Zhang Zhao 張昭

Zhang Zhao wrote a fine clerical script and studied the Zuo Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals under Baihou Zi'an. He won renown together with Zhao Yu of Langya and Wang Lang of Donghai, and they were on friendly terms; around the age of twenty he was nominated as Filial and Incorrupt but did not take up office. When Tao Qian, Inspector of Xu Province, nominated him as Abundant Talent and he did not respond, Tao Qian, feeling slighted, had him arrested and detained, and he was released only after Zhao Yu threw himself into securing his rescue. At the end of the Han, when the gentry and commoners of Xu Province fled the turmoil to Yang Province, he too crossed the Yangtze southward. Records, Wu 7 §2–3

When Sun Ce founded his enterprise, he made Zhang Zhao Chief Clerk (zhangshi) and General of the Household Who Supports the Army (fujun zhonglangjiang), ascended the hall to pay his respects to Zhang Zhao's mother, treated him like an old friend, and entrusted him with all civil and military affairs. When letters from gentlemen of the north gave the praise to Zhang Zhao alone, leaving him uneasy because he could neither report them nor keep them to himself, Sun Ce laughed and said, "When Guan Zhong served as chief minister of Qi, it was 'Uncle Zhong' first and 'Uncle Zhong' second, yet Duke Huan became the foremost of the hegemons. Zibu is worthy and I am able to employ him; will not the merit and fame be mine?" Records, Wu 7 §3–4

In the 5th year of Jian'an (200), Sun Ce on his deathbed entrusted his younger brother Sun Quan to Zhang Zhao. When Sun Quan could not stop weeping, Zhang Zhao told him that to grieve for kin and heed only the rites at such a time was like opening the gate and bowing to robbers; he personally helped Sun Quan onto his horse and had him ride out with the troops drawn up in array, and the people then knew where their allegiance lay. Zhang Zhao again became Sun Quan's Chief Clerk, and Sun Quan treated him with the courtesy due to a mentor. In the 7th year of Jian'an (202), Sun Quan's mother, Lady Wu, summoned Zhang Zhao and others before she died and entrusted to them the affairs after her death. Records, Wu 7 §4–5Records, Wu 2 §3–5Records, Wu 5 §6

When Liu Bei memorialized to make Sun Quan Acting General of Chariots and Cavalry, Zhang Zhao became Military Adviser (junshi). Whenever Sun Quan went hunting he rode out to shoot tigers, and Zhang Zhao remonstrated that a ruler was one who commanded heroes and led the worthy, not one who matched his courage against wild beasts in the open field. Sun Quan apologized but could not give it up, and had a tiger-shooting carriage built. When Gan Ning proposed attacking Huang Zu, Zhang Zhao objected that the land of Wu was unsettled and that turmoil would follow if the army left; he also often disparaged Lu Su as young and rough and not yet fit for office, but on both occasions Sun Quan did not heed him. Records, Wu 7 §5–7Records, Wu 10 §56–57Records, Wu 9 §39

Sun Quan later recalled to Lu Xun that when Cao Cao, having gained Jing Province, boasted that he would come down upon them, he had asked his generals for advice, and Zibu and Wenbiao had both said that envoys should be sent to welcome Cao Cao, while Lu Su alone said no and urged him to summon Zhou Yu. Records, Wu 9 §90–91

In the 2nd year of Huangchu (221) of Wei, when the envoy Xing Zhen, who had come to name Sun Quan King of Wu, entered the gate without getting down from his carriage, Zhang Zhao rebuked him: the law was carried out only because the rites admitted no disrespect; did he think that Jiangnan had not even an inch of blade? Xing Zhen hastily got down from his carriage. Zhang Zhao was made General Who Pacifies Distant Lands (suiyuan jiangjun) and Marquis of Youquan. When Sun Quan, very drunk at the Fishing Terrace in Wuchang, had water sprinkled on his officials and declared that the drinking would stop only when they fell down drunk, Zhang Zhao went out without a word and sat in his carriage, and then answered that King Zhou's lake of wine had also been thought a pleasure in its day; Sun Quan, ashamed, ended the banquet. Records, Wu 7 §7–8

When Sun Quan was to appoint a Chancellor, opinion converged on Zhang Zhao, but Sun Quan declined, saying that with so many affairs the burden was heavy and this was no way to honor him. When Sun Shao died and the officials again recommended Zhang Zhao, Sun Quan said that this man was unbending by nature and that resentment would arise if his words were not accepted, and he appointed Gu Yong. When Sun Quan took the imperial title, Zhang Zhao, pleading old age and illness, returned his office and the troops under his command; he was made General Who Assists Wu, ranking next to the Three Excellencies, and his fief was changed to Marquis of Lou. Living at leisure in his village residence, he wrote explications of the Zuo Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals and annotations on the Analects. Records, Wu 7 §9–10

At every court audience Zhang Zhao's words and bearing were forceful and stern, and once, having offended Sun Quan with blunt words, he stayed away from audiences for a time. When an envoy from Shu extolled the virtue of Shu and none of the officials rebutted him, Sun Quan sighed that had Lord Zhang been present, the man would have been either broken or silenced, and the next day he invited Zhang Zhao to see him. When Zhang Zhao left his seat to apologize, Sun Quan knelt to stop him, and Zhang Zhao said that since the Empress Dowager and King Huan had entrusted His Majesty to their old servant, he would simply serve until his life was spent, and could not steal glory and seek favor by base compliance. Records, Wu 7 §11–12

In the 2nd year of Jiahe (233), when Sun Quan was about to send Zhang Mi and Xu Yan to make Gongsun Yuan, who had declared himself a vassal, King of Yan, Zhang Zhao remonstrated that Gongsun Yuan had turned against Wei and, fearing punishment, was merely seeking help, and that if he changed his mind the two envoys would never return. Sun Quan put his hand on his sword in anger, but when Zhang Zhao cited the Empress Dowager's last edict and wept, he threw down the sword and wept with him; even so, he sent the envoys in the end. When Zhang Zhao, pleading illness, stayed away from court, Sun Quan blocked the gate of his house with earth, and Zhang Zhao in turn sealed the gate with earth from inside. When Gongsun Yuan did indeed kill the envoys, Sun Quan went so far as to set fire to the gate before having it put out, waited a long time until Zhang Zhao's sons helped him out, took him in his carriage back to the palace, and blamed himself deeply. Records, Wu 2 §73Records, Wu 7 §13–15

Zhang Zhao's appearance was grave and commanding, so that Sun Quan often said, "When I speak with Lord Zhang, I dare not speak carelessly," and the whole state held him in awe. He died in the 5th year of Jiahe (236) at the age of eighty-one. By his last instructions he wore a plain cloth headband and was laid in an undecorated coffin in everyday clothes; Sun Quan came in plain white to mourn him and gave him the posthumous title Marquis Wen. Because his eldest son Zhang Cheng had already been enfeoffed as a marquis in his own right, his youngest son Zhang Xiu inherited the title. Records, Wu 7 §16

In his assessment, Chen Shou said that Zhang Zhao received the dying charge and gave his assistance, accomplishing meritorious service, and was loyal, outspoken, upright and unbending, never acting for himself. Yet he was dreaded for his sternness and kept at a distance for his loftiness, so that he held neither the post of chief minister nor the position of imperial tutor and spent his old age in his village; Chen Shou wrote that this made it plain that Sun Quan fell short of Sun Ce. Records, Wu 7 §100