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Gongsun Zan
Late Han warlord of You province, famed for his white-horse archers, who killed the governor Liu Yu and burned himself to death when Yuan Shao stormed his fortress at Yijing
At dusk on a hilltop, a large tent stands open with a table holding a map marked with small stones inside, a saddled horse tethered outside, and fire stands burning; campfires dot the river plain below, and one tiny sentry stands on the slope.
Also known as Zi Bogui
Gongsun Zan, courtesy name Bogui, came from Lingzhi in Liaoxi; after serving as a commandery clerk he studied under Lu Zhi alongside Liu Bei. As chief clerk of the Liaodong dependent state he rode with a guard of several dozen archers on white horses, the White Horse Volunteers, and the Wuhuan warned one another to avoid him. He fought the rebel Zhang Chun and his Wuhuan allies and was made a general of the household and marquis. In 191 he destroyed a Yellow Turban host from Qing province near Dongguang, then contested Ji province with Yuan Shao and was beaten at Jieqiao by Yuan's officer Qu Yi. In 193 he killed Liu Yu, governor of You, and after further defeats shut himself in the fortress of Yijing. When Yuan Shao's tunnels broke in during 199 he strangled his sisters, wife and children and set himself on fire. The Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo zhi) gives him a chapter shared with Tao Qian, Gongsun Du and Zhang Lu.
Life and times
Dates Birth unknown–199 CE