Five Dynasties · Military Officer

Zhang Yanqing 張彥卿

First attested AD 957; died AD 958

Passages: 10
Chapters: 2
Histories: 2

Overview

Zhang Yanqing was a Military Officer.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal name	Yanqing	彦卿

Life and dates

Death

AD 958 显德五年正月丁未
Killed in battle · At Chu Prefecture 楚州
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 12, passage 106
AD 958 顯德五年正月丙午
At Chuzhou 楚州 · Killed in battle
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 118, passages 13, 21

Attested activity

AD 957 to AD 958 保大末
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 118, passage 15
AD 958 显德五年正月
Dated from the passage context · New History of the Five Dynasties 12, passage 106
AD 958 顯德五年正月丙午
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 118, passage 13

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Parent of Son of Zhang Yanqing (張彥卿之子)
son 子
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 118, passage 25
Parent of Guangyou (光祐)
son 子
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 118, passage 22

Key source chapters

Career and standing

defense commissioner of Chuzhou 楚州防禦使
AD 957 to AD 958 保大末 · Held
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 118, passage 15
defending general 守將
Held
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 118, passage 13

Places and affiliations

Polity Southern Tang 南唐 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 118, passages 13, 15
At Chuzhou 楚州 · Relation Posted to
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 118, passage 15

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 118, passages 24-26

Events and relationships

Defended city
AD 958 顯德五年正月 · Military · Defender · At Chuzhou 楚州
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 118, passages 15, 18, 20-21
Executed son
AD 958 顯德五年 · Personal · Actor · With Son of Zhang Yanqing (張彥卿之子) · Mode named-source-report Source Person Id Zhao Dingchen (趙鼎臣) Source Work Collected Writings of the Eccentric Gentleman of Bamboo Retreat 竹隱畸士集
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 118, passage 25
Street fought
AD 958 顯德五年正月丙午 · Military · Defender · At Chuzhou 楚州
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 118, passages 20-21

Assessments and attributes

Assessment loyal-unto-death · Mode named-source-report Source Work History of Southern Tang 南唐書
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 118, passages 21, 25

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 118, passage 13
Received great favor from the Li house of Southern Tang and refused to surrender on that account
Mode quotation Speaker Zhang Yanqing (張彥卿)
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 118, passage 25

References in the histories

Search passages

History

10 passages

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 118Volume 118 Book of Later Zhou 20: Shizong Annals 5 · 8 passages

丙午，拔之，斬偽守將張彥卿等，六軍大掠，城內軍民死者萬餘人，廬舍焚之殆盡。 On bingwu the city fell. The Southern Tang defending generals Zhang Yanqing and others were beheaded. The six armies looted on a vast scale; more than ten thousand soldiers and civilians in the city were killed, and dwellings were burned almost to the last.

〈（陸遊《南唐書·張彥卿傳》云：保大末，周世宗南侵，彥卿為楚州防禦使。 (Lu You's 《History of Southern Tang》, biography of Zhang Yanqing, records that at the end of the Baoda era, when Zhou Shizong invaded the south, Yanqing was defense commissioner of Chuzhou.

彥卿獨不為動。 Yanqing alone stood firm.

彥卿猶結陣城內，誓死奮擊，謂之巷鬥。 Yanqing still formed ranks inside the city and fought to the death in what came to be called street fighting.

日暮，轉至州廨，長短兵皆盡，彥卿猶取繩床搏戰，及兵馬都監鄭昭業等千餘人皆死之，無一人生降者。 At dusk the fighting moved to the prefectural yamen. Long and short weapons were spent, yet Yanqing still seized a rope bed and fought on. Cavalry-and-infantry inspector Zheng Zhaoye and more than a thousand others died with him; not one surrendered alive.

又，趙鼎臣《竹隱畸士集》云：當城中之危也，彥卿方與諸將立城上，因泣諫以周、唐強弱，勢不足以相支，又城危甚，而外無一人援，恐旦夕徒死無益，勸彥卿趣降。 Zhao Dingchen's 《Collected Writings of the Eccentric Gentleman of Bamboo Retreat》 also records that when the city was in peril Yanqing was standing on the wall with his generals. One of them wept and urged surrender, arguing that Zhou and Tang were too mismatched in strength to hold out, that the city was in grave danger with no relief coming from outside, and that they would only die in vain if they waited.

彥卿頷之，因顧諸將指曰：「視彼！」 Yanqing nodded, then turned to the generals and pointed, saying: "Look there!"

諸將方回顧，彥卿則抽劍斷其子首，擲諸地，慷慨泣謂諸將曰：「此彥卿子，勸彥卿降周，彥卿受李家厚恩，誼不降，此城吾死所也。 As the generals turned to look, Yanqing drew his sword and cut off his son's head, flung it to the ground, and with tears told them: "This is my son, who urged me to surrender to Zhou. I have received great favor from the Li house and cannot in honor yield. This city is where I shall die.

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 12Volume 12 Later Zhou Annals 3: Shizong, Emperor Gong · 2 passages

丁未，克楚州，守将张彦卿、郑昭业死之。 On dingwei Chu Prefecture fell; its defenders Zhang Yanqing and Zheng Zhaoye died in the assault.

自四年十二月辛酉攻之，彦卿等坚守四十余日乃克之，其不走不降可知，故予其死。然所贵者死尔，本纪著其大节可矣。 The siege began on xinyou in the twelfth month of the fourth year. Yanqing and the others held out more than forty days before the city fell—they plainly neither fled nor surrendered, so the text records their deaths. What counts is dying in place; the annals need only note their steadfastness.