Zhang Liang 張梁

Zhang Liang (張梁) was the younger brother of Zhang Jiao (張角) and Zhang Bao (張寶). Together with his two brothers he instigated a religious movement called the ‘Way of Great Peace’ (太平道). When rebellion followed he titled himself Lord of Man General and proved to be the most skilled fighter among his brothers.

Biography
Zhang Liang was a man from Julu commandery in Ji province. It is assumed he was the youngest of his three brothers, though there are some sources who disagree and say Zhang Bao was actually the youngest. This is partially based on the fact that not Zhang Bao, but Zhang Liang more or less succeeded Zhang Jiao after the latter was taken ill.

The Way of Great Peace

 * main article: Way of Great Peace

Zhang Jiao has since his youth been a devoted follower of the Way of Huang-Lao (黄老), a religious cult sect concerning the Yellow Emperor and Laozi. He became an adept and in the early 170’s he founded his own religious sect, named the 'Way of Great Peace'. He did this together with Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang. Though Zhang Jiao became their movements’ Great Virtuous Teacher it is not known whether his two brothers were also given ranks or titles. Some say they were given the ranks of ‘Great Healers’ (大醫), but this has yet to be confirmed through a reliable source.

Gaining Popularity
Popularity of the movement rose rather quickly and in the early 180’s the Zhang brothers had gathered over 360.000 followers from the eight provinces of Qing, Xu, You, Ji, Jing, Yan and Yu, which were then divided over thirty-six Divisions, each with its own leader.

To gain en keep their followers a series of omens were introduced as concrete evidence that Heaven had withdrawn its mandate to rule from Emperor Ling. Furthermore they spread the story that:


 * "the azure sky is dead and a Yellow Heaven will take its place. When the year is jiazi great fortune will come to the world."

The rise of popularity worried the Minister over the Masses Yang Ci and around 178 A.D. he wrote a memorial to the Emperor Ling (靈帝) to express his concerns, but the matter was pigeon-holed. In 183 A.D. his colleague Liu Tao again tried to warn the Emperor but the matter was again not taken seriously.

Rebellion

 * main aricle: The Yellow Turban Rebellion

A couple of months later, in the spring of 184 A.D., a follower of Zhang Jiao, a man named Tang Zhou (唐周), betrayed his master by informing the Emperor about the plot. All Yellow Turban sympathizers in Luoyang were arrested or killed and orders were sent to Ji province that Zhang Jiao and his men should be arrested. Zhang Jiao, meanwhile, had already received word that his plan was betrayed and he sent a messenger, riding all day and night to all Divisions to tell their leaders to rise together.

In the second month the brothers gave themselves titles. Zhang Jiao became Lord of Heaven General, Zhang Bao became Lord of Earth General and Zhang Liang became Lord of Man General.

When the rebellion started the Yellow Turbans scored some quick successes. Commanderies were burned and plundered, Han officials were killed and some generals were defeated. During summer the tides changed to the Han’s favour. Many Division leaders were killed and Zhang Jiao was fighting a losing battle against the General of the Gentleman of the Household of the North Lu Zhi (盧植). He had lost over 10.000 men to the general and was driven back to take refuge in Guangzong city in Julu. It appears that Zhang Jiao was taken ill at this time and Lu Zhi was taken back to Luoyang and sentenced to death commuted by one degree after eunuch Zuo Feng (左豐) slandered him.

The respected and talented Dong Zhuo (董卓), who held the title of General of the Gentlemen of the Household of the East at that time, was sent to replace Lu Zhi and attempted to follow up on Lu Zhi’s success. Morale of his troops, however, must’ve been low due to the harsh and unfair treatment Lu Zhi was given. Meanwhile, Zhang Liang had taken command of his brothers troops and now concentrated themselves within a stronghold. Dong Zhuo failed to gain any success and was condemned for his failure. He was replaced by Huangfu Song (皇甫嵩) in the 9th month of that year.

Death
In that 9th month, Huangfu Song’s forces clashed with Zhang Liang’s forces at Guangzong city. Zhang Liang’s forces, having possibly gained a morale boost after their victory of Dong Zhuo, fought courageous and were well-trained and for some time Huangfu Song could make no headway. In the 10th month, Huangfu Song kept the gates of his camp closed, gave his soldiers a rest and waited to see what would happen. He realized the enemy would now be less keyed-up and ready for him, so during the night he prepared his men for a sortie. At cock-crow they charged the enemy lines and fought from the morning until the afternoon and completely defeated the rebels. In the fighting Zhang Liang was killed. His head was cut off. Many rebels were killed while many others had fled to the Yellow River and drowned there.

The Han forces then dug op Zhang Jiao’s grave, desecrated it and sent his head to Luoyang.

Family

 * Brothers
 * Zhang Jiao
 * Zhang Bao

Fact vs. Fiction
Historically...
 * ...Zhang Liang did not summon a rock attack against the Han forces.

List of References

 * A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms
 * Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling
 * Hou Han shu
 * The Cambridge History of China, volume 1
 * The Yellow Turbans (Monumenta Serica vol. XVII)
 * Yellow Turban Rebellion and Religion at the end of Han
 * Zizhi Tongjian