Died 191 Wade–Giles Chang Wen Traditional Chinese 張溫 Name Zhang Wen | Simplified Chinese 张温 Role Han dynasty Pinyin | |
Zhang Wen (died 191), courtesy name Boshen, was an official who lived in the Eastern Han dynasty. 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 Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Wen was murdered by Lü Bu at a dinner party with many officials present. Lü Bu was the adopted son of the tyrannical warlord Dong Zhuo, who ordered Lü Bu to take Zhang Wen away from the assembly, sever his head, and bring it back on a silver platter to show the other guests. Dong Zhuo then announced to the other officials that a letter had 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 told the rest of the assembly not to worry as none of them had been implicated in the letter.