Xie Yanzhang (謝彥章)

Overview

The translated histories identify Xie Yanzhang as a general, military officer, and official. This record brings together 27 passages from 3 chapters across 2 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Xie Yanzhang	謝彥章	Xie Yanzhang
Title	two-capitals Grand Tutor	兩京太傅
Surname	Xie	謝	Xie
Personal name	Xie Yanzhang	謝彥章	Xie Yanzhang
Personal	Xie Yanzhang	謝彥章	Xiè Yànzhāng
Given	Yanzhang	彥章	Yanzhang
Given		彥章	Yanzhang

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · jiuwudaishi:016:s0064, xinwudaishi:003:s0100
Sex: male
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:016:s0197, xinwudaishi:023:s0103, xinwudaishi:023:s0104, xinwudaishi:023:s0131

Roles

General
Military Officer
Official

Life and dates

Death

Manner: assassination · Cause: killed in ambush at a feast · Authority Person Id: He Gui (賀瑰) · Agent Person Id: Zhu Gui (朱珪) · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 貞明四年 · Western Year: AD 918
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0116
Manner: murdered · Cause: ambush at feast · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 貞明四年冬 · Western Year: AD 918
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:016:s0077, jiuwudaishi:016:s0084
Manner: ambushed and killed · Responsible Person Id: He Gui (賀瑰) · Date Context: Source Date: Text: Zhenming 4 campaign context · Western Year: AD 918
Explicit event contextual date · xinwudaishi:023:s0133
Manner: killed-by-commander · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 贞明四年冬十二月庚子朔 · Western Year: AD 918
Explicit · xinwudaishi:003:s0100

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: Zhenming 4 campaign context · Western Year: AD 918
Explicit event contextual date · xinwudaishi:023:s0131, xinwudaishi:023:s0133
Source Date: Text: 事梁太祖 · Western Interval: Start: AD 907 · End: AD 912
Explicit event contextual date · xinwudaishi:023:s0105
Source Date: Text: 國亦隨之 · Western Interval: Start: AD 907 · End: AD 923
Strongly inferred · jiuwudaishi:016:s0197
Source Date: Text: 貞明前後 · Western Year: AD 915
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:016:s0064
Source Date: Text: 貞明四年 · Western Year: AD 918
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0108, xinwudaishi:023:s0109, xinwudaishi:023:s0110, xinwudaishi:023:s0111, xinwudaishi:023:s0112, xinwudaishi:023:s0113, xinwudaishi:023:s0114, xinwudaishi:023:s0115, xinwudaishi:023:s0116
Source Date: Text: 貞明四年冬 · Western Year: AD 918
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:016:s0070
Source Date: Text: 贞明四年冬十二月 · Western Year: AD 918
Explicit event contextual date · xinwudaishi:003:s0100

Family

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

Child of Ge Congzhou (葛從周)
Kinship Term: adoptive father / 養父 · Parentage: adoptive · Subject Role: father · Object Role: son
Kinship Term: raised as a son / 養以為子 · Parentage: adoptive · Subject Role: adoptive father · Object Role: adoptive son

Career and standing

Label: cavalry officer / 騎將
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0105
Label: military governor of the Kuangguo Army / 匡國軍節度使 · Action: appointed
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0107
Label: formation marshal / 排陣使 · Action: held · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 貞明四年 · Western Year: AD 918
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0108
Label: Heyang military commissioner / 河陽節度使 · Action: held
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:016:s0067
Label: Xu prefecture military commissioner / 許州節度使 · Action: held
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:016:s0069

Places and affiliations

Label: Later Liang / 後梁 · Relation: served
Strongly inferred · jiuwudaishi:016:s0197
Polity: Later Liang / 梁 · Relation: served
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0105, xinwudaishi:023:s0107
Place: Xu prefecture / 許州
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:016:s0064
Place: Xu Prefecture / 許州
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0103

Learning and skills

Skill: cavalry command / 將騎兵 · Level: renowned
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0106

Works and attributed material

Kind: historian-appraisal · Role: subject · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:016:s0197
Kind: speech · Role: subject · Quoted: true · Speaker Collective: Jin soldiers / 晉人 · Text: Xie Yanzhang must be here! / 謝彥章必在此也！
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0110

Events and relationships

Kind: political · Role: accused · Action: accused-of-rebellion · Other Person Id: Zhu Gui (朱珪) · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 貞明四年 · Western Year: AD 918
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0115
Kind: military · Role: co-commander · Action: camped at the field headquarters with He Gui · Other Person Id: He Gui (賀瑰)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0131
Kind: political · Role: victim · Action: died-from-slander · Outcome: state also followed in ruin / 國亦隨之
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:016:s0197
Kind: military · Role: formation-marshal · Action: encamped · Place: field headquarters / 行臺 · Other Person Id: He Gui (賀瑰) · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 貞明四年 · Western Year: AD 918
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0108
Kind: survey · Role: participant · Action: inspected-outskirts · Other Person Id: He Gui (賀瑰) · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 貞明四年 · Western Year: AD 918
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0113
Kind: military-training · Role: student · Action: learned-formations · Other Person Id: Ge Congzhou (葛從周) · Note: Ge Congzhou taught war with coins arranged as columns and squads
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0104
Kind: legal · Role: victim · Action: murdered · Other Person Id: He Gui (賀瑰) · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 貞明四年冬 · Western Year: AD 918
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:016:s0077
Relation: served-under · Person Id: Youzhen (友貞)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0107
Relation: student-of · Person Id: Ge Congzhou (葛從周)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0104
Relation: served-under · Person Id: Zhu Quanzhong (朱全忠)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0105
Relation: colleague-of · Person Id: Meng Shencheng (孟審澄)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0106
Relation: at-odds-with · Person Id: He Gui (賀瑰)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0133
Relation: colleague-of · Person Id: He Gui (賀瑰)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0106, xinwudaishi:023:s0108
Relation: subordinate-of · Person Id: He Gui (賀瑰)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:003:s0100
Relation: rival-of · Person Id: Zhu Gui (朱珪)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0115
Relation: rival-of · Person Id: He Gui (賀瑰)
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:016:s0073
Relation: colleague-of · Person Id: Hou Wenyu (侯溫裕)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0106

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: had abundant general talent yet died by slander; pity · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:016:s0197
Assessment: honored scholars and often wore scholar's robes in camp, yet showed a general's dignity in battle · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0109
Assessment: name weighed heavily among the enemy · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0111

References in the histories

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

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 16Volume 16 Book of Later Liang 16: Biographies 6: Ge Congzhou, Xie Yanzhang, He Zhen, Zhang Guiba, Zhang Guihou, Zhang Guibian · 12 passages

Open chapter

謝彥章，許州人。 Xie Yanzhang came from Xu prefecture.

幼事從周為養父，從周憐其敏慧，教以兵法，常以千錢於大盤中，布其行陣偏伍之狀，示以出沒進退之節，彥章盡得其訣。 Adopted by Congzhou, he learned warfare on a tray of coins modeling formations.

彥章後為許州節度使、檢校太傅。 Later he was Xu commissioner and honorary Grand Tutor.

貞明四年冬，滑州節度使賀瑰為北面招討使，彥章為排陣使，同領大軍，駐於行台寨，與晉人對壘。 Zhenming 4 winter he and He Gui camped at Xingtai against the Jin army.

彥章時領騎軍與之挑戰，晉人或望我軍行陣整肅，則相謂曰：「必兩京太傅在此也。」 Yanzhang led cavalry to challenge them; Jin troops seeing our formations would say to one another, "The two-capitals Grand Tutor must be here."

是時咸謂賀瑰能將步軍，彥章能領騎士，既名聲相軋，故瑰心忌之。 He Gui resented Yanzhang because both were famed commanders.

一日，與瑰同設伏於郊外，瑰指一方地謂彥章曰：「此地岡阜隆起，中央坦夷，好列柵之所。」 One day Gui pointed at a plot of ground and told Yanzhang, "This mound rises and the center is level—good for setting palisades."

尋而晉人舍之，故瑰疑彥章與晉人通； Jin avoided it; Gui suspected Yanzhang of collusion;

又瑰欲速戰，彥章欲持重以老敵人，瑰益疑之。 Gui wanted battle; Yanzhang wanted delay; suspicion grew.

會為行營馬步都虞候朱珪所誣，瑰遂與珪邦協謀，因享士伏甲以殺彥章及濮州刺史孟審澄、別將侯溫裕等於軍，以謀叛聞。 Zhu Gui slandered him; at a feast Gui ambushed and killed Yanzhang, Meng Shencheng, and Hou Wenyu as traitors.

多而益辦，惟彥章有焉。 only Yanzhang commanded more with equal skill.

彥章蔚有將才，死於讒口，身既歿矣，國亦隨之，惜哉！ Yanzhang's murder doomed the state—pity!

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 3Volume 3 Later Liang Annals 3: Later Emperors · 1 passage

Open chapter

冬十二月庚子朔，賀瓌殺其將謝彥章、孟審澄、侯溫裕。 On the gengzi new moon of the twelfth month in winter, He Gui put his generals Xie Yanzhang, Meng Shencheng, and Hou Wenyu to death.

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 23Volume 23 Later Liang Biographies 3: Yang Shihou, Wang Jingren, He Gui, Wang Tan, Ma Sixun, Wang Qianyu, Xie Yanzhang · 14 passages

Open chapter

晉軍取楊劉，末帝乃以瓌為招討使，與謝彥章等屯于行臺。 Jin took Yangliu. The Last Emperor then made Gui pacification commissioner and camped with Xie Yanzhang and others at the field headquarters.

瓌與彥章有隙，伏甲殺之，莊宗喜曰：「將帥不和，梁亡無日矣！」 Gui and Yanzhang were at odds. Gui hid armed men and killed him. Zhuangzong rejoiced and said: “When commanders fall out, Liang’s end is near!”

謝彥章 Xie Yanzhang

謝彥章，許州人也。 Xie Yanzhang came from Xu Prefecture.

幼事葛從周，從周憐其敏惠，養以為子，授之兵法，從周以千錢置大盤中，為行陣偏伍之狀，示以出入進退之節，彥章盡得之。 As a boy he served Ge Congzhou. Congzhou, taken with his quick wit, raised him as a son and taught him war. He would pour a thousand coins into a broad dish, set them out like columns and squads on the march, and drill the boy in when to advance, halt, and fall back—Yanzhang learned every lesson.

是時，賀瑰善用步卒，而彥章與孟審澄、侯溫裕皆善將騎兵，審澄、溫裕所將不過三千，彥章多而益辦。 He Gui then was master of the infantry, while Yanzhang, Meng Shencheng, and Hou Wenyu led the horse. Shencheng and Wenyu each held fewer than three thousand riders; Yanzhang commanded more and ran them tighter.

彥章事末帝，累遷匡國軍節度使。 Under the Last Emperor he rose step by step to military governor of Kuangguo.

貞明四年，晉攻河北，賀瑰為北面招討使，彥章為排陣使，屯於行臺。 In the fourth year of Zhenming the Jin struck Hebei. He Gui took northern command; Yanzhang served as formation marshal. They camped at the field headquarters.

彥章為將，好禮儒士，雖居軍中，嘗儒服，或臨敵禦眾，肅然有將帥之威，左右馳驟，疾若風雨。 Yanzhang the general honored scholars and often wore plain robes even in camp. Yet when he faced the enemy and held the line, the air of a true commander settled on him; aides riding at his side wheeled as fast as wind and rain.

晉人望其行陣齊整，相謂曰：「謝彥章必在此也！」 Jin lookouts, seeing ranks drawn so tight, told one another: “Xie Yanzhang must be here!”

彥章與瑰行視郊外，瑰指一地語彥章曰：「此地岡阜隆起，其中坦然，營柵之地也。」 Yanzhang and Gui rode out to survey the countryside. Gui pointed to a spot and said: “The ridge swells here and the hollow inside is flat—ideal ground for a stockade.”

已而晉兵柵之，瑰疑彥章陰以告晉，益惡之。 Soon the Jin fenced it in. Gui decided Yanzhang had tipped them off in secret and hated him the more.

彥章故與馬步都虞候朱珪有隙，瑰欲速戰，彥章請持重以老敵，珪乃誣彥章以為將反。 Yanzhang and Zhu Gui, chief adjutant of horse and foot, had old grievances. Gui wanted a quick fight; Yanzhang pleaded for patience to wear the enemy down. Zhu Gui then accused Yanzhang of plotting rebellion.

瑰旦享士，使珪伏甲殺之，審澄、溫裕皆見害。 At dawn Gui feasted his officers and had Zhu Gui hide armed men to cut Yanzhang down; Shencheng and Wenyu were killed too.