Gongsun Zan

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Gongsun Zan
公孫瓚
A Qing dynasty illustration of Gongsun Zan
Inspector of You Province (幽州刺史) (self-appointed)
In office 193 (193) – March 199 (March 199)
Monarch	Emperor Xian of Han
General of the Vanguard (前將軍)
In office 192 (192) – March 199 (March 199)
Monarch	Emperor Xian of Han
General of Uplifting Martial Might (奮武將軍)
In office 189–192
Monarch	Emperor Xian of Han
Personal details
Born	Before 161 Qian'an, Hebei
Died	April or May 199 Yi County, Hebei
Children	Gongsun Xu (公孫續)
Relatives	Gongsun Yue (公孫越) (cousin) Gongsun Fan (公孫範) (cousin)
Occupation	Military general, politician, warlord
Courtesy name	Bogui (伯珪)
Peerage	Marquis of Yi (易侯)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	公孫瓚
Simplified Chinese	公孙瓒
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Gōngsūn Zàn Wade–Giles Kung1-sun1 Tsan4 Middle Chinese Middle Chinese kuŋ-suən d͡zɑnX Old Chinese Zhengzhang *kloːŋ suːn zaːnʔ

Gongsun Zan (pronunciation^ⓘ) (before 161^[a] - April or May 199^[b]), courtesy name Bogui, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty.

Gongsun Zan was born in Lingzhi, Liaoxi Commandery (遼西郡), which is present-day Qian'an, Hebei.^[1] He served in the secreteriat commandery. His appearance was striking and his voice bearing. Furthermore, he was a talented orator. During any discussions, he would not waste time on trivial matters and concentrate on the important with great memory and pertinence in his arguments.^[2]

The local Administrator (太守), whose surname was Hou (侯), was greatly impressed and married his daughter to him. He also sent him to study under the tutelage of Lu Zhi.^[3] Where he bonded with Liu Bei, one of his classmates. Since Gongsun Zan was older, Liu Bei treated him like an older brother.^[4]

He was appointed as official serving in a commandery. When his Administrator (太守), whose surname was Liu (劉), was summoned by the Minister of Justice (廷尉) for an offense. Gongsun Zan drove his chariot and supported him during the travel. When he was exiled to Rinan Commandery (日南郡) in Jiao Province, Gongsun Zan decided to accompany him and prepared rice and meat as offering to his ancestors on the northen hill.^[5]

There, raising his cup, he declared: "I was a son and now a subordinate, going to Rinan. Now, the place is hard to live and I'm uncertain if I may one day return. Therefore, I pay my respect to my ancestors." He was so passionate in his demonstration that none did not cry watching him. As they were going south, Administrator Liu was pardoned.^[6]

Gongsun Zan was nominated as a xiaolian (civil service candidate) and appointed as Chief Clerk (長史) in Liaodong. During a patrol with tens of horsemen, he met hundreds of Xianbei riders. While retreating, Gongsun Zan told to his men that if they did not fight back then they would all be killed. With blade attached on both ends of his spear, he led the charge through the barbarians, killing and wounding them by dozens while losing half of his troop, managing to escape.^[7] The Xianbei fearful of him did not dare to pursue. He was promoted to Prefect (令) of Zhuo County (涿縣).^[8]

During the Guanghe (光和; 178–184 period), Gongsun Zan was appointed as commander of 3 000 soldiers from You Province to quell a rebellion in Liang Province. However, in the northeast Zhang Chun (張純) started his own rebellion after securing the help of the Wuhuan leader Qiuliju. The rebels plundered Ji, killed and stole officals and civilians alike, from Youbeiping Commandery to Liaoxi Commandery, destroying everything in their path.^[9]

Gongsun Zan led his army against Zhang Chun defeating him and for his victory was promoted to Commandant of Cavalry (騎都尉). Following this the Wuhuan leader of Tanzhi (談指) surrendered alongside his tribe to Gongsun Zan. For this, he was appointed as General of the Household (中郎將) and received a marquis title.^[10]

Gongsun Zan pursued the rebel tribes and fought with them for five or six years. Qiuliju and other Wuhuan leaders plundered the four provinces of Qing, Xu, You and Ji. Gongsun Zan was unable to prevent them from looting and killing common people.^[11]

Following a misunderstanding with his lord, Liu Yu, Gongsun attacked Liu and killed him, thus winning control of the surrounding areas. However, contrary to popular belief, he was never formally appointed as a commandery administrator. During this time, his former classmate Liu Bei came to serve him and was allocated the city of Pingyuan to defend.

To the south, the two brothers Yuan Shao in the north and Yuan Shu in the south vied for supremacy over central China. Gongsun Zan formed an alliance with Yuan Shu and sent his second cousin, Gongsun Yue, to help Yuan Shu's general, Sun Jian, retake Yangcheng. However, Gongsun Yue died in the campaign. Using this as a pretext, Gongsun Zan attacked Yuan Shao after his initial plan to gain Han Fu's lands went awry. However, Gongsun Zan was defeated by Yuan Shao at the Battle of Yijing. He committed suicide through self-immolation, after killing his sisters, wife and children.^[12]

• Gongsun Yue (公孫越), Gongsun Zan's younger second cousin. Gongsun Zan sent him with 1,000 troops and supplies to assist the warlord Yuan Shu, who was in a proxy war with his half-brother Yuan Shao. Gongsun Yue died after being hit by a stray arrow during the Battle of Yangcheng in 191 while fighting alongside Sun Jian (Yuan Shu's proxy) against Zhou Yu (Renming) (Yuan Shao's proxy). Gongsun Zan used Gongsun Yue's death as an excuse to declare war on Yuan Shao.
  • In the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Gongsun Yue is Gongsun Zan's younger brother. Gongsun Zan sends Gongsun Yue as a messenger to demand that Yuan Shao keep his promise by dividing Ji Province between him and Gongsun Zan after seizing it from Han Fu, but Yuan Shao refuses. While Gongsun Yue is on his return journey, Yuan Shao orders his men to pretend to be Dong Zhuo's soldiers and then ambush and kill Gongsun Yue. Gongsun Zan sees through Yuan Shao's ruse and subsequently declares war on him.
• Gongsun Fan (公孫範), Gongsun Zan's younger second cousin. He leads troops from Bohai Commandery (勃海郡) to join Gongsun Zan. He also fought in the Battle of Jieqiao alongside Gongsun Zan against Yuan Shao.
• Gongsun Xu (公孫續), Gongsun Zan's son. During the Battle of Yijing (198–199), Gongsun Zan sent him to seek reinforcements from the Heishan bandits led by Zhang Yan. They returned too late as Gongsun Zan had already been defeated by Yuan Shao and had committed suicide along with the rest of his family. Gongsun Xu later met his end at the hands of the Chuge (屠各), a Xiongnu tribe.

Gongsun Zan is a character in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which romanticises the events before and during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He leads an elite cavalry unit called the "White Riders" and has served on the northern and eastern frontiers of the Han Empire by defending the borders from incursions by various non-Han Chinese tribes. In 191, Gongsun Zan joins the coalition against Dong Zhuo, the warlord who seized power in Luoyang and holds the figurehead Emperor Xian hostage. After the coalition breaks up, he gets into a rivalry with Yuan Shao over the territories in northern China and engages him in a series of battles throughout the 190s, starting with the Battle of Jieqiao and ending with his defeat and death at the Battle of Yijing.

In the novel, Gongsun Zan is nicknamed "White Horse General" because the elite cavalry unit he leads is made up completely of horses of pure white. The reason for doing so is that he knows that the non-Han Chinese tribes consider white horses sacred animals so they will run away when they encounter an enemy unit riding white horses in battle.

Gongsun Zan's white horse volunteers (白馬義從) have a historical basis, and appear in the historical records as an elite mounted unit on white horses which formed the core of his fighting force. The Records of Three Kingdoms describes how their "flags and armour lit up Heaven and Earth" at the Battle of Jieqiao.

Gongsun Zan is one of the main playable characters of the video game Total War: Three Kingdoms, developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega.^[13]

• Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms

• Chen, Shou (3rd century). Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi).
• de Crespigny, Rafe (1996). To Establish Peace: being the Chronicle of the Later Han dynasty for the years 189 to 220 AD as recorded in Chapters 59 to 69 of the Zizhi tongjian of Sima Guang. Vol. 1. Canberra: Faculty of Asian Studies, The Australian National University. ISBN 0-7315-2526-4.
• Fan, Ye (5th century). Book of the Later Han (Houhanshu).
• Luo, Guanzhong (14th century). Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo Yanyi).
• Pei, Songzhi (5th century). Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi zhu).