrictions on civil liberties imposed on the surviving partisans were not lifted until 184 when Emperor Ling was concerned that the partisans would join the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
The end of the Han dynasty was the period of Chinese history from 189 to 220 CE,roughly coinciding with the tumultuous reign of the Han dynasty's last ruler,Emperor Xian. During this period,the country was thrown into turmoil by the Yellow Turban Rebellion (184–205). Meanwhile,the Han Empire's institutions were destroyed by the warlord Dong Zhuo and fractured into regional regimes ruled by various warlords,some of whom were nobles and officials of the Han imperial court. One of those warlords,Cao Cao,was gradually reunifying the empire,ostensibly under Emperor Xian's rule;the Emperor and his court were actually controlled by Cao Cao himself,who was opposed by other warlords.
Cai Yong,courtesy name Bojie,was Chinese astronomer,calligrapher,historian,mathematician,musician,politician,and writer of the Eastern Han dynasty. He was well-versed in calligraphy,music,mathematics and astronomy. One of his daughters,Cai Yan / Cai Wenji,was also a famous poet and musician.
Wang Kuang,courtesy name Gongjie,was a government official and minor warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.
The Campaign against Dong Zhuo was a punitive expedition initiated by a coalition of regional officials and warlords against the warlord Dong Zhuo in 190 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The members of the coalition claimed that Dong had the intention of usurping the throne by holding Emperor Xian hostage and by establishing a strong influence in the imperial court. They justified their campaign as to remove Dong from power. The campaign led to the evacuation of the capital Luoyang and the shifting of the imperial court to Chang'an. It was a prelude to the end of the Han dynasty and,subsequently,the Three Kingdoms period.
The Heishan bandits or Black Mountain bandits was a bandit confederacy in the Taihang Mountain range during the later years of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. They played a part in the internecine feuds that followed the Eastern Han dynasty's descent into chaos preceding the Three Kingdoms period,during which they eventually surrendered to the warlord Cao Cao.
The Han dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China. It followed the Qin dynasty,which had unified the Warring States of China by conquest. It was founded by Liu Bang. The dynasty is divided into two periods:the Western Han and the Eastern Han,interrupted briefly by the Xin dynasty of Wang Mang. These appellations are derived from the locations of the capital cities Chang'an and Luoyang,respectively. The third and final capital of the dynasty was Xuchang,where the court moved in 196 CE during a period of political turmoil and civil war.
The Liang Province rebellion from 184 to 189 started as an insurrection of the Qiang peoples against the Han dynasty in the western province of Liang in the second century AD in China,but the Lesser Yuezhi and sympathetic Han rebels soon joined the cause to wrestle control of the province away from central authority. This rebellion,which closely followed the Yellow Turban Rebellion,was part of a series of disturbances that led to the decline and ultimate downfall of the Han dynasty. Despite receiving relatively little attention in the hands of traditional historians,the rebellion nonetheless had lasting importance as it weakened Han Chinese power in the northwest and prepared that land for a number of non-Han-ruled states in the centuries to come.
Zhang Yang,courtesy name Zhishu,was a Chinese politician and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Originally from Yunzhong Commandery in the north,he eventually became the de facto ruler of Henei Commandery. Although threatened by powerful warlords such as Cao Cao and Yuan Shao,Zhang Yang still provided refuge for Emperor Xian of Han numerous times,eventually attaining the rank of Grand Marshal (大司馬).
Chen Ji,courtesy name Yuanfang,was an official and scholar who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty of China.
Zhang Cheng,courtesy name Gongxian,was an official serving under the warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.
The Battle of Chang'an,also known as the Sack of Chang'an,took place in the western Chinese imperial capital city of Chang'an on 28 June 192,at the end of the Han Dynasty,the prelude of the Three Kingdoms.