Zhang Yan 張燕

Zhang Yan was a man of Zhending in Changshan whose original surname was Chu. When the Yellow Turbans rose, he gathered young men into a band of brigands, raided from place to place among the mountains and marshes, and returned to Zhending with a following of over 10,000. Zhang Niujiao of Boling also raised a following, styled himself Attendant Officer Commanding Troops and joined forces with Zhang Yan. Zhang Yan put Zhang Niujiao forward as leader and they attacked Yingtao together, but Zhang Niujiao was struck by a stray arrow, and as he lay dying he told the band, 'You must make Yan your leader.' Records, Wei 8 §52

When Zhang Niujiao died the band acclaimed Zhang Yan, and so he changed his surname to Zhang. Zhang Yan was fierce and swifter and more agile than other men, so in the army he was called Feiyan (Flying Swallow). After that his following grew steadily until the mountain valleys of Changshan, Zhao Commandery, Zhongshan, Shangdang and Henei were all linked; lesser chiefs such as Sun Qing and Wang Dang each brought their bands to follow him, his following reached a million, and it was called the Heishan (Black Mountain). Emperor Ling could not subdue them, and the commanderies north of the Yellow River suffered from them. Records, Wei 8 §53

Zhang Yan sent men to the capital to ask to surrender and was appointed General of the Household Who Pacifies Difficulty. Later, when Dong Zhuo moved the Son of Heaven to Chang'an and troops rose again and again across the realm, Zhang Yan joined with the powerful men of the time at the head of his following. The Attendant Officer Ju Shou told Yuan Shao, who had taken over Ji Province, that although the Heishan were running rampant, if he turned back and attacked the Heishan he could destroy Zhang Yan. Records, Wei 8 §54Records, Wei 6 §45

According to the Biography of Lü Bu, when Lü Bu, rejected by Yuan Shu, went north to Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao attacked Zhang Yan at Changshan together with Lü Bu. Zhang Yan had over 10,000 elite troops and several thousand cavalry. Riding a fine horse named Red Hare, Lü Bu, together with his close followers Cheng Lian, Wei Yue and others, pierced the enemy's spearhead and charged into their formation, and at last defeated Zhang Yan's army. Records, Wei 7 §7

When Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan contended for Ji Province, Zhang Yan sent his officer Du Chang and others to help Gongsun Zan fight Yuan Shao, but they were defeated by Yuan Shao and his following gradually scattered. Zang Hong, besieged by Yuan Shao, wrote in his reply to Chen Lin that when the autumn wind blew, Gongsun Zan would turn his horse's head south and Zhang Yang and Feiyan would exert all their strength to make trouble, so that the northern frontier would be in urgent danger, and he also said that Feiyan's band had all already accepted the royal command. According to the Biography of Gongsun Zan, when Yuan Shao besieged Yijing in the 4th year of Jian'an (199), Gongsun Zan sent his son to ask the Heishan bandits for help. Records, Wei 8 §54 · 18Records, Wei 7 §42 · 52–53

When Cao Cao (Taizu) was about to pacify Ji Province, Zhang Yan sent an envoy asking to assist the royal army and was appointed General Who Pacifies the North. The Annals of Emperor Wu record that in the 4th month, in summer, of the 10th year of Jian'an (205), the Heishan bandit Zhang Yan surrendered at the head of his following of more than 100,000 and was enfeoffed as a full marquis. Zhang Yan led his following to Ye and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Anguo Village with a fief of 500 households. When Zhang Yan died his son Zhang Fang succeeded him, and when Zhang Fang died his son Zhang Rong succeeded. The Records does not give the year of Zhang Yan's death. Records, Wei 8 §54Records, Wei 1 §88 · 90

In his assessment Chen Shou said that Gongsun Zan, Gongsun Du, Tao Qian, Zhang Yang and others held provinces and commanderies yet were no better than common men, whereas Zhang Yan, Zhang Xiu and Zhang Lu abandoned banditry, joined the ranks of meritorious subjects, escaped danger and destruction and preserved the sacrifices of their ancestral temples, and so were better than those others. Records, Wei 8 §71