During the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, most people's names were single characters, such as Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong, and so on. On this basis, the case of duplicate names, that is, the same name and surname, is naturally difficult to avoid. For example, during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, there were three historical figures named "Li Feng". Among them, the first general of Li Feng Yuan Shu was killed by Cao Cao at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty; the second Li Feng was a minister of the State of Wei, and after the Gaopingling Rebellion, Li Feng participated in the plot to depose Sima Shi, and because the matter was exposed, he was eliminated by Sima Shi; the third Li Feng was the son of Li Yan, the chancellor of Shu Han, that is, he served Shu Han.
At the same time, as far as the author wants to talk about today, "Zhang Wen", there is also a case of duplicate names. During the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, there were two important historical figures named Zhang Wen, one was Dong Zhuo's superior, and the other was the eastern Wu chancellor. Below, let's talk about these two Zhang Wen together.
I. Zhang Wen (Dong Zhuo's superior)
On the one hand, Zhang Wen (?) –5 November 191), courtesy name Boshen. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he was a native of Nanyang Yong County. The official was a lieutenant colonel and a lieutenant, and was the Marquis of Fenghu Township. According to historical records such as the Book of Later Han, Zhang Wen was promoted by Cao Cao's grandfather Cao Teng. In the second year of Zhongping (185), emperor Ling of Han enfeoffed Zhang Wenche as a general and a false festival, and together with his deputy general Jin Wu Yuan Huan (金吾袁滂) attacked the Hu people Beigong Boyu. At that time, Dong Zhuo was made a general of the Broken Guard, and he was also a subordinate of Zhang Wen along with the general Zhou Shen of Langkou. Therefore, it is very obvious that Dong Zhuo was once a subordinate of the che general Zhang Wen.
According to the Book of Later Han and other historical records, Zhang Wen sent Zhou Shen to lead 30,000 people to pursue Bian Zhang and Han Sui. After Zhou Shen was defeated, Zhang Wen sent Dong Zhuo to lead 30,000 people to attack the Xianzhi tribe of the Qiang. The Qiang and Hu people surrounded Dong Zhuo north of Wangyuan. In this context, Dong Zhuo did not fight hard, but quietly retreated. Dong Zhuo's act of preserving his strength naturally caused dissatisfaction among the Eastern Han court. Therefore, Zhang Wen recruited Dong Zhuo with the emperor's edict, and Dong Zhuo delayed for a long time before going to see Zhang Wen because of his lack of heart. After seeing Dong Zhuo, Zhang Wen began to rebuke Dong Zhuo, and Dong Zhuo replied without disobedience.
At this time, Sun Jian whispered in Zhang Wen's ear: "Dong Zhuo is not only not afraid of being convicted, but he is arrogant and arrogant, and his tone is very large, and he should declare the decree and behead him." In this regard, in the author's opinion, if Zhang Wen can heed Sun Jian's advice and kill the unruly Dong Zhuo, there will undoubtedly be no doubt that the future Dong Zhuo rebellion will be avoided. However, it was a great pity that Zhang Wen still hesitated and could not bear to move, so he said to Sun Jian: "You go back first, after a long time, Dong Zhuo will be suspicious." Sun Jian then resigned. And this naturally led to Dong Zhuo being able to escape the disaster.
In the third year of Zhongping (186), Emperor Ling of Han paid tribute to Zhang Wen as a lieutenant in Chang'an, becoming the first third duke not to be in the imperial court, and in the same year Zhang Wen was drafted back to The Imperial Division. In the fourth year of Zhongping (187), Zhang Wen was deposed by the Han Ling Emperor for failing to quell the rebellion. Of course, Zhang Wen's defeat in battle actually had a certain relationship with Dong Zhuoyang's fengyin violation.
In the second year of Chuping (191), after Dong Zhuo usurped the power of the imperial court, he was attacked by Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Cao Cao and other princes. After moving the capital to Chang'an, Zhang Wen held the official position of wei wei at that time, and Zhang Wen did not befriend Dong Zhuo, so he was resented by Dong Zhuo. Therefore, in order to establish prestige and eliminate dissidents, Dong Zhuo slandered Zhang Wen for having private contacts with Yuan Shu, and tortured Zhang Wen to death in early October of the second year of Chuping (191). In this regard, in the author's opinion, Zhang Wen, as Dong Zhuo's superior, once missed the opportunity to get rid of Dong Zhuo in vain, and was eventually killed by Dong Zhuo. Of course, after killing Zhang Wen, Dong Zhuo lost more popularity in the Eastern Han Court and was eventually eliminated by Wang Yun and Lü Bu.
II. Zhang Wen (Minister of Eastern Wu)
On the other hand, during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, there was also a Zhang Wen, that is, the Eastern Wu minister Zhang Wen. Zhang Wen (193–230), courtesy name Huishu, was a native of Wu County, Wu County (around present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu Province), and a chancellor of the State of Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. For Zhang Wen, he was born in the Wu County, one of the four major surnames in Jiangnan, and because of his strange appearance and outstanding talent, he received the attention of Sun Quan. Therefore, Sun Quan summoned Yi Lang, chose Cao Shangshu, and moved to the crown prince Taifu.
In 219, Guan Yu launched the Battle of Xiangfan. Taking advantage of Guan Yu's siege of Xiangfan, Sun Quan sent Lü Meng to sneak into Jingzhou and behead Guan Yu. And this naturally led to the rupture of the Shu-Wu alliance. As a result, the Battle of Yiling eventually broke out between Shu Han and Eastern Wu. In 221 AD, Liu Bei conquered Eastern Wu and launched the Battle of Yiling. In this battle, although Eastern Wu won. However, after the Battle of Yiling, the powerful Eastern Wu aroused the vigilance of Cao Pi and was attacked by Cao Wei, and after Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang also intended to restore the Shu-Wu alliance.
From this point of view, both shu han and eastern Wu needed to restore their alliances. And if you want to restore the alliance, you naturally have to send emissaries to each other. In this context, Zhang Wen was sent to Shu Han by Sun Quan. Therefore, in 224 AD, after Zhang Wen came to the Shu kingdom, he devoted himself to expressing the sincerity of the Eastern Wu side and thus promoting the repair of Shu-Wu relations. After some conversation, Zhuge Liang, the chancellor of the Shu Han Dynasty, valued Zhang Wen's talents. Therefore, a year later, Zhuge Liang sent the emissary Deng Zhi to Eastern Wu, which reflected Zhuge Liang's sincerity in restoring the Shu-Wu alliance, and also because Zhang Wen's envoy played an important role.
However, according to the records of historical materials such as the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Wen returned to Eastern Wu and not only did not receive a reward, but was sent by Sun Quan to fight in a large army in Yuzhang County, which was undoubtedly a kind of suppression for a courtier like Zhang Wen. The reason for this is that Zhang Wen had praised Shu Han so strongly, which made Sun Quan very dissatisfied, and Zhang Wen was involved in the Jiyan incident, so he was put under house arrest by Sun Quan. About six years later, Zhang Wen died of illness. In this regard, in the view of many historians, Sun Quan's suppression of Zhang Wen may be to weaken the Wu County Zhang clan behind Zhang Wen.
According to the introduction, during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, the Zhang clan of Wu County had Zhang Wen, Zhang Yu, Zhang Dun, etc., all of whom were descendants of Zhang Mu. Therefore, it is very obvious that like the Lu clan where Lu Xun, Lu Kang, and Lu Kai belonged, Zhang Wen's family also had a lot of power in Eastern Wu. Based on this, in the view of many historians, Sun Quan's suppression of Zhang Wen is obviously also a balance between these local scholars, so as to avoid the difficulty of controlling the situation after Sun Quan's death. Correspondingly, Lu Xun was more powerful than Zhang Wen, and as a result, Lu Xun was accused by Sun Quan because he was involved in the dispute between the two palaces, and even died of anger and illness. And this naturally reflects Sun Quan's attitude towards the local warriors in Jiangdong.
In general, during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, there were two historical figures named Zhang Wen, although the two Zhang Wen did not have any direct connection, such as blood relations, but in the final outcome, Zhang Wen at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty was killed by Dong Zhuo, and Zhang Wen of Eastern Wu was put under house arrest, that is, neither of them obtained a more ideal ending. What do you think about that? Feel free to leave your views and let's discuss them together.