Huyan Zan (呼延贊) (died 1000) was a Chinese military general in the early years of the

Northern Song dynasty Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

. He participated in the Northern Song's conquest of the

Later Shu Shu (referred to as Later Shu () to differentiate it from Former Shu, other states named Shu in Chinese history), also known as Meng Shu (), was one of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in China. It was located ...

in 964-965 and the

Northern Han The Northern Han () was a dynastic state of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was founded by Liu Min (), formerly known as Liu Chong (), and lasted from 951 to 979. Founding of the Northern Han The short-lived state of Later Ha ...

in 979. Later he helped defend Song's northern border against the Khitan-ruled

Liao dynasty The Liao dynasty (; Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 916 and 1125, ruled by the Yelü ...

. His

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

Huyan The Huyan (; LHC: *''ha(C)-jan'' <

Old Chinese

(~200 BCE): *''hɑ-jan^H/B'') was a noble house that led the last remn ...

suggests

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

origins. A fierce warrior, Huyan Zan is known for

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing ...

ing the words "fervently kill the Khitans" (赤心殺契丹) all over his body, as well as on that of his wife and servants.

Military career

Born in a military family, Huyan Zan started his career as a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in ...

man in the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

army.

Emperor Taizu of Song Emperor Taizu of Song (21 March 927 – 14 November 976), personal name Zhao Kuangyin, courtesy name Yuanlang, was the founder and first emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 960 until his death in 976. Formerly a distinguish ...

recognized Huyan's talent and promoted him to the rank of a commissioner of the imperial

(驍雄軍使). In 964, Huyan followed general Wang Quanbin (王全斌) to invade the

Kingdom as a

vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives f ...

general. He was wounded several times in battle and later promoted to deputy command commissioner (副指揮使) for his contributions in ending

. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, Huyan was further promoted to a command commissioner of armoured cavalry (鐵騎軍指揮使). In the campaign to invade the

Kingdom in 979, Huyan charged ahead of his men and was among the first to climb the

defensive wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...

. He fell from the wall 4 times and was injured, but he continued attempting to scale the wall. For his bravery, Huyan was rewarded with gold and

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from th ...

by Emperor Taizong in the imperial court. In 982, Huyan assisted Cui Han (崔翰) in defending

Dingzhou Dingzhou, or Tingchow in Postal Map Romanization, and formerly called Ding County or Dingxian, is a county-level city in the prefecture-level city of Baoding, Hebei Province. As of 2009, Dingzhou had a population of 1.2 million. Dingzhou has 3 ...

against the

Liao Dynasty The Liao dynasty (; Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 916 and 1125, ruled by the Yelü ...

. He demonstrated great courage, fully committed to die in battle. At the recommendation of Cui, Huyan was appointed deputy armed leader of cavalry and

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

(馬步軍副都軍頭) in 987. During marches, he often presented self-drawn maps to the commander, while providing advice on setting up camp. He constantly expressed his desire to be sent to the frontier. Emperor Taizong summoned Huyan Zan and ordered him to perform his skills in front of him. Huyan Zan and his four sons - all with the words "forget family for the nation outside of home" (出門忘家為國) and "disregard death for the emperor in battle" (臨陣忘死為主) tattooed behind both ears - dressed up in full

armour Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...

and performed martial arts in front of an audience. Emperor Taizong was very pleased and he rewarded them with gold and expensive garments. In 989, Huyan Zan was appointed Governor (刺史) of Fuzhou (富州). After the Song army launched several disastrous campaigns against the Khitan-led

, in 992, Huyan Zan became Governor of Baozhou (保州) and Deputy Commander (副都部署) of Jizhou (冀州). However, Huyan Zan was not competent in managing logistics so he was reappointed Governor of Liaozhou (遼州刺史). Even after switching appointment, Huyan Zan showed that he was not good in governing a civilian population so he was reappointed Governor of Fuzhou (扶州) and Drill Instructor (團練使) of Kangzhou (康州). During his tenure (992–997) he reinvigorated the defense of the border region and held off numerous Liao attacks. In 997, he resigned from his post after the death of Emperor Taizong.

Later life

In 999 Huyan Zan was appointed by

Emperor Zhenzong Emperor Zhenzong of Song (23 December 968 – 23 March 1022), personal name Zhao Heng, was the third emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 997 to his death in 1022. His personal name was originally Zhao Dechang, but was change ...

as Inspector of the Palace Interior and Exterior (宮內外都巡檢). At that time, Emperor Zhenzong was seeking someone to be an army commander and many officials started fighting for the post. Huyan Zan said, "I draw a salary of thousands each month but my expenses are not even half of my salary, so I'm already very satisfied with my current pay. I questioned myself and felt that I haven't done anything to repay my country so I do not dare to seek any further promotions. I'm worried that I'll meet with a calamity one day if my fortune keeps increasing." Huyan Zan's humility impressed many people. The following year, Huyan Zan was tasked with guarding the garden of Empress Dowager Li, but died during service. One son, Huyan Bixian (呼延必顯), succeeded his father as deputy armed leader.

In fiction

*Huyan Zan features as a

supporting character A supporting character is a character in a narrative that is not the focus of the primary storyline, but is important to the plot/protagonist, and appears or is mentioned in the story enough to be more than just a minor character or a cameo ap ...

in the '' Generals of the Yang Family'' legends, where he is described as a close friend of the Yang family. In these largely fictionalized stories, his weapons are a pair of clubs. *The stories of Huyan Zan's descendants were compiled into a novel titled ''Shuo Hu Quan Zhuan'' (說呼全傳; ''Full Chronicles of the Tales of Hu''). Alternative titles include ''Shuo Hu'' (說呼; ''Tales of Hu''), ''Hu Jia Jiang'' (呼家將; ''Generals of the Hu Family''), ''Hu Jia Hou Dai Quan Zhuan'' (呼家後代全傳; ''Full Chronicles of the Hu Family Descendants'') and ''Jin Bian Ji'' (金鞭記; ''Story of the Golden Clubs''). The novel is similar to, but not as popular as, other works on famous military generals of the Song Dynasty, such as '' Generals of the Yang Family'' and ''Shuo Yue Quanzhuan'' (說岳全傳). Its story was adopted as a case in the 1994 Hong Kong

Asia Television Asia Television Limited (, also known as ATV) is a digital media and broadcasting company in Hong Kong. Established as the first television service in Hong Kong as Rediffusion Television () on 29 May 1957, it shifted to terrestrial television ...

series ''Justice Pao'' titled "The Iron Hill Tomb" (鐵丘墳). *

Huyan Zhuo Huyan Zhuo is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Double Clubs", hə ranks eighth among the 36 Heavenly Spirits (天罡), the first third of the 108 Stars of Destiny. ...

, a character in the Chinese classical novel ''

Water Margin ''Water Margin'' (''Shuihu zhuan'') is one of the earliest Chinese novels written in vernacular Mandarin, and is attributed to Shi Nai'an. It is also translated as ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' and ''All Men Are Brothers''. The story, which is ...

'', is a fictitious descendant of Huyan Zan. He also wields two clubs.

Footnotes

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Huyan, Zan 1000 deaths Generals from Shanxi People from Taiyuan Song dynasty generals Year of birth unknown