Zhang Liao: Difference between revisions
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|Died=222 (aged 53) |
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'''Zhang Liao''' ( |
'''Zhang Liao''' (169 – 222)<ref>{{cite book|author=de Crespigny, Rafe|title=A biographical dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD)|publisher=Brill|year=2007|id=ISBN 978-90-04-15605-0|page=1063}}</ref> was a military general under the powerful warlord [[Cao Cao]] during the late [[Eastern Han Dynasty]] and [[Three Kingdoms]] era of [[China]]. He had participated in many campaigns, including those against [[Yuan Shao]]'s heirs and the [[Wuhuan]] tribes. But he was most noted for his pivotal role in the [[Battle of Hefei]] in 208, where he successfully defended the city of [[Hefei]] against the advances of [[Sun Quan]]'s massive army. |
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[[Chen Shou]], author of the ''[[Records of Three Kingdoms]]'', considered Zhang Liao among the [[Five Wei Generals|five top generals of the Kingdom of Wei]], along with [[Xu Huang]], [[Yue Jin]], [[Zhang He]] and [[Yu Jin]]. |
[[Chen Shou]], author of the ''[[Records of Three Kingdoms]]'', considered Zhang Liao among the [[Five Wei Generals|five top generals of the Kingdom of Wei]], along with [[Xu Huang]], [[Yue Jin]], [[Zhang He]] and [[Yu Jin]]. |
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Revision as of 18:41, 15 November 2010
Template:Chinese-name Template:Three Kingdoms infobox Zhang Liao (169 – 222)[1] was a military general under the powerful warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of China. He had participated in many campaigns, including those against Yuan Shao's heirs and the Wuhuan tribes. But he was most noted for his pivotal role in the Battle of Hefei in 208, 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 top generals of the Kingdom of Wei, along with Xu Huang, Yue Jin, Zhang He and Yu Jin.
Life
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, present day Shanxi), favored Zhang Liao's martial skills and recruited him.
In 189, Ding Yuan and his most trusted aide Lü Bu led troops into Luoyang to assist General-in-Chief He Jin to eliminate the powerful eunuch faction. 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 ruler of the court. 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's concubines, Lü Bu was apprehensive to his adopted father, and again turned on his master and slayed Dong Zhuo. He was then defeated by Dong Zhuo's former subjects Li Jue and Guo Si and, followed by Zhang Liao, joined Yuan Shao temporarily. During their short stay in Yuan's camp, they helped performing raids on the Black Mountain Bandits' camp, and had dealt major damage to latter.
Following Lü Bu, Zhang and other Bing Province warriors wandered the land, and finally were given a chance to gain a foothold. In 194 AD, Lü was welcomed by Chen Gong of the 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 was ousted from the area to Xiaopei. There, Lü joined the Xu Province warlord, Liu Bei, who would be betrayed by Lü and lost the province to him. Zhang was made a county minister of Lu after Lü Bu gained Xu Province.
In 198, Cao Cao defeated Lü Bu at Xiapi (下邳) and most of his men were captured. Lü was executed and Zhang led his men to Cao Cao.[2] Since then, he participated in many of 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 Hefei
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 (claimed by Sun Quan to be 200,000 men, which was an exaggeration). 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. The general 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.[3] 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.
Battle of Leisure Ford
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 Leisure 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.[4] Knowing Sun had made such an arrangement, Zhang 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 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.[5] Zhang Liao was promoted to the rank of East-Conquering General (征東將軍) for his deed in Leisure Ford.
Late life
After Cao Pi succeeded Cao Cao in 220, Zhang Liao was further promoted to General of the Front (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 newly-founded Wei, who compared the general to Shao Hu (召虎)¹. However, Zhang Liao soon fell sick at the edge of a battle against Eastern 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 given the posthumous title of Marquis Gang (剛侯), literally meaning the resolute marquis.
Zhang Liao's son Zhang Hu also served Wei as an Assistant General (偏前軍).
¹ Shao Hu was a general famous for his bravery during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
Zhang Liao in Romance of the Three Kingdoms
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.
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 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 sieged by Cao's Army, 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. 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 appears in all 11 installments of Koei's Romance of the Three Kingdoms strategy game. His statistics and skills place him among the top officers in every installment[6][7].
Zhang Liao is also playable character in the Koei video game series, Dynasty Warriors. He is portrayed as an honourable man with a firm sense of loyalty to his lord, Lu Bu. Not surprisingly, he has a strong relationship with Lu Bu, and later on with Guan Yu, whom he admires and shows courtesy to even after Guan's return to the opposing camp of Liu Bei. After Lu Bu's death, Zhang Liao was moved by Cao Cao's opinion of him, and serves him unwaveringly from that point forth. In Diao Chan and Lu Bu's storyline, he remains with Lu Bu, as is reflected by his second costume, which is black and red. In Dynasty Warriors 6 he wields two Chinese halberds similar to Pang De in Dynasty Warriors 5 (who was cut from Dynasty Warriors 6). Before that, he wielded a pole blade and had blue armor, though he did have silver outfits as side outfits.
He also appears in the crossover Warriors Orochi with his Dynasty Warriors 5 model. In the first Warriors Orochi, Zhang Liao is part of Wei. In the second Warriors Orochi, he comes to the aid of Guan Yu and, swearing on their blades, joins Guan Yu and Shu to defeat Orochi. In Dream Mode, he teams up with Gan Ning and Fuma Kotaro in obtaining Ueda Castle and repelling Shu and the Nanman.
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.
- ^ Records of the Three Kingdoms Scroll 17, Wei Book 17.1
- ^ According to the Records of Three Kingdoms, Song Qian, Xu Sheng, and Chen Wu had made a futile attempt to intercept Zhang Liao.
- ^ Records of the Three Kingdoms Scroll 55, Wu Book 10.21
- ^ Records of the Three Kingdoms Scroll 17, Wei Book 17.3
- ^ http://kongming.net/11/i/p/?p=145-Zhang-Liao_A
- ^ http://kongming.net/11/i/p/?p=145-Zhang-Liao_B
- Chen Shou (2002). San Guo Zhi. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 7-80665-198-5.
- Luo Guanzhong (1986). San Guo Yan Yi. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 7-80520-013-0.
- Lo Kuan-chung; tr. C.H. Brewitt-Taylor (2002). Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 0-8048-3467-9.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)