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Zhang Wen, courtesy name Huishu, was a native of Wu County, Wu Commandery. He cultivated integrity from a young age and possessed extraordinary appearance.

Sun Quan summoned him and appointed him as a Consultant and Minister of the Selection Department, later transferring him to the position of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince. He was renowned in his time for his integrity, arguments, and literary talent.

In the third year of Huangwu (224), Zhang Wen was sent as an envoy to Shu Han as the Assistant General of Righteousness. Sun Quan was originally afraid that Zhuge Liang would deliberately make things difficult for Zhang Wen, but Zhang Wen was not worried.

He deliberately praised Shu Han in the documents he presented to the Shu Han court to demonstrate his sincerity in reconciliation and rebuild relations between the two countries. He performed outstandingly in Shu Han and gained the attention of the Shu Han court.

Shortly after returning to Eastern Wu, he was transferred to the army in Yuzhang, and his career made no further progress. Sun Quan was both annoyed by his praise of Shu Han during his mission to Shu Han, and also worried that his reputation was too great, fearing that Zhang Wen would not be loyal to him.

At that time, the Ji Yan incident occurred. Ji Yan was a minister recommended by Zhang Wen, but he abused his power, promoting and evaluating officials based solely on his own likes and dislikes. After the incident was exposed, Ji Yan and his accomplice Xu Biao were all...

Upon seeing this, Sun Quan punished Zhang Wen for having frequent dealings with Ji Yan, Xu Biao, and others, and later sent Zhang Wen back to his hometown of Wu County.

General Luo Tong once wrote a letter to defend Zhang Wen, but Sun Quan ignored it. Six years later, Zhang Wen died of illness.

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Wen first appears in Chapter 43, "Zhuge Liang Debates with the Confucian Scholars, Lu Zijing Overcomes the Opinions of the Crowd," where he wants to debate with Zhuge Liang, who is on his way to Eastern Wu, but is dissuaded by Huang Gai.

Zhang Wen, courtesy name Huishu, was a native of Wu County, Wu Commandery. His father, Zhang Yun, was renowned throughout the prefecture and county for his disdain for wealth and his appreciation of virtuous men. He served as the Eastern Cao Yuan under Sun Quan and later passed away.

Zhang Wen cultivated integrity from a young age and possessed an unusually imposing appearance. Upon hearing this, Sun Quan asked his court officials, "Who can Zhang Wen be compared to in this era?"

Grand Minister of Agriculture Liu Ji said, "He is on par with Quan Cong." Grand Master of Ceremonies Gu Yong said, "Liu Ji has not thoroughly understood Zhang Wen's character. No one in the world can compare to Zhang Wen today."

Sun Quan said, "If that's the case, then Zhang Yun is not dead!" So he summoned Zhang Wen and asked to meet him.

Zhang Wen spoke with elegance and answered fluently, drawing admiration from onlookers. Sun Quan even changed his expression and showed him greater respect. After the audience, Zhang Zhao grasped Zhang Wen's hand and said, "I entrust my heart to you; you should understand."

Sun Quan then appointed Zhang Wen as a Gentleman of the Palace and Minister of Personnel Selection, and later promoted him to Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, where he was highly trusted and valued.

In the third year of Huangwu (224 AD), when Zhang Wen was thirty-two years old, he was sent as an envoy to the Shu Kingdom as the Assistant General of Righteousness.

Sun Quan said to him, "You are not supposed to travel far, but I am worried that Zhuge Liang does not understand my purpose in communicating with Cao Cao, so I have troubled you to go. If the trouble caused by the Yue tribes is completely eliminated, we will launch a major attack on Cao Pi. The principle of an envoy is to accept orders but not words."

Zhang Wen replied, “I have never served as a trusted minister in the country, nor do I have the ability to handle diplomatic affairs independently. I am afraid I do not have Zhang Meng’s ability to spread the country’s reputation, nor do I have Zichan’s ability to explain the principles of things. However, Zhuge Liang is insightful and skilled in planning. He must understand your divine thoughts and expedient measures. In addition, the court has bestowed its favor upon you. I can guess Zhuge Liang’s thoughts without any suspicion.”

After arriving in Shu, Zhang Wen went to the palace and presented a memorial, saying: "In ancient times, Emperor Gaozong of Shang, while observing mourning, enabled the Shang dynasty to be revived and prospered again. King Cheng of Zhou, though young, brought peace and prosperity to the world through his virtuous rule. Their achievements covered the entire world, and their prestige resounded throughout the four seas."

Your Majesty, with your intelligence, is on par with the sages of old. You are assisted by virtuous ministers who manage state affairs, and the court is filled with brilliant talents. People from near and far admire your brilliance and come to rely on you with joy.

The State of Wu diligently strengthened its military and national power to stabilize the Jiangnan region, hoping to unify the world together with a wise ruler. They wholeheartedly cooperated and planned together, like a river flowing without hesitation.

Because of the frequent and fierce battles, we have too few troops available for service, and thus we have no choice but to endure the humiliation imposed by these despicable men. I hereby specially dispatch my humble servant Zhang Wen to explain the situation and express our goodwill.

Your Majesty upholds propriety and righteousness; you should not be ashamed of this and ignore my request. From the distant border to the outskirts of your capital, I have repeatedly received exceptionally courteous hospitality from your esteemed nation, and imperial edicts have been continuously issued to me.
I am overwhelmed by this honor, and also feel surprised and uneasy. I hereby present this letter from my lord to His Majesty. The Shu Han state highly valued Zhang Wen's talent.

Not long after returning to China, he was assigned to a military unit in Yuzhang County to fight, but he had no interest in military achievements.

Sun Quan secretly resented Zhang Wen's praise of Shu Han's politics, and also disliked his overly illustrious reputation, fearing that the people were misled by his virtue and talent and that he would ultimately not be of use to him.
They were considering how to smear him when the Ji Yan incident happened, so they took this opportunity to find fault with Zhang Wen.

Zhang Wen had always shared the same views as Ji Yan and Xu Biao, and they frequently corresponded and exchanged greetings. Therefore, Zhang Wen was again found guilty. Sun Quan placed him under house arrest in the relevant government office.

At the time, no one dared to speak up for him. Only Luo Tong believed that Zhang Wen's conviction was due to unclear facts and insufficient evidence, entirely the result of slanderous words from petty people and the monarch's lack of discernment.

He believes that Zhang Wen is not primarily responsible for Ji Yan's hiring. Even if the recommendation was flawed, Zhang Wen was not the first person to recommend Ji.

The claim that Zhang Wen colluded with Ji Yan is baseless and baseless; presuming this solely based on inappropriate talent selection is simply untenable. Regarding the delay in fulfilling military orders, Luo Tong also offered an objective explanation.

They believed that Zhang Wen had always obeyed orders, maintained the army without reducing its size, retreated from the battlefield, or delayed the military operations. He had been wholeheartedly devoted to the country and loyal to the emperor, so what crime had he committed?

Regarding Sun Quan's accusation that Zhang Wen's mission to Shu was an insult to his country, Luo Tong argued that as long as one does not compromise one's principles when being sent as an envoy to a country and praising the beauty of another country, it cannot be considered an insult to one's country, but rather a normal mission for an envoy.

The return visit by Deng Zhi from Sichuan is a testament to friendly exchanges between countries.

Deng Zhi's return visit was actually Zhuge Liang sending Deng Zhi to escort Zhang Wen back to his country. It was a sign of respect for the Wu Kingdom, not a personal act by Zhang Wen.

Furthermore, Luo Tong also refuted each of the other charges. To persuade Sun Quan to accept his advice and to demonstrate his selflessness and integrity, Luo Tong finally stated:
"I haven't been in contact with Zhang Wen for many years. Zhang Wen is neither a new friend of mine nor do I have any special feelings for him. He is just a colleague, and we are both subjects of the king."

If the ruler can carefully analyze and verify, all suspicions can be cleared up. Today, as I plead for Zhang Wen, I don't have high hopes for myself.

Zhang Wen has already been convicted and punished, and he went first; I am also willing to suffer shame, and I will be dismissed from my post later.

Sun Quan ultimately did not adopt Luo Tong's suggestion.

Six years later, Zhang Wen died of illness.

During the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, most people had single-character names, such as Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, Ma Chao, and Huang Zhong.

Based on this, the problem of duplicate names, that is, the situation of having the same first and last name, is naturally unavoidable.

For example, during the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, there were three historical figures named "Li Feng". Among them, Li Feng, the first general of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, was killed by Cao Cao; the second, Li Feng, was a minister of the Wei Kingdom.

After the Gaopingling Incident, Li Feng participated in the plan to depose Sima Shi. Sima Shi was dismissed from his post; the third Li Feng was the son of Li Yan, a minister of Shu Han, and also served Shu Han.

Meanwhile, regarding the "Zhang Wen" I'm going to talk about today, there are also cases of people sharing the same name. During the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, there were two important historical figures named Zhang Wen: one was Dong Zhuo's superior, and the other was a minister of Eastern Wu. Below, we'll discuss these two Zhang Wens.

He was a native of Rang County, Nanyang, during the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He rose to the positions of Sili Xiaowei and Taiwei, and was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Huxiang.

Zhang Wen was promoted by Cao Cao's grandfather, Cao Teng. In the second year of Zhongping (185 AD), Emperor Ling of Han appointed Zhang Wen as General of Chariots and Cavalry with the authority to act on behalf of the emperor, and together with his deputy, Yuan Pang, the General of the Golden Guard, he was tasked with suppressing the Hu people, including Beigong Boyu.

At that time, Dong Zhuo was appointed General Who Destroys Lu, and General Zhou Shen was a subordinate of Zhang Wen. Therefore, it is quite clear that Dong Zhuo was once a subordinate of General Zhang Wen.

Zhang Wen dispatched Zhou Shen with 30,000 men to pursue Bian Zhang and Han Sui. After Zhou Shen's defeat, Zhang Wen sent Dong Zhuo with 30,000 men to attack the Qiang Xianling tribe.

The Qiang and Hu tribes surrounded Dong Zhuo to the north of Wangyuan. Against this backdrop, Dong Zhuo did not resist directly but instead quietly retreated. Dong Zhuo's act of preserving his strength naturally aroused the dissatisfaction of the Eastern Han court.

Therefore, Zhang Wen used an imperial edict to recruit Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo, feeling guilty, delayed meeting Zhang Wen. Upon meeting Dong Zhuo, Zhang Wen began to reprimand him, but Dong Zhuo's response was disrespectful.

At this moment, Sun Jian stepped forward and whispered in Zhang Wen's ear, "Dong Zhuo is not only unafraid of being convicted, but he is also arrogant and speaks loudly. We should uphold the law and punish him severely."

"In my opinion, if Zhang Wen can heed Sun Jian's advice and kill the traitor Dong Zhuo, he can undoubtedly avoid the chaos that Dong Zhuo will cause in the future."

Unfortunately, Zhang Wen hesitated and couldn't bear to do it, so he said to Sun Jian, "You should go back first. If you stay too long, Dong Zhuo will become suspicious."

Sun Jian then got up and left. This naturally allowed Dong Zhuo to escape.

In the third year of the Zhongping era (186 AD), Emperor Ling of Han appointed Zhang Wen as Grand Commandant in Chang'an, making him one of the first three crown princes to not attend court.

In the same year, Zhang Wen was recalled to the capital. In the fourth year of the Zhongping era (187 AD), Zhang Wen was dismissed from his post by Emperor Ling of Han for failing to quell the rebellion.

Of course, Zhang Wen's defeat in battle was also related to Dong Zhuoyang's obedience.

In 191 AD, after Dong Zhuo usurped the imperial power, he was attacked from both sides by warlords such as Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and Cao Cao.

After the capital was moved to Chang'an, Zhang Wen was appointed as the Commandant of the Guards. Zhang Wen did not befriend Dong Zhuo, which aroused Dong Zhuo's dislike.

Therefore, in order to establish his authority and eliminate dissidents, Dong Zhuo falsely accused Zhang Wen of having a private relationship with Yuan Shu, and tortured Zhang Wen to death on the first day of the tenth month of the second year of Chuping (191 AD).

In my opinion, as Dong Zhuo's superior, Zhang Wen missed a golden opportunity to eliminate Dong Zhuo and was ultimately killed by him.

Of course, after killing Zhang Wen, Dong Zhuo lost even more support in the Eastern Han court and was eventually eliminated by Wang Yun and Lü Bu. Secondly, Zhang Wen...
On the other hand, during the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, there was another Zhang Wen, who was a minister of Eastern Wu.

Zhang Wen was a minister of the Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period. He was from the Zhang family of Wu County, one of the four most prominent families in Jiangnan, and his imposing appearance and outstanding talent attracted the attention of Sun Quan.

Therefore, Sun Quan summoned the Imperial Advisor, selected the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, and promoted him to Crown Prince and Grand Tutor.

In 219 AD, Guan Yu launched the Battle of Xiangfan. While Guan Yu was besieging Xiangfan, Sun Quan sent Lü Meng to attack Jingzhou, where Lü Meng killed Guan Yu. This naturally led to the breakdown of the Shu-Wu alliance.

Thus, the Battle of Yiling finally broke out between Shu Han and Eastern Wu. In 221 AD, Liu Bei conquered Eastern Wu and launched the Battle of Yiling. Although Eastern Wu won this battle...

However, after the Battle of Yiling, the powerful Eastern Wu aroused Cao Pi's vigilance and was attacked by Cao Wei. After Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang also intended to restore the Shu-Wu alliance.

From this perspective, both Shu Han and Eastern Wu needed to restore their alliance. To do so, naturally, they needed to send envoys to each other. Against this backdrop, Zhang Wen was dispatched to Shu Han by Sun Quan.

Therefore, after Zhang Wen arrived in Shu in 224 AD, he devoted himself to expressing the sincerity of Eastern Wu, thereby promoting the restoration of relations between Shu and Wu.

After a conversation, Zhuge Liang, the Chancellor of Shu Han, highly valued Zhang Wen's talent. Therefore, a year later, Zhuge Liang sent Deng Zhi as an envoy to Eastern Wu, which not only demonstrated Zhuge Liang's sincerity in restoring the Shu-Wu alliance, but also because Zhang Wen's mission played an important role.

After Zhang Wen returned to Eastern Wu, he not only received no reward, but was instead sent by Sun Quan to Yuzhang County to fight alongside the army. This was a form of suppression. The reason was that Sun Quan was very dissatisfied with Zhang Wen's praise of Shu Han.

Furthermore, Zhang Wen was implicated in the Ji Yan Incident and was consequently placed under house arrest by Sun Quan. Approximately six years later, Zhang Wen died of illness. Many historians believe that Sun Quan's suppression of Zhang Wen was likely aimed at weakening the Zhang Wujun family behind him.

According to reports, during the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, the Zhang family of Wu Commandery included Zhang Wen, Zhang Yan, and Zhang Dun, all descendants of Zhang Mu. Therefore, it is quite evident that, like the Lu family to which Lu Xun, Lu Kang, and Lu Kai belonged, the Zhang Wen family also wielded considerable influence in Eastern Wu.

Therefore, Sun Quan's suppression of Zhang Wen was clearly intended to counterbalance these local gentry, so as to prevent the succeeding monarch from being unable to control the situation after Sun Quan's death.

Correspondingly, Lu Xun wielded more power than Zhang Wen. As a result, Lu Xun was reprimanded by Sun Quan for his involvement in the power struggle between the two palaces, and even died of illness from anger. This naturally reflects Sun Quan's attitude towards the local gentry of Jiangdong.

In general, there were two historical figures named Zhang Wen during the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period.

Although Zhang Wen and Zhang Wen had no direct connection, such as blood relation, their ultimate fates differed in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.
Zhang Wen was killed by Dong Zhuo, and in Eastern Wu, he was also placed under house arrest. In other words, they did not achieve a more ideal outcome.

Zhang Wen came from the Zhang clan, one of the four prominent clans of Gu, Lu, Zhu, Zhang, and Wu. The Zhang clan originated from the Ji surname. It is said that Yun, the son of Shao Hao (of the Ji surname), was the official in charge of bows and arrows, and his descendants were given the surname Zhang. Zhang Liang, the Marquis of Liu in the Han Dynasty, was a descendant of this clan.

Zhang Liang's descendant Zhang Mu served as the governor of Shu Commandery during the Eastern Han Dynasty. Zhang's descendants then moved to Shu. Zhang Yi, the Left General of Chariots and Cavalry during the Three Kingdoms period, was one of his descendants.

Another branch of Zhang Mu's descendants moved to Wu Commandery, and later developed into the Zhang clan of Wu Commandery. During the Three Kingdoms period, in addition to Zhang Wen, the Zhang clan of Wu Commandery also included Zhang Yan, the Grand Herald of Wu, and Zhang Dun, who was as famous as Lu Xun.

During the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, among the descendants of Zhang Liang, there was another famous figure: Zhang Lu, the Celestial Master of the Five Pecks of Rice sect.

Zhang Wen's father, Zhang Yun, valued scholars more than wealth and was renowned in the prefecture. He was on good terms with Gao Dai, who was from the same prefecture.

When Xu Gong was the governor of Wu Commandery, he persecuted the former governor, Sheng Xian. Gao Dai, who had been recommended by Sheng Xian as a candidate for the civil service examination, took Sheng Xian to seek refuge at Xu Zhao's house, while they went to Tao Qian, the governor of Xu Province, to ask for reinforcements. (End of this chapter)