Gongsun Zan faction 公孫瓚

Gongsun Zan was a native of Lingzhi in Liaoxi. Recommended as Filial and Incorrupt (xiaolian), he became a Gentleman and then Chief Clerk of the Liaodong Dependent State. Patrolling the frontier with several tens of horsemen, he met several hundred Xianbei horsemen and broke through them wielding a spear bladed at both ends, after which the Xianbei no longer dared to enter the frontier. In the Guanghe era, while he was leading 3,000 shock cavalry of You Province, Zhang Chun of Yuyang induced Qiuliju and others of the Wuhuan of Liaoxi to rebel; Gongsun Zan pursued and attacked them, and after serving as Cavalry Commandant he became General of the Household and Marquis of a Chief Village, stationed in the Dependent State and fighting the barbarians for five or six years. Yet he could not stop Qiuliju and the others when they plundered Qing, Xu, You and Ji provinces. Records, Wei 8 §2–5

When the court made Liu Yu Governor of You Province, the barbarians wished to submit to him, and Gongsun Zan, jealous of Liu Yu winning the merit, secretly had the barbarians' envoys killed. Liu Yu abolished the various garrisons and left only Gongsun Zan, with 10,000 infantry and cavalry, stationed at Youbeiping. When Dong Zhuo reached Luoyang, Liu Yu became Grand Marshal and Gongsun Zan became General of Vehement Might and Marquis of Ji. When Liu Yu's son Liu He, setting out on the Emperor's orders to bring back Liu Yu's troops, was detained by Yuan Shu, Gongsun Zan secretly urged Yuan Shu to seize Liu He and take his troops, and sent his cousin Gongsun Yue with 1,000 horsemen to ally himself with Yuan Shu. Because of this the rift with Liu Yu grew wider. Records, Wei 8 §7–11

As Gongsun Zan came south on the strength of his victories and the commanderies responded to him, Gao Gan, Xun Chen and others, sent by Yuan Shao, used this to persuade Han Fu to hand Ji Province over to Yuan Shao. When Yuan Shao had Zhou Ang seize the post at Yangcheng where Sun Jian, sent by Yuan Shu, was stationed, Gongsun Yue attacked Zhou Ang together with Sun Jian and was killed by an arrow. Saying that his brother's death began with Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan sent his army to the Pan River. Yuan Shao, afraid, gave the seal and ribbon of Administrator of Bohai to Gongsun Zan's cousin Gongsun Fan, but Gongsun Fan used the troops of Bohai to help Gongsun Zan defeat the Yellow Turbans of Qing and Xu provinces, and his army grew even stronger. Gongsun Zan entrusted Ji Province to Yan Gang, Qing Province to Tian Kai and Yan Province to Shan Jing and set up commanderies and counties, and when Yuan Shao confronted him at Jieqiao, Li Shao, Administrator of Julu, and others wished to go over to him because his forces were strong. Records, Wei 6 §40–43Records, Wei 8 §12–13Records, Wei 14 §45

Gongsun Zan, who had also made peace with Liu Dai, Inspector of Yan Province, and sent his Attendant Officer Fan Fang with cavalry to help him, told Liu Dai after defeating Yuan Shao's army to send away Yuan Shao's wife and children and break with Yuan Shao. Liu Dai followed Cheng Yu's advice that Gongsun Zan was no match for Yuan Shao, and before Fan Fang had even returned, Gongsun Zan was heavily defeated by Yuan Shao. Advancing to Jieqiao, Gongsun Zan had Yan Gang captured by Qu Yi, the vanguard of Yuan Shao, who was encamped at Guangchuan, and fled to Bohai. Gongsun Zan made Liu Bei Major of a Separate Command (biebu sima) and had him resist Yuan Shao together with Tian Kai, and at Yuan Shu's request he stationed Liu Bei, Shan Jing and Tao Qian at Gaotang, Pingyuan and Fagan to press Yuan Shao, but the Annals of Emperor Wu record that in the 3rd year of Chuping (192) Cao Cao and Yuan Shao defeated them all. Zhang Yan of Heishan also sent his commander Du Chang and others to help Gongsun Zan, but they were defeated by Yuan Shao. Records, Wei 14 §5–7Records, Wei 8 §13 · 54Records, Shu 2 §7Records, Wei 1 §24

Back at Ji, Gongsun Zan built a small walled town southeast of the main city, which brought him close to Liu Yu, and their mutual resentment deepened. Liu Yu raised troops first and attacked him but was defeated and fled to Juyong, and Gongsun Zan took Juyong and captured Liu Yu. After Dong Zhuo died, the Emperor sent the envoy Duan Xun to have Liu Yu supervise six provinces and made Gongsun Zan General of the Front and Marquis of Yi, whereupon Gongsun Zan falsely accused Liu Yu of intending to claim the imperial title and coerced Duan Xun into beheading him. Gongsun Zan recommended Duan Xun as Inspector of You Province, and from then on he grew arrogant, remembering others' faults and forgetting their good deeds, and harmed many people. Records, Wei 8 §13–14

Xianyu Fu and others, formerly Liu Yu's Attendant Officers, put forward Yan Rou as Wuhuan Major to take revenge on Gongsun Zan. Yan Rou called in the Wuhuan and Xianbei, gained several tens of thousands of barbarians and Han Chinese, and beheaded Zou Dan, the Administrator of Yuyang installed by Gongsun Zan, north of Lu; Yuan Shao also sent Qu Yi and Liu Yu's son Liu He to attack Gongsun Zan together with Xianyu Fu. Gongsun Zan's commander Wang Men even went over to Yuan Shao's side and came to attack Tian Yu, Magistrate of Dongzhou. After repeated defeats, Gongsun Zan withdrew to Yijing. Records, Wei 8 §15–16Records, Wei 26 §26

At Yijing, Gongsun Zan surrounded himself with ten rings of trenches and built watchtowers on earthen mounds five or six zhang high; he himself lived on the central mound, ten zhang high, and stored three million hu of grain. He said that he had once thought the affairs of the realm could be settled with a wave of the finger, but that it was now better to rest his troops, work the fields and store grain, and that since his towers stood a thousand layers deep, by the time he had eaten all this grain he would know how the affairs of the realm had turned out. His aim was to wear Yuan Shao down, and Yuan Shao could not take Yijing for several years. Records, Wei 8 §16–17

In the 4th year of Jian'an (199), when Yuan Shao surrounded Yijing with his whole army, Gongsun Zan sent his son to the Heishan bandits to ask for help and intended to lead his shock cavalry out in person to cut Yuan Shao off from the rear. When his Chief Clerk Guan Jing dissuaded him, saying that if the general left his base Yijing would soon be in danger, Gongsun Zan did not go out. Yuan Shao's scouts obtained the letter he had sent his son, arranging to raise a fire when the relief force arrived and attack from inside and outside, and raised the fire on that day; Gongsun Zan came out to fight and was crushed by an ambush. When Yuan Shao brought down the towers by tunneling and closed in on the central mound, Gongsun Zan, knowing he was sure to lose, killed all his wife and children and then killed himself. The Annals of Emperor Wu record that at this time Yuan Shao absorbed Gongsun Zan and held the territory of four provinces. Records, Wei 8 §18–20Records, Wei 1 §54

After Gongsun Zan's fall, Xianyu Fu led his followers to accept the court's orders and, as General Who Establishes Loyalty, supervised the six commanderies of You Province, and Yan Rou also sent an envoy to Cao Cao and became Colonel Protector of the Wuhuan. Gongsun Zan had known that Tian Yu was skilled in stratagems but had not been able to give him an important post; Tian Yu, who became Xianyu Fu's Chief Clerk, advised him to submit, saying that the one who would ultimately bring the realm under order was the Cao clan. Records, Wei 8 §21Records, Wei 26 §27

In his assessment in Records of Wei 8, Chen Shou said that Gongsun Zan guarded Yijing and sat waiting for his destruction, and counted him among those who held provinces and commanderies as their strongholds yet did not measure up even to common men. Records, Wei 8 §71