Zhang Gongsu () was a general of the
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
Tang dynasty, who ruled the Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern
Beijing) from 872 to 875 as its military governor (''
jiedushi'') in ''de facto'' independence from the imperial government.
Background
It is not known when Zhang Gongsu was born. He was from the Lulong Circuit's capital Fanyang (). As of the middle of
Emperor Yizong's ''Xiantong'' era (860–874), Zhang Gonsu served as an officer in the Lulong army under the military governor
, eventually reaching the position of prefect of Ping Prefecture (平州, in modern
Qinhuangdao,
Hebei).
['']Old Book of Tang
The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...
'', vol. 180.
Zhang Yunshen died in 872. Emperor Yizong initially commissioned Zhang Yunshen's son
Zhang Jianhui
Zhang Jianhui (張簡會) was a general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty who briefly controlled Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing) in 872 after the death of his father Zhang Yunshen, who had ruled it as its military governor (''Jie ...
as acting military governor. Zhang Gongsu, however, took his army from Ping Prefecture and headed for Lulong's capital prefecture You Prefecture (), to attend Zhang Yunshen's funeral. As the Lulong army soldiers respected Zhang Gongsu, Zhang Jianhui feared that Zhang Gongsu was ready to attack him, and therefore fled to the imperial capital
Chang'an. Emperor Yizong then made Zhang Gongsu acting military governor, and later in the year made him full military governor.
['' Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 252.]
As military governor
In 873, when Emperor Yizong died and was succeeded by his son
Emperor Xizong, Emperor Xizong bestowed on several military governors, including Zhang Gongsu, the honorific
chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
title ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' ().
[
It was said that Zhang Gongsu was violent and harsh as a military governor, and as his eyes showed much ]sclera
The sclera, also known as the white of the eye or, in older literature, as the tunica albuginea oculi, is the opaque, fibrous, protective, outer layer of the human eye containing mainly collagen and some crucial elastic fiber. In humans, and som ...
, the people of the circuit referred to him as the "White-Eyed Chancellor."['']New Book of Tang
The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...
'', vol. 212. In 875, the ethnically Tujue officer Li Maoxun
Li Maoxun () was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang dynasty, who seized control of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing) briefly from 875 to 876 before retiring and turning control of the circuit over to his son Li Keju. ...
considered rebelling against him. At the time, the people of the circuit much respected the senior officer Chen Gongyan (), who was serving as the commander at Naxiang Base (納降軍, in modern Beijing). Li secretly assassinated Chen and took over his army, and then headed toward You Prefecture, claiming to be Chen's forward commander. Zhang Gongsu engaged him and was defeated, and thereafter fled to Chang'an. (Only after Li then entered You Prefecture did the people realize that he was not Chen, but felt compelled to support him anyway.)[ Emperor Xizong subsequently demoted Zhang to be the census officer at Fu Prefecture (復州, in modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi).][ That was the last reference in history to Zhang's career, and it is not known when he died.
]
Notes and references
* ''Old Book of Tang
The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...
'', vol. 180.
* ''New Book of Tang
The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...
'', vol. 212.
* '' Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 252.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Gongsu
9th-century births
Year of death unknown
Tang dynasty politicians from Beijing
Tang dynasty jiedushi of Lulong Circuit
Tang dynasty generals from Beijing