Zhang Han (died July 205 BCAccording to Liu Bang's biography in ''Records of the Grand Historian'', Zhang Han killed himself in the 6th month of the 2nd year of Liu Bang's reign as King of Han. This corresponds to 27 Jun to 25 Jul 205 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar. ( ��二年��月，.....。引水灌废丘，废丘降，章邯自杀.) ''Shiji'', vol.08) was a military general of the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...

. When uprisings erupted throughout China during the reign of

Qin Er Shi Qin Er Shi (; (230–October 207 BCE) was the second emperor of the Qin dynasty from 210 to 207 BCE. The son of Qin Shi Huang, he was born as Ying Huhai. He was put on the throne by Li Si and Zhao Gao, circumventing Fusu, Ying's brother an ...

, Zhang Han led the Qin armies and successfully quelled several of these rebel forces. In 207 BC, Zhang Han was defeated by

Xiang Yu Xiang Yu (, –202 BC), born Xiang Ji (), was the Hegemon-King (Chinese: 霸王, ''Bà Wáng'') of Western Chu during the Chu–Han Contention period (206–202 BC) of China. A noble of the Chu state, Xiang Yu rebelled against the Qin dynas ...

of Chu at the

Battle of Julu The Battle of Julu (Chinese: 钜鹿之戰) was fought in Julu (in present-day Pingxiang County, Xingtai, Hebei, China) in 207 BC primarily between forces of the Qin dynasty and the insurgent state of Chu. The Qin commander was Zhang Han, wh ...

, after which he surrendered along with his 200,000 troops. He was conferred the title "King of Yong" (雍王) by Xiang Yu and given part of the lands in

Guanzhong Guanzhong (, formerly romanised as Kwanchung) region, also known as the Guanzhong Basin, Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as the Shaanzhong region, is a historical region of China corresponding to the crescentic graben basin within present-day ce ...

as his fief when Xiang split the former Qin Empire into the

Eighteen Kingdoms The historiographical term "Eighteen Kingdoms" ( zh, t=十八國), also translated to as "Eighteen States", refers to the eighteen ''fengjian'' states in China created by military leader Xiang Yu in 206 BCE, after the collapse of the Qin dynasty.� ...

after the fall of the Qin dynasty. Zhang Han's territory was conquered by

Liu Bang Emperor Gaozu of Han (256 – 1 June 195 BC), born Liu Bang () with courtesy name Ji (季), was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning in 202–195 BC. His temple name was "Taizu" while his posthumous name was Emper ...

in 206 BC, and he committed suicide a year later.

Life

In 209 BC, the rebel army led by

Chen Sheng Chen Sheng (died January 208 BC), also known as Chen She ("She" being his courtesy name), posthumously known as Prince Yin, was the leader of the Dazexiang Uprising, the first rebellion against the Qin Dynasty. It occurred during the reign of ...

's deputy, Zhou Wen (周文), was the first to reach the Qin capital

Xianyang Xianyang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now integrated into the Xi'an metrop ...

was shocked and discussed with his subjects how to counter the rebels. Zhang Han suggested to the emperor to grant amnesty to some of the convicts serving as labourers at

Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of "king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Emperor ( ...

's mausoleum, and organise them into an army to deal with the rebels. The emperor approved Zhang Han's proposal and put him in charge of the army to quell the rebel forces. Zhang Han emerged victorious against Zhou Wen, defeating and driving Zhou out of

. The emperor then commissioned

Sima Xin Sima Xin (died 204 BC) was a military general of the Qin dynasty. He surrendered to Xiang Yu after the Battle of Julu in 207 BC. In 206 BC, following the collapse of the Qin dynasty, he was conferred the title of "King of Sai" by Xiang Yu and gi ...

and Dong Yi to serve as Zhang Han's deputies. Zhang Han's army continued to advance eastward and destroyed the rebel army of Chen Sheng. Zhang Han then led his men to attack the Wei rebels, emerging victorious against Wei and enemy reinforcements from Qi. Zhang Han's armies moved on to attack

Tian Rong ''Tiān'' () is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology, Chinese philosophy, philosophy, and Chinese folk religion, religion. During the Shang dynasty (17th―11th century BCE), the Chinese referred to ...

(田榮) of Qi, while

Xiang Liang Xiang Liang (died 208 BC) was a military leader who led a rebellion against the Qin dynasty. Early life Xiang Liang was from Xiaxiang (下相; present-day Suqian, Jiangsu) and was a descendant of a family who served the Chu state in the Warring ...

of Chu came to help Qi and defeated Zhang. Zhang Han scored another victory at the Battle of Dingtao against the Chu forces, killing Xiang Liang in battle. In 207 BC, when Zhang Han attacked and besieged the Zhao forces at Julu, the Zhao ruler

Zhao Xie Zhao may refer to: * Zhao (surname) (赵), a Chinese surname ** commonly spelled Chao in Taiwan or up until the early 20th century in other regions ** Chiu, from the Cantonese pronunciation ** Cho (Korean surname), represent the Hanja 趙 (Chinese ...

(趙歇) sought help from King Huai II of Chu. King Huai II sent

to lift the siege and Xiang's army defeated Zhang Han's forces at the

despite being heavily outnumbered. Zhang Han sent Sima Xin to request for reinforcements from Xianyang but

Zhao Gao Zhao Gao (died 207 BC) was a Chinese politician and calligrapher. He was an official of the Qin dynasty of China. Allegedly a eunuch, he served as a close aide to all three rulers of the Qin dynasty – Qin Shi Huang, Qin Er Shi and Ziying – ...

deceived Qin Er Shi and the emperor refused to send aid. Sima Xin escaped from Zhao Gao's assassins on his return journey and reported to Zhang Han that the state power of Qin had fallen into the hands of Zhao. Zhang Han pondered over the situation and realised that he would not survive even if he attained victory over Xiang Yu, as Zhao Gao would have him killed on false charges of treason. Hence, Zhang Han and his 200,000 troops then surrendered to Xiang Yu and Zhang was conferred the title of "King of Yong" (雍王) by Xiang. After the fall of the Qin Dynasty in 206 BC, Xiang Yu divided the former Qin Empire into the

, while Zhang Han and his two deputies were granted the region of

as their fiefs. The three kingdoms were known as the

Three Qins The Three Qins () refer to three of the Eighteen Kingdoms, the short-lived power-sharing arrangement formed in 206 BC after the collapse of the Qin Dynasty. The three kingdoms were located in Guanzhong Plain (in present-day central Shaanxi), the ...

because they occupied the lands of the former

Qin state Qin () was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Traditionally dated to 897 BC, it took its origin in a reconquest of western lands previously lost to the Rong; its position at the western edge of Chinese civilization permitted ex ...

. Later that year, the forces of

(King of

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

) invaded Guanzhong and captured Zhang Han's territory in a surprise attack. Zhang Han retreated to Feiqiu (廢丘; present-day

Xingping Xingping () is a city located in the center part of Shaanxi province, China. It has been a city since 1993, with a total area of 496 square kilometers and a population of 620,000. The annual average temperature is and its annual precipitation o ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

) and remained there. A year later, in July 205 BC, the Han army flooded Feiqiu and Zhang Han committed suicide after his defeat.

References

General references

Sima Qian Sima Qian (; ; ) was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206AD220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his ''Records of the Grand Historian'', a general history of China covering more than two thousand years b ...

. ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese hist ...

'', volumes 7, 8. *

Ban Gu Ban Gu (AD32–92) was a Chinese historian, politician, and poet best known for his part in compiling the ''Book of Han'', the second of China's 24 dynastic histories. He also wrote a number of '' fu'', a major literary form, part prose ...

et al. ''

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' or ''History of the Former Han'' (Qián Hàn Shū,《前汉书》) is a history of China finished in 111AD, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. I ...

'', volumes 1, 31. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Han Year of birth unknown 205 BC deaths Chinese military personnel who committed suicide Qin dynasty generals Chu–Han contention people Suicides in the Chu–Han contention