Mao Zhang (毛璋) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Mao Zhang as a general, military officer, and official. This record brings together 52 passages from 7 chapters across 2 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Mao Zhang	毛璋	Mao Zhang
Surname	Mao	毛	Mao
Personal name	Mao Zhang	毛璋	Mao Zhang
Personal	Mao Zhang	毛璋	Máo Zhāng
Given name	Zhang	璋	Zhang
Given	Zhang	璋	Zhāng

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · jiuwudaishi:031:s0094, jiuwudaishi:037:s0091, jiuwudaishi:057:s0031, jiuwudaishi:073:s0001, jiuwudaishi:074:s0015
Sex: male
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:040:s0084, xinwudaishi:026:s0182
Value: male
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0167

Roles

General
Military Officer
Official

Life and dates

Death

Cause: ordered-suicide
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:040:s0084
Manner: ordered to take his own life / 賜自盡 · Cause: imperial order after exile sentence / 長流後賜自盡
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0188
Manner: execution · Place: en route to Ruzhou / 路 · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 明宗嗣位後 · Western Year: AD 926
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0030

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: AD 923-936 · Western Year: AD 923
Explicit event contextual date · xinwudaishi:026:s0167
Source Date: Text: 同光三年 · Western Year: AD 925
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:074:s0015
Source Date: Text: 同光二年 · Western Year: AD 924
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:031:s0094
Source Date: Text: 天成元年 · Western Year: AD 926
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:037:s0091
Source Date: Text: 天成四年秋七月 · Western Year: AD 929
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:040:s0084
Source Date: Text: 崇韜率毛璋等 · Western Year: AD 923
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:057:s0031
Source Date: Text: 明宗 · Western Interval: Start: AD 926 · End: AD 933
Explicit event contextual date · xinwudaishi:026:s0182, xinwudaishi:026:s0183, xinwudaishi:026:s0184, xinwudaishi:026:s0185, xinwudaishi:026:s0186, xinwudaishi:026:s0187, xinwudaishi:026:s0188
Source Date: Text: 明宗嗣位 · Western Year: AD 926
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:073:s0017
Source Date: Text: 莊宗已定魏博 · Western Year: AD 923
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:073:s0002
Source Date: Text: 蜀平 · Western Year: AD 925
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:073:s0015

Family

Immediate source-linked family. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select a person to open their record.

Parent of Mao Tingyun (廷贇)
Kinship Term: adopted son / 假子 · Parentage: adoptive
Kin of Mao Tingyun (廷贇)
Kinship Term: adoptive nephew / 假侄 · Subject Role: adoptive-uncle · Object Role: adoptive-nephew · Parentage: adoptive

Career and standing

Label: low-ranking officer / 小校
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0001
Label: military commissioner of Binzhou / 邠州節度使 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 明宗嗣位 · Western Year: AD 926
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0017
Label: military commissioner of Cangzhou / 滄州節度使 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 梁平 · Western Year: AD 923
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0013
Label: prefect / 刺史 · Action: appointed · Place: that prefecture / 其州 · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 歸命於唐莊宗 · Western Year: AD 923
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0010
Label: overall commander of the right-wing cavalry in the field headquarters / 行營右廂馬軍都指揮使 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 王師討蜀 · Western Year: AD 925
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0014
Label: Military Governor of Hua / 華州節度使 · Action: appointed
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0171
Label: prefect of Beizhou / 貝州刺史 · Action: appointed
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0011
Label: prefect of Liaozhou / 遼州刺史 · Action: appointed
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0011
Label: Senior General of the Golden Guard / 金吾上將軍 · Action: appointed
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0021
Label: military governor of Hua / 華州節度使 · Action: held
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:074:s0015
Label: Luzhou military commissioner / 潞州節度使 · Action: transferred-to
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:037:s0091
Label: military commissioner of Zhaoyi / 昭義節度使 · Action: transferred
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0019
Status: exile · Action: entered · Place: Ruzhou / 儒州
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0188
Status: imprisoned · Action: entered
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0182, xinwudaishi:026:s0183
Status: imprisonment · Action: entered · Label: censorate prison / 御史台獄
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0023
Action: exiled-then-ordered-suicide · Label: demoted to commoner exile then suicide / 貶長流百姓，尋賜自盡
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:040:s0084
Label: lifelong exile to Ruzhou / 長流儒州 · Action: exiled · Place: Ruzhou / 儒州
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0188
Action: imprisoned · Label: Censor prison / 御史獄 · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 下御史獄 · Western Year: AD 936
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0178
Label: slightly pardoned / given lenience / 稍宥 · Action: pardoned
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0185
Label: jailed and interrogated; no proof found / 下獄鞫之無狀 · Action: prosecuted
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0183
Status: exile · Action: sentenced · Place: Ruzhou / 儒州
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0030
Label: case moved to military patrol prison / 移軍巡獄 · Action: transferred
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0186

Places and affiliations

Polity: Later Tang / 後唐 · Relation: served
Strongly inferred · xinwudaishi:026:s0182, xinwudaishi:026:s0188
Place: Cangzhou / 滄州
Strongly inferred · jiuwudaishi:073:s0001
Place: Cangzhou / 滄州
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0167
Place: Ruzhou / 儒州 · Relation: exiled-to
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0188

Works and attributed material

Kind: confession · Role: speaker · Provenance: Mode: self-report · Speaker Person Id: Mao Zhang (毛璋)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0187
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quote: true
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0007

Events and relationships

Kind: legal · Role: defendant · Action: cleared-then-reaccused · Other Person Id: Zhao Yanzuo (趙延祚)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0184
Kind: legal · Role: defendant · Action: confessed-under-coerced-investigation
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0187
Kind: legal · Role: condemned · Action: exiled-then-ordered-suicide · Place: Ruzhou / wherever he was / 儒州／所在
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0188
Kind: legal · Role: accused · Action: promised-bribe-for-silence · Other Person Id: Zhao Yanzuo (趙延祚)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0182, xinwudaishi:026:s0187
Kind: legal · Role: defendant · Action: re-jailed-after-denunciation · Other Person Id: Zhao Yanzuo (趙延祚)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0183
Kind: legal · Role: accused · Action: refused-to-pay-bribe · Other Person Id: Zhao Yanzuo (趙延祚)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0183
Kind: political · Role: subject · Action: removed from office · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 停見任官 · Western Year: AD 936
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0181
Kind: military · Role: plunderer · Action: seized-goods · Other Person Id: Li Jiji (李繼岌) · Place: Weinan / 渭南
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0016
Kind: military · Role: defector · Action: submitted-city · Other Person Id: Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (後唐莊宗) · Place: Cangzhou / 滄州
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0002
Relation: lent-horse-to · Person Id: Lü Mengqi (呂夢奇)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0187

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: accumulated evil until it destroyed him · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0145
Assessment: previously tried and cleared; present charges woven because bribe unpaid · Provenance: Mode: quotation · Speaker Person Id: Lü Mengqi (呂夢奇)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0184
Assessment: violent and lawless yet bold · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:073:s0012
Item: horse / 馬 · Relation: lent · Other Person Id: Lü Mengqi (呂夢奇)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:026:s0187

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 31Volume 31 Book of Later Tang 7: Zhuangzong Annals 5 · 1 passage

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己丑，以振武軍節度使、權安義留後、檢校太傅、平章事李存霸為潞州節度使，以捧日都指揮使、鄭州防禦使李紹琛為陝州節度使，以成德軍馬步軍都指揮使、右監門衛大將軍毛璋為華州節度使。 On jichou Cunba took Luzhou, Li Shaochen Shanzhou, and Mao Zhang Huazhou.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 37Volume 37 Book of Later Tang 13: Mingzong Annals 3 · 1 passage

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壬辰，邠州節度使毛璋移鎮潞州。 On renchen Mao Zhang moved from Bin to Lu.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 40Volume 40 Book of Later Tang 16: Mingzong Annals 6 · 2 passages

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壬申，貶前左金吾上將軍毛璋為儒州長流百姓，尋賜自盡，以其在藩鎮陰蓄奸謀故也。 On renshen Mao Zhang was exiled to Ru as a commoner and soon ordered to kill himself for plotting treason in his circuit.

甲戌，御史中丞呂夢奇責授太子右讚善大夫，坐曾借毛璋馬故也。 On jiaxu Lü Mengqi was demoted to crown prince praise officer for borrowing Mao Zhang's horse.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 57Volume 57 Book of Later Tang 33: Biographies 9: Gao Chongtao · 1 passage

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崇韜率毛璋等萬人夜趨博州，視矛戟之端有光，崇韜曰：「吾聞火出兵刃，破賊之兆也。」 Guo Chongtao led Mao Zhang and ten thousand men on a forced night march to Bozhou. When he saw light gleaming on spear and halberd points, he said, "I have heard that fire on weapons portends victory over the enemy."

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 73Volume 73 Book of Later Tang 49: Biographies 25: Mao Zhang, Nie Yu, Wen Tao, Duan Ning, Kong Qian, Li Ye · 23 passages

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毛璋，本滄州小校。 Mao Zhang had begun his career as a low-ranking officer in Cangzhou.

梁將戴思遠帥滄州，時莊宗已定魏博，思遠勢蹙，棄州遁去，璋據城歸莊宗， When Liang general Dai Siyuan held Cangzhou, Emperor Zhuangzong had already secured Weibo. With his position collapsing, Siyuan abandoned the prefecture and fled, and Zhang seized the city and submitted to Zhuangzong,

〈（《玉堂閑話》：戴思遠任浮陽日，有部曲毛璋，為性輕悍。 (According to Tales from the Jade Hall: While Dai Siyuan was governing Fuyang, one of his retainers was Mao Zhang, known for his reckless, aggressive nature.

嘗與數十卒追捕盜賊，還宿於逆旅，毛枕劍而寢。 On one occasion he took several dozen men in pursuit of bandits. On the way back they put up at an inn, and Mao went to sleep with his sword under his head.

夜分，其劍忽大吼，躍出鞘外，從卒聞者愕然驚異，毛亦神之。 At midnight his sword suddenly gave a great roar and jumped clear of its scabbard. The soldiers who heard it were stunned; Mao, too, regarded the event as an omen.

毛復寢，未熟，劍吼躍如初，毛深自負。 Mao went back to sleep. Before he had settled into deep slumber, the sword roared and leapt again just as before. From that moment he was convinced of his destiny.

其後戴離鎮，毛請留，戴從之。 When Dai later left his command, Mao asked to stay behind, and Dai agreed.

未幾，毛以州歸命於唐莊宗，莊宗以毛為其州刺史，後竟帥滄海。）〉 Not long afterward Mao turned the prefecture over to Tang Emperor Zhuangzong, who made him prefect of that prefecture; he eventually rose to command the Canghai circuit.)〉

璋性凶悖，有膽略，從征河上，屢有戰功。 Zhang was violent and lawless by nature, yet bold and capable. On campaigns along the Yellow River he won repeated martial honors.

王師討蜀，以璋為行營右廂馬軍都指揮使； During the imperial campaign against Shu, he was appointed overall commander of the right-wing cavalry in the field headquarters;

蜀平，璋功居多。 After Shu was pacified, Zhang's contribution ranked among the greatest.

明年，蕭牆禍起，繼岌自西川至渭南，部下散亡，其川貨妓樂，為璋所掠。 The following year, palace intrigue erupted into disaster. As Li Jiji made his way from western Sichuan to Weinan, his forces melted away, and Zhang seized the Sichuan wealth, entertainers, and musicians in his train.

明宗嗣位，錄平蜀功，授邠州節度使。 When Emperor Mingzong took the throne, Zhang's role in the conquest of Shu was formally acknowledged, and he was given Binzhou as his circuit.

璋既家富於財，有蜀之妓樂，驕僭自大，動多不法，招致部下，繕理兵仗。 Flush with wealth and in possession of Shu's courtesans and musicians, Zhang grew arrogant and overbearing. He habitually flouted the law, gathering followers and stockpiling arms.

朝廷移授昭義節度使，璋謀欲不奉詔，判官邊蔚密言規責，乃僶勉承命。 When the court reassigned him to the Zhaoyi circuit, Zhang considered defying the order. Only after his secretary Bian Wei quietly reprimanded him did he grudgingly accept.

因追廷贇及同行人趙延祚，與璋俱下御史台獄。 On that basis Tingyun and his traveling companion Zhao Yanzuo were seized, and Mao Zhang was imprisoned by the censorate as well.

廷贇乃璋之假侄，稱有叔在蜀，欲往省之，亦無私書，詔停任，令歸私第。 Tingyun was Zhang's adoptive nephew. He said he had an uncle in Shu whom he wished to visit, and no secret letter was found. An edict relieved Zhang of his post and ordered him home.

初，延祚在獄，多言璋陰事，璋許重賂，以塞其口。 While Zhao Yanzuo was in custody, he testified at length about Zhang's covert activities. Zhang promised him a large bribe to keep quiet.

及免，延祚征其賂，璋拒而不與，以至延祚詣台訴璋翻覆，復下御史台訊鞫。 After Yanzuo was freed, he demanded payment, but Zhang refused. Yanzuo then returned to the censorate and accused Zhang of going back on his word, and Zhang was again taken into custody for questioning.

中丞呂夢奇以璋前蒙昭雪，今延祚以責賂之故，復加織羅，故稍佑璋。 Censor-in-chief Lü Mengqi felt that Zhang had already been cleared once and that Yanzuo was now pressing the case only because a promised bribe had not been paid. Believing the new accusations were contrived, he leaned somewhat in Zhang's favor.

及款狀上聞，或云夢奇受璋賂，所以獄不盡情，執之，移於軍巡。 When the written confession reached the throne, some said Lü Mengqi had taken a bribe from Zhang and had therefore not pursued the case fully. Mengqi was arrested himself, and the investigation was transferred to the military patrol office.

璋具狀曾許延祚賂未與，又云曾借馬與夢奇，別無行賂之事。 Zhang's full statement acknowledged that he had promised Yanzuo a bribe but never paid it, and that he had once lent a horse to Mengqi, but denied any other bribery.

如毛璋之儔，可謂積惡而滅其身矣，況溫韜之發陵寢，段凝之敗國家，罪不容誅，死猶差晚。 Men like Mao Zhang may be said to have accumulated evil until it destroyed them; how much more Wen Tao, who opened imperial tombs, and Duan Ning, who ruined the state—their crimes were beyond what execution could answer, and even death came too late.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 74Volume 74 Book of Later Tang 50: Biographies 126: Kang Yanxiao, Zhu Shouyin, Yang Li, Dou Tingwan, Zhang Qianzhao, Yang Yanwen · 3 passages

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時邠州節度使董璋為行營右廂馬步使，華州節度使毛璋為行營左廂馬步使，以軍禮當事延孝。 At the time Dong Zhang, military governor of Bin, served as right-wing horse-and-foot commander of the campaign army, and Mao Zhang, military governor of Hua, as left-wing commander. By military protocol both should have deferred to Yanxiao.

時延孝軍於城西，毛璋軍於城東，董璋軍於城中。 Yanxiao's troops camped west of the city, Mao Zhang's east of it, and Dong Zhang's inside the walls.

延孝怒，謂毛璋曰：「吾冒白刃，犯險阻，平定兩川，董璋何功，遽有其地！」 Yanxiao flew into a rage and told Mao Zhang, "I faced naked steel and treacherous passes to conquer both circuits of Shu. What has Dong Zhang done to deserve that territory!"

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 26Volume 26 Later Tang Biographies 6: Fu Xi, Wu Zhen, Kong Qian, Zhang Yanlang, Li Yan, Li Renju, Mao Zhang · 21 passages

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毛璋，滄州人也。 Mao Zhang came from Cangzhou.

梁末，戴思遠為橫海軍節度使，璋事思遠為軍校。 At Liang’s end Dai Siyuan held Henghai. Zhang served him as a camp officer.

晉已下魏博，思遠棄滄州出奔，璋以滄州降晉，以功為貝州刺史。 After Jin took Weibo, Siyuan abandoned Cangzhou and fled. Zhang surrendered Cangzhou to Jin and for his deed was made prefect of Bei.

璋為人有膽勇，自晉與梁相拒河上，璋累戰有功。 Zhang was bold and brave. From the day Jin and Liang faced each other on the river he fought again and again with credit.

莊宗滅梁，拜璋華州節度使。 When Zhuangzong broke Liang, Zhang was made military governor of Hua.

在鎮多不法，議者疑其有異志，乃徙璋鎮昭義。 In office he broke the law often. Critics suspected disloyalty, and he was moved to Zhaoyi.

璋初欲拒命，其判官邊蔚切諫諭之，乃聽命。 At first Zhang meant to refuse the transfer. His aide Bian Wei argued him down, and he obeyed.

璋累歷藩鎮，又在華州得魏王繼岌伐蜀余貲，既富而驕，益為淫侈。 Zhang had held one frontier post after another. At Hua he also took the Prince of Wei’s leftover spoils from the Shu campaign. Wealth made him proud, and his excess grew worse.

明宗聞而惡之，召為金吾上將軍。 Mingzong heard and loathed it. He recalled Zhang to be Grand General of the Golden Guard.

東川董璋上書言璋遣子廷赟持書往西川，疑其有奸。 Dong Zhang of Dongchuan wrote that Zhang had sent his son Tingyun west to Xichuan with a letter, and suspected treason.

明宗乃遣人追還廷赟，並璋下御史獄。 Mingzong sent men to bring Tingyun back and threw Zhang into the censor’s prison.