Zhang Shiping 張世平
| Occupation | RNOther | Faction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appears | RN | Biography in | |
| Born | Native place | Zhongshan Commandery | |
| Existence | Historical | Mentions | R1 |
Profile
Zhang Shiping was a great merchant of Zhongshan. He has no biography of his own in the Records and appears once, in the Biography of the First Sovereign (Records of Shu 2). Together with Su Shuang and others he had amassed a fortune of a thousand pieces of gold, and while traveling back and forth through Zhuo Commandery to sell horses, he saw the young Liu Bei, thought him extraordinary, and gave him a great deal of money and goods, with which Liu Bei was able to gather a following. Records, Shu 2 §5
Chen Shou's main text records neither his courtesy name, his dates of birth and death nor any of his other deeds, and there is no assessment of him in the Records. In the Romance he appeared only in Chapter 1, a single chapter out of 120, and his name appeared in no chapter title. He is portrayed as a merchant who, together with Su Shuang, gave fifty fine horses along with gold, silver and steel to Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who had sworn brotherhood in the peach garden. Records, Shu 2 §5 · 78Romance, Ch. 1 §22–23
In the Records
According to the Biography of the First Sovereign, Liu Bei did not much enjoy reading and was fond of dogs and horses, music and fine clothes. He spoke little, readily humbled himself before others, and liked to make friends with bold and chivalrous men, so that young men vied to follow him. Records, Shu 2 §5
Zhang Shiping, Su Shuang and others, great merchants of Zhongshan, had amassed a fortune of a thousand pieces of gold, and while traveling back and forth through Zhuo Commandery to sell horses, they saw Liu Bei, thought him extraordinary, and gave him a great deal of money and goods. Chen Shou wrote that by this means Liu Bei was able to gather a following. Records, Shu 2 §5
The Biography of the First Sovereign goes on to record that at the end of Emperor Ling's reign, when the Yellow Turbans rose and the provinces and commanderies each raised loyalist troops, Liu Bei led his followers in the service of Colonel Zou Jing, attacked the Yellow Turban rebels, won merit, and was made Commandant of Anxi County. Records, Shu 2 §6
This is the only passage in Chen Shou's main text where Zhang Shiping's name appears. His courtesy name, his dates of birth and death and what became of him afterward are not recorded, and there is no assessment of him in the Records, including Chen Shou's assessment in the Biography of the First Sovereign. Records, Shu 2 §5 · 78
In the Romance
In Chapter 1 of the Romance, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei swore brotherhood in the peach garden and gathered more than 300 brave men of the village, but the next day, while putting their weapons in order, they lamented that they had no horses to ride. Just then word came that two travelers, with a band of hired hands, were driving a herd of horses toward the farm, and Xuande said that Heaven was helping them. Romance, Ch. 1 §22
When the three went out of the farm to greet them, the two travelers turned out to be Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang, great merchants of Zhongshan. Every year they went north to trade in horses, and they were on their way back because bandits had recently been rising. When Xuande invited the two to the farm, entertained them with wine and told them of his intention to attack the bandits and bring peace to the people, the two travelers were delighted and gave fifty fine horses, adding 500 taels of gold and silver and 1,000 jin of steel to be used for making weapons. Romance, Ch. 1 §23
After taking leave of the two travelers, Xuande summoned skilled smiths to make a pair of double swords, while Guan Yu had a Green Dragon Crescent Blade weighing 82 jin made and Zhang Fei a steel-pointed spear one zhang and eight chi long. The three gathered more than 500 young men of the district and went to see Zou Jing, and Zou Jing brought them before the Administrator Liu Yan. In the Romance, this passage in Chapter 1 is the only place where Zhang Shiping's name appears. Romance, Ch. 1 §23–24
Where the Romance differs
The meeting: In Chapter 1 of the Romance, Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang, returning from the north because of the bandits, drove their herd of horses to the farm where the three men who had just sworn brotherhood were staying. The Biography of the First Sovereign in the Records says only that the two, traveling back and forth through Zhuo Commandery to sell horses, saw Liu Bei and thought him extraordinary, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei do not appear in this passage. Romance, Ch. 1 §22–23Records, Shu 2 §5
The gifts: In Chapter 1 of the Romance, the two gave fifty fine horses, 500 taels of gold and silver and 1,000 jin of steel, with which the three made the double swords, the Green Dragon Crescent Blade and the steel-pointed spear. The Records says only that they gave a great deal of money and goods, without recording the amount or how it was used, and records that by this means Liu Bei was able to gather a following. Romance, Ch. 1 §23–24Records, Shu 2 §5
Timing: In Chapter 1 of the Romance, they gave the horses to the three men who had raised loyalist troops at the time when Liu Yan posted notices to recruit soldiers. The Biography of the First Sovereign in the Records places this event before the passage on the rising of the Yellow Turbans at the end of Emperor Ling's reign, as something that happened when the young Liu Bei was making friends with bold and chivalrous men and young men were vying to follow him. Romance, Ch. 1 §17 · 23Records, Shu 2 §5–6
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.
Abilities
The Records score (Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms, main text) is the baseline. Each ability compares how the Romance redrew the same person, and the evidence from both sources explains the difference.
Records total437 / 1000Rank 425 of 996 · Top 43%Romance total445 / 1000Rank 254 of 1,113 · Top 23%
Romance adaptation index+8Romance total − Records total
- LEA3030±0
- STR3030±0
- INT4242±0
- POL5555±0
- CHA4545±0
- VIR4858+10
- ADP4545±0
- SCH3535±0
- DIP4545±0
- DIS6260−2
Abilities shaped by the Romance — where it differs from the Records Differences of 10 or more
9 similar abilities — show evidence
Records Romance Unverified No direct record; scored from their actions (evidence grade C)
3KDEX scoring — the Records use the main text of Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms; the Romance uses the 120-chapter Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Click a source tag to open that passage in the reader.
Romance chapters (1)
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