- Han Zhangluan
Han Zhangluan (韓長鸞), formal personal name Han Feng (韓鳳) (but went by the
courtesy name of Zhangluan), was an official of the Chinese dynastyNorthern Qi . He was initially a guard commander forGao Wei when Gao Wei wascrown prince , and became a close associate of Gao Wei after Gao Wei became emperor. Late in Gao Wei's reign, he dominated the political scene along withMu Tipo andGao Anagong . While not as criticized for corruption as Mu and Gao Anagong were, he was blamed by historians for his rejection of civilians and ethnic Han officials, including the killing of the officials Cui Jishu (崔季舒) and Zhang Diao (張雕) at his instigation.Han Zhangluan was from Changli Commandery (昌黎, roughly modern
Qinhuangdao ,Hebei ), probably ofXianbei ethnicity. His father Han Yongxing (韓永興) was a commandery governor. In his youth, he was said to have very strong arms and was good at archery and horseriding. After Gao Wei was created crown prince in562 , his father Emperor Wucheng set up a guard corps commanded by 20 officers. Han Zhangluan was one of the officers thus commissioned, and Gao Wei immediately took a liking to him. After Gao Wei became emperor in565 , he was constantly promoted, and eventually, he was created the Prince of Changli. Both his sons Han Baoxing (韓寶行) and Han Baoxin (韓寶信) married princesses. Han was particularly powerful after the generalHulü Guang was falsely accused of treason and executed in572 , and he, Mu, and Gao Anagong were referred to as the "Three Nobles," controlling the government together, and they were later blamed for the deterioration of Northern Qi. WhenChen Dynasty attacked and captured the region between theYangtze River andHuai River in573 , including the important city Shouyang (壽陽, in modernLu'an ,Anhui ), Han and Mu were gambling when news of Shouyang's fall arrived and not willing to stop despite the bad news. Further, during the Chen campaign, when Cui and Zhang, along with several other officials, including Xiaoyan (封孝琰), Liu Ti (劉逖), Pei Ze (裴澤), and Guo Zun (郭遵), submitted a joint petition trying to persuade Gao Wei not to visit the secondary capital Jinyang (晉陽, in modernTaiyuan ,Shanxi ), on account that such a visit might be misinterpreted by the people as flight, it was Han who suggested that those civilian officials were, in effect, committing treason, and should all be killed. Gao Wei agreed and had them executed. Han was also known for his disdain for civilian officials, but was known for his good treatment of military officers. He particularly despited ethnicallyHan Chinese officials, and is known for often stating, "Those Han dogs are difficult to endure; they should all be killed!"At one point, both Han and Mu were removed from their offices for over their diversion of imperial construction personnel from their project of repairing the palace at the secondary capital Jinyang to repairing their own homes. At the time of the major attack by
Northern Zhou in577 , Gao Wei initially battled Northern Zhou forces but eventually fled back to the Northern Qi capital Yecheng (鄴城, in modernHandan ,Hebei ), and it was at that time he recalled Han back to government. Han subsequently fled with Gao Wei south of theYellow River and was one of the few officials who did not surrender to Northern Zhou. Both Gao Wei and he were soon captured, however.Many Northern Qi officials were given posts in the Northern Zhou government, but no historical record indicated that Han received any offices. In the subsequent
Sui Dynasty , he was made a provincial governor, and he died while serving as the governor of Long Province (隴州, roughly modernBaoji ,Shaanxi ), but it is not known when he died saved that it must be before607 , when Sui provinces were renamed commanderies.
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