Zhang Liao
Template:Chinese name Template:Infobox Three Kingdoms biography Zhang Liao (169–222)[1] was a military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao during the late Han Dynasty and early Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. He participated in many campaigns, including those against Yuan Shao's clan and the Wuhuan tribes. Zhang Liao was most noted for his pivotal role in the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford in 217, where he successfully defended the city of Hefei against the advances of Sun Quan's massive army.
Chen Shou, author of the Records of Three Kingdoms, considered Zhang Liao among the Five Elite Generals, along with Xu Huang, Yue Jin, Zhang He and Yu Jin.
Biography
Early life
A local of Mayi (馬邑; present-day Shuo County, Shanxi), Zhang Liao was originally surnamed Nie (聶). He served as a local administrative officer during his younger days. Towards the end of the Han Dynasty, Ding Yuan, governor of Bing Province (并州; covering present-day Shanxi), favored Zhang Liao's martial skills and recruited him.
In 189, Ding Yuan and his trusted aide, Lü Bu, led troops into Luoyang to assist General-in-Chief He Jin to eliminate the Ten Attendants, a group of influential eunuch officials in the imperial court. However, He Jin was soon assassinated by the eunuchs and the capital fell into chaos. Dong Zhuo, a warlord from Liang Province (凉州), in the ensuing tussle for power, intended to place in the throne a puppet emperor. This move deteriorated the relationship between Ding and Dong and induced the latter to plot against the former. After Lü Bu was persuaded to defect and kill Ding Yuan, Zhang Liao followed him to serve under Dong Zhuo, who had become the de facto head of government. Soon, regional warlords formed a coalition against Dong Zhuo, who was therefore forced to move the capital west to Chang'an.
Service under Lu Bu
Having an affair with one of Dong Zhuo's concubines, Lü Bu was apprehensive to his adopted father, and again turned on his master and slayed Dong. Zhang Liao then assisted Lü Bu in an attempt to stabilize the capital and rebuild imperial authority. However, the new government was destroyed by Dong Zhuo's former subjects Li Jue and Guo Si when they breached the city gate of Chang'an. Zhang Liao fled with Lü Bu, and joined Yuan Shao temporarily. During their short stay in Yuan Shao's camp, they helped performing raids on the Heishan Bandits' camp, and had dealt major damage to latter.
Following Lü Bu, Zhang Liao and other Bing Province warriors wandered the land, and finally were given a chance to gain a foothold. In 194, Lü Bu was welcomed by Chen Gong of Yan Province, while the warlord of the province, Cao Cao, was dwelling on causing calamities in Xu Province (徐州). For more than a year, the two forces were wrestling over Yan Province and Lü Bu's forces were able to defeat Cao Cao initially, but Cao managed to gradually regain his control over the province. After a famine outbreak, Lü Bu was finally ousted from the area to Xiaopei (Cao Cao's army resorted to cannibalism to solve the problem of food storage).[2] There, Lü Bu joined the Xu Province warlord, Liu Bei, who would be betrayed by Lü and lost the province to him. Zhang Liao was made a county minister of Lü Bu when the latter gained Xu Province.
In 198, Cao Cao defeated Lü Bu at the Battle of Xiapi, and most of his men either defected or surrendered. Lü Bu was executed and Zhang Liao led his men to Cao Cao.[3] Since then, he participated in many of Cao Cao's campaigns, including the decisive Battle of Guandu and the subsequent northern expeditions against Yuan Tan, Yuan Shang, and the Wuhuan tribes.
Battle of Xiaoyao Ford
After Cao Cao lost the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208, he placed Zhang Liao, Yue Jin and Li Dian at Hefei fortress with 7,000 men to guard against advances of the southern warlord Sun Quan. Soon Sun Quan led a much larger force upon Hefei. Under instructions from Cao Cao, Zhang Liao and Li Dian recruited 800 vanguard troops to deter the enemy outside the city.
As dawn broke, the force moved out with Zhang Liao in the forefront. Zhang Liao galloped into the enemy ranks and single-handedly killed tens of men. Proclaiming his own name, Zhang Liao then went straight for Sun Quan, who sought refuge on top of a knoll. At least three of Sun Quan's generals tried to intercept him, but all failed.[4] After seeing Zhang Liao had much fewer men on a slope, Sun Quan calmed down and ordered his troops to surround the enemy.
Leading scores of men, Zhang Liao soon broke through the encirclement. Those who were still caught within then cried, "General, are you going to forsake us?" Spinning around, Zhang Liao rode into the circle again and rescued his men, by when it was already noontime. Sun Quan's demoralized soldiers then retreated for the time being.
Returning to the city, Zhang Liao supervised the reinforcement of the defense works. After two weeks of siege, Sun Quan could not take Hefei and had to turn back because of a wide spread plague within his army. At Xiaoyao Ford (逍遙津), Eastern Wu's main army retreated first while the rear army of only one thousand men led by Sun Quan and a few generals stayed behind.[5] Knowing Sun Quan had made such an arrangement, Zhang Liao immediately led several thousands of elite cavalry to capitalize on his foe's fatal blunder. On a number of occasions, they almost captured Sun Quan if not resisted desperately by Sun's general, Ling Tong. Upon hearing Zhang Liao had accomplished this nearly impossible deed, Cao Cao was stunned, and personally arrived Hefei, where he took a look on the battlefield for a long time.[3] Zhang Liao was promoted to the rank of General Who Conquers the East (征東將軍) for his deed in Xiaoyao Ford.
Late life
After Cao Pi succeeded Cao Cao in 220, Zhang Liao was further promoted to General of the Vanguard (前將軍) and again deployed to Hefei to defend against Sun Quan. In 221, Zhang Liao traveled to Luoyang for an audience with Cao Pi, the emperor of the newly-founded state of Wei, who compared the general to Shao Hu (召虎)¹. However, Zhang Liao soon fell sick at the edge of a battle against Wu, a new state that Sun Quan founded. Sun Quan reminded his men, "Even though Zhang Liao is sick, he is still unrivalled. On guard!" After defeating Lü Fan, a Wu general, Zhang Liao died in the following year in Jiangdu (江都). He was granted the posthumous title of Marquis Gang (剛侯), literally meaning "resolute marquis".
Zhang Liao's son Zhang Hu also served Wei as an Assistant General (偏前軍).
¹Shao Hu was a general famous for his bravery during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
In fiction
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a historical novel by Luo Guanzhong, is a romanticization of the events that occurred before and during the Three Kingdoms era. In the novel, Zhang Liao was depicted as a loyal and upright general. While this might be true, such portrayal was likely the result of artistic simplification.
In Chapter 18, where he still served under Lü Bu, Zhang Liao was sent with a force to attack Liu Bei at Xiaopei (小沛, present day Pei County, Jiangsu). From the city wall Guan Yu addressed the attacker, "You seem like an extraordinary man, why ally yourself with the rebels"? Whereupon Zhang Liao hung his head and made no reply. Knowing that Zhang Liao was a righteous man, Guan Yu refrained from hurling insults at his enemy, nor did he go out to meet the attack.
In the next chapter, after Lü Bu was defeated and captured by Cao Cao, Zhang Liao was also bound and brought before the victor. While Lü Bu pleaded for mercy, Zhang Liao scorned at the cowardly behavior and cursed his captor, showing no fear for death. He stretched his neck out to make it easier for him to be beheaded, and the angry Cao Cao then came for Zhang Liao with a sword in hand. However, Liu Bei quickly held on to Cao Cao's arm and Guan Yu dropped onto his knees. In unison they avouched for Zhang Liao's character and pleaded for his life. Dropping the sword, Cao Cao laughed, "I, too, know Wenyuan (Zhang Liao's style name) to be loyal and righteous. I was just testing him." The warlord then personally unbound Zhang Liao and offered him fresh clothes and a seat. Moved by Cao Cao's sincerity, Zhang Liao then surrendered.
When Guan Yu was later besieged by Cao Cao's army in Xiapi, it was Zhang Liao who persuaded him to surrender. Zhang Liao then became close friends with Guan Yu during Guan Yu's short service under Cao Cao, having fought alongside him against Yuan Shao. In the novel, when Guan Yu was chased by Xiahou Dun after leaving Cao Cao's service, Zhang Liao insisted that Xiahou Dun allow him to leave in accordance with Cao Cao's orders.
In Chapter 86 Zhang Liao was hit by an arrow fired by Ding Feng during an encounter with Wu troops led by Xu Sheng, despite his illness. He was rescued by Xu Huang (who coincidentally eventually also died under similar circumstances) and together, they escorted Cao Pi back to safety. Upon returning to Xuchang, Zhang Liao died from the injury and was rewarded for his bravery.
Modern references
Zhang Liao is featured as a playable character in Koei's Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi video game series. He also appears in all 11 installments of Koei's Romance of the Three Kingdoms strategy game series.
In Gosei Sentai Dairanger, Iron Face Zhang Liao (鉄面臂張遼) was the previous Ryu Ranger who joined the Gorma and became an immortal as a result.
See also
References
- ^ de Crespigny, Rafe (2007). A biographical dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD). Brill. p. 1063. ISBN 978-90-04-15605-0.
- ^ (初，太祖乏食，昱略其本县，供三日粮，颇杂以人脯). Chen Shou. Records of Three Kingdoms, Volume 14, Biography of Cheng Yu, Commentator's note.
- ^ a b Chen Shou. Records of Three Kingdoms, Volume 17, Biography of Zhang Liao.
- ^ According to the Records of Three Kingdoms, Song Qian, Xu Sheng, and Chen Wu had made a futile attempt to intercept Zhang Liao.
- ^ Chen Shou. Records of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 55, Biographies of Cheng, Huang, Han, Jiang, Zhou, Chen, Dong, Gan, Ling, Xu, Pan, and Ding.
- Chen Shou (2002). Records of Three Kingdoms, Volume 17, Biography of Zhang Liao. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 978-7-80665-198-8.
- Luo Guanzhong (1986). Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 978-7-80520-013-2.
- Lo Kuan-chung; tr. C.H. Brewitt-Taylor (2002). Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8048-3467-4.
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