Zhang Jianzhi

Zhang Jianzhi (張柬之) (625 – 706), courtesy name Mengjiang (孟將), formally Prince Wenzhen of Hanyang (漢陽文貞王), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian and her son Emperor Zhongzong. He was a key figure in the coup that overthrew Wu Zetian and restored Emperor Zhongzong in 705 but was later exiled due to false accusations instigated by Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi and died in exile.

Background Zhang Jianzhi was born in 625, killing Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, and then surrounding Wu Zetian. She, in fear, asked, "Who is disturbing me?" Zhang Jianzhi responded, in a formalistic manner:

Wu Zetian subsequently tried to have Li Xian returned to the palace of the Crown Prince, but the coup leaders ignored her. While the coup leaders allowed Wu Zetian to retain the title of "emperor," they had her put under house arrest at the secondary palace Shangyang Palace and forced her to yield the throne to Li Xian, who was formerly emperor, and he was restored to the throne (as Emperor Zhongzong).

During Emperor Zhongzong's second reign Zhang Jianzhi, along with Cui Xuanwei, Huan Yanfan, Jing Hui, and Yuan Shuji, were recognized as leaders in Emperor Zhongzong's restoration, and they were put into key positions and created dukes, with Zhang becoming the minister of defense (夏官尚書, Xiaguan Shangshu) and remaining chancellor with the Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi designation and carrying the title of Duke of Hanyang. He and the other coup leaders instituted a regime of restoring Tang institutions and deprecating Zhou ones, and when Yao Yuanzhi displayed distress at Wu Zetian's removal to Shangyang Palace, Zhang and Huan had him demoted out of the capital. Soon, however, Emperor Zhongzong became full heavily influenced by his wife Empress Wei and her lover Wu Sansi the Prince of Liang (Wu Zetian's nephew and Emperor Zhongzong's cousin). (One of the coup participants, Xue Jichang , had advocated to Zhang Jianzhi and Jing the killing of Wu Sansi in the aftermaths of the killing of Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, but neither Zhang Jianzhi nor Jing paid Xue's suggestion much heed until it was too late.) After realizing that Wu Sansi's power was on the rise, Zhang Jianzhi tried to persuade Emperor Zhongzong to reduce the power of the Wu clan on the whole but was unable to get Emperor Zhongzong to listen. Meanwhile, Zhang Jianzhi was made Zhongshu Ling , the head of the legislative bureau (now returned to the prior name of Zhongshu Sheng .

In summer 705, Under the full influence of his wife Empress Wei, by which time Emperor Zhongzong's trust in Zhang and his colleagues had completely been lost, Emperor Zhongzong, following Wu Sansi's recommendation, created the five coup leader's princes—in Zhang's case, Prince of Hanyang—but stripped them of chancellor positions. Zhang soon requested to retire back to his home prefecture Xiang Prefecture, and Emperor Zhongzong agreed, making him the prefect of Xiang Prefecture, but not putting him in actual responsibility of the prefecture. His son Zhang Yi was made a low-level imperial official but ordered to follow his father to Xiang Prefecture.

In spring 706, with all five of the coup leaders already out of the capital, Wu Sansi and Empress Wei made accusations against them, and they were demoted to more remote prefectures (although Zhang was not moved). Wu Sansi then had his strategist Zheng Yin further accuse the five of them of having participated in the plot of Emperor Zhongzong's son-in-law Wang Tongjiao -- who was executed on 23 April 706 after having been accused of plotting to kill Wu Sansi and deposing Empress Wei. The five were further demoted on 20 July with the provisions that they would never be allowed to return to the capital Chang'an, with Zhang becoming the military advisor to the prefect of Xin Prefecture (新州, roughly modern Yunfu, Guangdong). Wu Sansi then had accusations that Empress Wei was having affairs posted publicly in Luoyang (now eastern capital, with the capital moved back to Chang'an), with the intent of incensing Emperor Zhongzong—and then accused the five coup leaders of being behind this public humiliation. He then had his associates propose that the five be killed. Emperor Zhongzong, citing that the five had been previously awarded iron certificates that guaranteed that they would not be executed in recognition of their contribution, ordered that they be reduced to commoner rank and permanently exiled to the Lingnan region with their families—in Zhang's case, to Long Prefecture (瀧州, in modern Ganzhou, Jiangxi). At the suggestion of Cui Shi, Wu Sansi then sent the censor Zhou Lizhen to the Lingnan region under guise of reviewing the affairs of the region but with instructions to kill the five. By the time that Zhou reached the region, though, Zhang had already died. After Emperor Zhongzong's death in 710 and Li Dan, himself a former emperor, was restored (as Emperor Ruizong), Zhang and his colleagues were posthumously honored.

Notes and references

Old Book of Tang, vol.91 New Book of Tang, vol.120 Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 202, 206, 207, 208.