- Gongsun Zan
Three Kingdoms infobox
Name=Gongsun Zan
imagesize=
Caption=
Title=Warlord
Kingdom=
Born=
Died=199
Simp=公孙瓒
Trad=公孫瓚
Pinyin=Gōngsūn Zàn
WG=Kungsun Ts'an
Zi=Bogui (伯珪)
Post=
Era=
Temple=
Other=Gongsun Zan (? - 199), styled Bogui (伯珪). A native of Liaoxi (遼西), he was a warlord with fierce reputation during the late
Eastern Han Dynasty era ofChina .In Romance of the Three Kingdoms
He was commander of a cavalry force and served on the northern and eastern frontiers of the Han Dynasty empire fighting against various non-Chinese peoples. In 191, Gongsun enlisted as part of the coalition against
Dong Zhuo , the warlord who had seized power inLuoyang and held the emperor hostage, but used the opportunity to enlarge his territories. In late 191, Gongsun Zan appointed the later greatShu Han general,Zhao Yun . Zhao Yun later joined another member of the attack on Dong Zhuo,Liu Bei who also served him at one point along with his comradesGuan Yu andZhang Fei . Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei had known each other for years having studied together in their younger days. Throughout the 190s he fought a series of battles with the warlordYuan Shao for control of north China, starting with theBattle of Jieqiao . He was defeated by Yuan in 199 in theBattle of Yijing and committed suicide by burning the pagoda he was on.Gongsun Zan was known as the General of Baima and renowned for his brigade of elite cavalry from Baima, made up completely of horses of pure white (Bai Ma means white horse in Chinese). It seems he hit on the tactic of using all white horses in battle when he learned the barbarians he was then fighting against considered the animals sacred and would run from them instead of fighting.
Personal information
* Son
**Gongsun Xu
* Cousin
**Gongsun Yue
**Gongsun Fan References
ee also
*
Three Kingdoms
*Personages of the Three Kingdoms
*"Records of Three Kingdoms "
*"Romance of the Three Kingdoms "
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