Zhang Wen (Han dynasty)


Zhang Wen, courtesy name Boshen, was an official and military general who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty of China. He served as Minister of Works and was, at one point, the superior of Dong Zhuo and Sun Jian when he served as the commander of the Han imperial army in the Liang Province Rebellion.

In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''

In the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Wen is murdered by Lü Bu at a dinner party with many officials present. Lü Bu is the foster son of the tyrannical warlord Dong Zhuo, who orders him to take Zhang Wen away from the assembly, cut off his head, and bring it back on a silver platter to show the other guests. Dong Zhuo then announces to the other officials that a letter has been discovered from Zhang Wen to Yuan Shu, one of Dong Zhuo's rival warlords, in which Zhang Wen had been collaborating against him. Dong Zhuo tells the rest of the assembly not to worry as none of them are implicated in the letter.