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Zhang Han
Qin general who led convict labourers from Mount Li against the rebels, killed Xiang Liang, surrendered to Xiang Yu after Julu and, as King of Yong, died besieged by Han forces at Feiqiu
Mural of the event “Battle of Julu”, which this person took part in.
After the Qin general Zhang Han destroyed the principal anti-Qin force led by Xiang Liang, he and Wang Li jointly besieged the state of Zhao at Julu with two hundred thousand frontier troops, and the situation was desperate. The eastern rebel lords stood watching from their walls, unwilling to engage.
Also known as Zhang Shaorong
- Roles
- Commanders
Zhang Han was privy treasurer under the Second Emperor of Qin. In 209 BCE, when Chen Sheng's general Zhou Wen pushed west to Xi, close to the capital Xianyang, Zhang Han asked for the convicts labouring at Mount Li to be pardoned and armed, drove Zhou Wen back, and went on to defeat Chen Sheng's other forces and the restored king of Wei. In 208 BCE he crushed the Chu army at Dingtao, killing Xiang Liang, and then joined Wang Li in besieging Zhao at Julu. After Xiang Yu routed the Qin forces at Julu in 207 BCE, Zhang Han, losing battles and distrusted by the eunuch Zhao Gao, surrendered with some two hundred thousand men. Xiang Yu made him King of Yong, ruling the land west of Xianyang from Feiqiu. When Liu Bang returned to take the Guanzhong region in 206 BCE he besieged Feiqiu, and the next year the Han army flooded the city and Zhang Han killed himself.
Life and times
Dates Birth unknown–205 BCE
- 207 BCEBattle of JuluTook part
- 207 BCEXiang Yu Winning at Julu