Zhang Miao (died 195),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Mengzhuo, was a Chinese politician and warlord who lived in the late

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

of China.

Early life and career

Zhang Miao was from Shouzhang County (), Dongping Commandery (), which is in present-day

Yanggu County, Shandong Yanggu County () is a county of western Shandong province, People's Republic of China, bordering the narrow strip of Henan province to the south. It is administered by the prefecture-level city of Liaocheng. The population was in 1999. Administ ...

. He was known for being chivalrous as a youth, and he often helped the poor and the needy. He earned much respect from the

scholar-gentry The "gentry", or "landed gentry" in China was the elite who held privileged status through passing the Imperial exams, which made them eligible to hold office. These literati, or scholar-officials, (''shenshi'' 紳士 or ''jinshen'' 縉紳), a ...

for his deeds. He was also a friend of

Cao Cao Cao Cao (; ; ; 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde, was a Chinese statesman, warlord, and poet who rose to power during the end of the Han dynasty (), ultimately taking effective control of the Han central government. He laid the foundation f ...

and

Yuan Shao Yuan Shao (, ; died 28 June 202), courtesy name Benchu (), 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 tow ...

. Zhang Miao was later recruited into the civil service and was commissioned as a Cavalry Commandant () after achieving excellent results in the imperial examination. He was subsequently promoted to be the Administrator () of Chenliu Commandery (陳留郡; around present-day

Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

Campaign against Dong Zhuo

In 190, Zhang Miao and

were among the first to take up arms against

Dong Zhuo Dong Zhuo () (c. 140s – 22 May 192), 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 ...

, leading to the formation of a coalition and the launching of a campaign against Dong. During a battle at Bianshui (), Zhang Miao sent his subordinate Wei Zi () to lead troops to assist Cao Cao. At the time,

, who was the coalition chief, behaved arrogantly and elicited strong criticism from Zhang Miao. Yuan Shao was furious and he told Cao Cao to kill Zhang Miao, but Cao refused and said, "Mengzhuo is our friend so we should be tolerate him. Now, the Empire has yet to be pacified, so we shouldn't start an internal conflict." Zhang Miao was very grateful to Cao Cao when he heard about it, but he also felt uneasy.

In Yan Province

Later, before

embarked on a campaign against Tao Qian in

Xu Province Xuzhou as a historical toponym refers to varied area in different eras. Ordinarily, it was a reference to the Nine Provinces which modern Xuzhou inherited. History Pre-Qin era Xuzhou or Xu Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient Ch ...

, he instructed his family, "If I don't return, you must take shelter under Mengzhuo." After returning from the campaign, Cao Cao met Zhang Miao and they shed tears of joy. They were such close friends. When

Lü Bu Lü Bu (; died 7 February 199), courtesy name Fengxian, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of Imperial China. Originally a subordinate of a minor warlord Ding Yuan, he betrayed a ...

left

to join Zhang Yang in Henei (河內; in present-day

), he passed by Chenliu and met Zhang Miao. Zhang Miao treated him generously and made a pledge of friendship with him when he saw him off. Yuan Shao was angry when he heard that Zhang Miao had befriended Lü Bu. Zhang Miao also feared that Cao Cao might ally with Yuan Shao to attack him so he felt very uncomfortable. Besides, his jurisdiction, Chenliu, was in

Yan Province Yan Province or Yanzhou was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China, a list of regions compiled by Yu the Great when he toured the land after stopping the Great Flood and succeeding Emperor Yao. Description In the Shang Shu, translated b ...

, which was under Cao Cao's control.

Betraying Cao Cao

In 194, when

was away on another campaign against Tao Qian, Zhang Miao's younger brother Zhang Chao (), along with Cao's subordinates

Chen Gong Chen Gong () (died 7 February 199), courtesy name Gongtai, was an adviser to the warlord Lü Bu in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. However, he had started his career under another warlord, Cao Cao, before defecting to Lü Bu. He was ex ...

, Xu Si () and Wang Kai (), started a rebellion against Cao in

. Chen Gong successfully persuaded Zhang Miao to rebel against Cao Cao as well and invite

into Yan Province. Chen Gong led his men from

Dong Commandery Dong Commandery ( zh, 東郡) was a commandery in historical China from the Warring States period to Sui dynasty. Its territories were situated in present-day Henan, Hebei and Shandong provinces. The commandery was established by the state of Qin i ...

(東郡; around present-day

Liaocheng Liaocheng ( zh, s=, p=Liáochéng), is a prefecture-level city in western Shandong province, China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Dezhou to the northeast, Tai'an to the south, and the provinces of Hebei and Henan t ...

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

) eastward to meet Lü Bu and they occupied Puyang (濮陽; in present-day

Puyang Puyang is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Henan province, People's Republic of China. Located on the northern shore of the Yellow River, it borders Anyang in the west, Xinxiang in the southwest, and the provinces of Shandong and Hebei ...

). Lü Bu was declared Governor of Yan Province (). The various commanderies and counties in Yan Province responded to Lü Bu's call and defected to his side, except for Juancheng, Dong'e and Fan counties, which still remained under Cao Cao's control. Upon receiving news of the revolt and Lü Bu's intrusion, Cao Cao aborted the Xu Province campaign and headed back to Yan Province, where the forces of Lü Bu and Cao Cao clashed in Puyang. Cao Cao was unable to overcome Lü Bu and both sides were locked in a stalemate for over 100 days. Around the time, the area was plagued by locusts and droughts so the people suffered from famine and many had resorted to cannibalism to survive. Lü Bu moved his base further east to Shanyang (山陽; in present-day southern Shandong). Within two years, Cao Cao managed to take back all his territories in Yan Province and he defeated Lü Bu in a battle at

Juye County Juye () is a County (People's Republic of China), county in western Shandong province which is under the administration of Heze municipality. The county is 1,303 square km in area and has a population of approximately 910,000. History Juye origin ...

. Lü Bu fled to Xu Province and took refuge under

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a China, Chinese warlord in the late Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty who later became the founding Emperor of China, emperor of Shu Han, one of the Three Kingdoms of ...

Death

Zhang Miao followed

after they were defeated by

. He left his brother Zhang Chao and their family behind in Yongqiu (雍丘; present-day Qi County,

). Zhang Miao went to seek help from

Yuan Shu Yuan Shu () (155 – 199), 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 decla ...

but was killed by his own men before he reached his destination. Cao Cao besieged Yongqiu for some months and eventually conquered it, after which he executed Zhang Miao's clan. The ''Xiandi Chunqiu'' () recorded that Yuan Shu once discussed with Zhang Miao and others about proclaiming himself emperor – which he did in early 197. Zhang Miao dissuaded Yuan Shu from doing so.

Pei Songzhi Pei Songzhi (372–451), courtesy name Shiqi, was a Chinese historian and politician who lived in the late Eastern Jin dynasty and the Liu Song dynasty. His ancestral home was in Wenxi County, Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanizati ...

, who annotated Zhang Miao's biography in the ''Sanguozhi'', commented that there was some ambiguity in the ''Xiandi Chunqiu'' account because Zhang Miao's biography stated that he was killed by his own men before he arrived at Yuan Shu's place(獻帝春秋曰：袁術議稱尊號，邈謂術曰：「漢據火德，絕而復揚，德澤豐流，誕生明公。公居軸處中，入則享于上席，出則為衆目之所屬，華、霍不能增其高，淵泉不能同其量，可謂巍巍蕩蕩，無與為貳。何為捨此而欲稱制？恐福不盈眥，禍將溢世。莊周之稱郊祭犧牛，養飼經年，衣以文繡，宰執鸞刀，以入廟門，當此之時，求為孤犢不可得也！」案本傳，邈詣術，未至而死。而此云諫稱尊號，未詳孰是。) ''Xiandi Chunqiu'' annotation in ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 7. even though it was possible that he met Yuan earlier.

References

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

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' is a Chinese official history written by Chen Shou in the late 3rd century CE, covering the end of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE). It is regard ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Fan, Ye (5th century). ''

Book of the Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Lat ...

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

Annotated Records of the Three Kingdoms ''Annotated 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 the fall of the Eastern Jin ...

'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). * Sima, Guang (1084). ''

Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...