Tang Zi ( 225–262) was a military general of the state of

Eastern Wu Wu (Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' <

: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in hi ...

during the

Three Kingdoms 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 West ...

period (220–280) of China. In 258, he defected to Wu's rival state,

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' <

Middle Chinese

: *''ŋjwei^C'' < Linshu County Linshu County () is a county of southern Shandong province, People's Republic of China, bordering Jiangsu province to the south and east. It is under the administration of Linyi Linyi () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong p ...

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in His ...

and northwest of present-day

Ganyu District Ganyu District () is under the administration of Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China. It contains the province's northernmost point and is located along the Yellow Sea coast where the coastline takes a sharp turn toward the southeast, and bor ...

Lianyungang Lianyungang () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province, China. It borders Yancheng to its southeast, Huai'an and Suqian to its south, Xuzhou to its southwest, and the province of Shandong to its north. Its name derives from ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

). In 225, Cai Fang () started a rebellion in Licheng Commandery, killed the commandery Administrator Xu Ji (), and nominated Tang Zi to be their leader. The

Wei Wei or WEI may refer to: States * Wey (state) (衛, 1040–209 BC), Wei in pinyin, but spelled Wey to distinguish from the bigger Wei of the Warring States * Wei (state) (魏, 403–225 BC), one of the seven major states of the Warring States per ...

emperor

Cao Pi Cao Pi () ( – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the eldest s ...

ordered Ren Fu (), Duan Zhao (), Wang Ling and Lü Qian () to lead troops to suppress the revolt. After the Wei forces defeated the rebels and retook Licheng Commandery, Tang Zi fled south to Wu via the sea and became a Wu military officer. Between 235 and 236, Tang Zi participated in a campaign against the restive

Shanyue The Shanyue (山越) were an ancient conglomeration of upland Yue hill tribes living in what is today the mountainous regions of Southern China and Northern Vietnam during the Han dynasty. Since the Southern part of China was not yet controlle ...

tribes in Wu territories along with the Wu generals

Lü Dai Lü Dai (161 – 21 October 256), courtesy name Dinggong, was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in the late Eastern Han dynasty, Lü Dai started his career as a minor official in his ...

and Wu Can. After the campaign, he was promoted to the rank of a general for his contributions. Later, he and Wu Can led 3,000 troops to attack the Shanyue led by Dong Si () but could not overcome the enemy until reinforcements led by another Wu general, Zhou Fang, showed up. In 239, he joined Lü Dai in quelling a revolt by Liao Shi (). In 252, Tang Zi fought at the

Battle of Dongxing The Battle of Dongxing, also known as the Battle of Dongguan, was fought from January to February 253 between the states of Cao Wei and Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. The battle concluded with a tactical victory for Wu. ...

against Wu's rival state,

, alongside other Wu generals such as

Liu Zan Liu Zan (183–255), courtesy name Zhengming, was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He previously served under the warlord Sun Quan (later the founding emperor of Wu) in the late Eastern Ha ...

Lü Ju Lü Ju (died 12 November 256), courtesy name Shiyi, was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Lü Fan, a general who served under Sun Quan, the founding emperor of Wu. ...

and Ding Feng. He was promoted to General of the Vanguard (), granted imperial authority, and enfeoffed as a marquis for his achievements in the battle. In 256, Tang Zi joined

Wen Qin Wen Qin (died February or March 258), courtesy name Zhongruo, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He served as the Inspector of Yang Province during the reign of th ...

, Lü Ju, Liu Zuan () and Zhu Yi to resist a Wei invasion in the regions around the Huai and Si rivers (in present-day

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...

). In the same year, after the Wu regent Sun Jun died, Tang Zi sided with Sun Jun's cousin

Sun Chen Sun Chen (232 – 18 January 259), courtesy name Zitong, was a military general and regent of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He ruled as regent during the reigns of the emperors Sun Liang and Sun Xiu. His con ...

in a power struggle and killed Lü Ju, thus clearing the way for Sun Chen to succeed Sun Jun as the regent of Wu. In 257, when the Wei general

Zhuge Dan Zhuge Dan (died 10 April 258), courtesy name Gongxiu, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. When he held key military appointments throughout his middle to late career, h ...

started a rebellion in Shouchun (壽春; present-day

Shou County Shou County or Shouxian () is a county in the north-central part of Anhui Province, China, and is located on the southern (right) bank of the Huai River. It is the southernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Huainan. Its ...

), he sent his son

Zhuge Jing Zhuge Jing (fl. 257-284), courtesy name Zhongsi, was a Chinese military general and politician of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Though originally from Cao Wei, he was sent to Wu as a hostage during the rebellion of his ...

as a hostage to Wu in exchange for support from Wu against Wei. In the following year, Sun Chen ordered Wen Qin, Tang Zi, Quan Yi (), Quan Duan (), Wang Zuo () and others to lead 30,000 troops to Shouchun to assist Zhuge Dan in his rebellion against Wei forces led by the Wei regent

Sima Zhao Sima Zhao () (211 – 6 September 265), courtesy name Zishang, was a Chinese military general, politician, and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Sima Zhao capably maintained control of Wei, which had been ...

. When the tide turned against Zhuge Dan by early 258, Zhuge Dan and Tang Zi tried to break out of the siege but failed. After being captured by Wei forces, Tang Zi agreed to surrender and defect to Wei. Sima Zhao appointed him as General Who Stabilises Distant Lands (). As Sima Zhao treated the surrendered Wu soldiers well, in return the Wu government did not harm Tang Zi's family members, who were still in Wu when he defected to Wei. In 262, when Sima Zhao was planning an invasion of Wei's other rival state, Shu, he ordered Tang Zi to supervise the construction of warships to be used in a later campaign against Wu. Nothing about Tang Zi was recorded in history after that.

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220� ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms () by Pei Songzhi (372-451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After leaving his native land, Pei ...

'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Tang, Zi Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Eastern Wu generals Cao Wei generals People from Lianyungang Generals from Jiangsu

See also

References