Pan Zhang (?–234), courtesy name Wen jue, was a native of Fagan, Dong Commandery (東郡; present-day East, Guan County, Shandong). A general of the State of Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. Pan Zhang's family was poor when he was young, and after following Sun Quan, he was appreciated by him, coupled with his bravery in battle, he was constantly promoted, and his life was sun Quan's eastern expedition to the west, and he made many military achievements in the Battle of Hefei, the Pursuit of Guan Yu, the Battle of Yiling, and the Defense of Jiangling. But it is extravagant and greedy for money. Military markets were often set up, and soldiers were robbed and killed to obtain property, but Sun Quan remembered his merits and did not investigate them in depth. He was praised by Chen Shou as the "Tiger Minister of jiangbiao". In the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Pan Zhang captures Guan Yu and captures the Green Dragon Moon Knife and the Red Rabbit Horse, and depicts being killed by Guan Xing, who avenged his father at the Battle of Yiling, but in fact it is a fictional novel effect.
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Pan Zhang was a famous general of Eastern Wu, but what made him more famous was the killing of Guan Yu, a famous general of the Three Kingdoms. Who killed Guan Yu in the end is not clearly recorded in the history books, but the direction of various historical materials is undoubtedly Pan Zhang. There is an article devoted to this matter, and here we only talk about what kind of person Pan Zhang was, and how he died.
Pan Zhang was a native of Dong County, and when Sun Quan was the governor of Yangxian County, Pan Zhang went to follow Sun Quan. Pan Zhang has a debauched temperament and likes to drink alcohol, but because his family is poor, he often buys alcohol on credit. The creditor came to the door to ask for it, and Pan Zhang said that he would pay it back when I was rich and expensive in the future. Such a rogue man, Sun Quan instead thought he was strange and lovely, so he asked him to recruit soldiers, got more than a hundred people, and Sun Quan let him lead. Because of his military exploits in the crusade against the mountain thieves, he was appointed as the Sima of the Other Department. During Pan Zhang's tenure as an assassin in Wu County, the thieves disappeared, so he was promoted to the governor of Xi'an County, Yuzhang County. When Liu Biao was the assassin of Jingzhou, the people were repeatedly harassed by thieves, and since Pan Zhang was the governor of Xi'an County, the thieves did not dare to enter the country. The bandits in the neighboring county of Jianchang rebelled, and Pan Zhang transferred the order of Jianchang County to the rank of Lieutenant Wu Meng. After Pan Zhang took office, he fought and punished the evil among the people, and within a month they were all pacified. Pan Zhang also gathered local scattered soldiers, got 800 people, and led them back to Jianye. It can be seen that Pan Zhang's administrative governance ability is still very prominent.
Of course, military capabilities were more important in the years of turmoil. In the Battle of Hefei, the Wei general Zhang Liao suddenly came out of the city, the Jiangnan generals were defenseless, Chen Wu was killed, and Song Qian, Xu Sheng, and their troops all fled. Because Pan Zhang's position was behind, he drove his horse forward, crossed the horse's head, and beheaded two defectors in Song Qian's and Xu Sheng's army, which stopped the rout and the soldiers turned back to fight again. Sun Quan admired his bravery and appointed him a partial general, leading the hundred school troops and tunbing half a state.
When Sun Quan attacked Guan Yu, Pan Zhang and Zhu Ran cut off Guan Yu's retreat and came to Linfeng, where they were stationed at Jiashi. Pan Zhang's subordinate Sima Mazhong captured Guan Yu alive, as well as Guan Yu's son Guan Ping and The Governor Zhao Lei. Sun Quan immediately divided Wu County and Zigui County of Yidu County as Guling County, appointed Pan Zhang as the general of Taishou and Zhenwei, and made him the Marquis of Liyang. After Gan Ning's death, his troops were allocated to Pan Zhang. Liu Beidong conquered Wu, Pan Zhang and Lu Xun joined forces to resist Liu Bei's attack, Pan Zhang beheaded Liu Bei's protector Feng Xi, and because of the large number of enemies killed and wounded, Sun Quan appointed Pan Zhang as the general of Pingbei and the Taishou of Xiangyang. During the Wei and Wu wars against Jingzhou, Pan Zhang, along with other generals, defended Xiahou Shang and later garrisoned Lukou (陸口; present-day Jiayu County, Hubei Province). Sun Quan declared himself emperor and appointed Pan Zhang as the Right General.
Pan Zhang's ability to capture Guan Yu, behead Liu Bei's general Feng Xi, and resist the Wei general Xiahou Shang,000 generals shows that his military ability is not a general. Although Pan Zhang was rude and fierce, he had strict prohibitions, liked to make meritorious achievements, and led only a few thousand soldiers and horses, but it felt as if there were ten thousand soldiers and horses. When Pan Zhang was still stationed in battle, he set up a military market, and other troops also relied on his military market to replenish military supplies.
However, Pan Zhang, a person with many major problems in military merit, can be called a problem official. He was extravagant by nature, and in his later years, he became more intense, and his clothes and utensils went beyond his own identity and compared with others. What is even worse is that for some rich officers and soldiers, Pan Zhang will kill them and take away their belongings, and such unruly things often happen. Supervision officials reported Pan Zhang's illegal behavior, and Sun Quan cherished his merits and always forgave him without questioning.
In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Pan Zhang was killed by Guan Yu's son Guan Xing at the Battle of Yiling. The actual situation is that Pan Zhang died in the third year of Jiahe (234 AD). In the first year of Jian'an (196 AD), when Sun Quan was the head of Yang Xian, Pan Zhang followed Sun Quan, and by the time of his death, he should be around the age of sixty. Considering the average life expectancy during the Three Kingdoms period, this should be a considerable age. The Battle of Yiling took place in 222 AD, and there were twelve years left until Pan Zhang's death. Although the novel is mostly fictional, why does this kind of character who uses his real name and real thing make him die early? In addition to the fact that the author of the novel wants to get retribution for killing Guan Yu, is it related to Pan Zhang's misconduct, and the author's idea is that such a person should not die well?
Pan Zhang's son, Pan Ping, did not learn the skills of his father to fight but inherited his father's unscrupulous conduct, and after Pan Zhang's death, he was exiled to Huiji.
During the Three Kingdoms period, the title of meritorious person would generally be inherited by the son, and those who had great merit, in addition to having one son inherit the father's title, the emperor would also give extra grace and give the other son the title of Marquis of Guannei. Pan Zhang was given the title of Marquis of Liyang very early, and it is not known whether his son inherited the title after his death. "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" writes that after Pan Zhang's death, he immediately wrote that his son Pan Ping was exiled, I don't know if the father took the son and damaged the son or the son pit the father? Although this account is not clear, one thing can be said clearly, this father and son are misbehaving.