Former Liang

Historical Development

Establishment: Zhang Gui was the founder of the Zhang family's power base rather than the formal founding ruler, but his administration of Hexi established the family's foundations. After his death in 314, the second year of Yongxing, his son Zhang Shi succeeded him as Inspector of Liangzhou. Zhang Shi executed rebels including Zhang Yue and Zhou Gui, stabilized the region, and became the effective first ruler of Former Liang. After the Eastern Jin was founded in 317, the fifth year of Jianxing, Former Liang continued to honor the Jin house from afar but did not adopt Eastern Jin era names, instead continuing to use Jianxing. From this point it functioned as a fully independent regional regime. In 320, the eighth year of Jianxing, Zhang Shi was killed by his officer Yan Sha, and his younger brother Zhang Mao succeeded him as the second ruler.

Height: In 345, the thirty-third year of Jianxing, Zhang Jun styled himself "Acting Prince of Liang" and began appointing a full range of officials. Under his son Zhang Chonghua, Former Liang reached its height. Its territory extended west beyond the Congling Mountains and north to Juyan; Gaochang Commandery was established, extending the commandery-county system toward the Western Regions. Zhang Chonghua also defeated a numerically superior Later Zhao army under Shi Hu.

Turning Point: Zhang Chonghua died in 353, the ninth year of Yonghe, after which struggles within the ruling house intensified. In 354, the tenth year of Yonghe, Zhang Zuo deposed Zhang Chonghua's son Zhang Yaoling, proclaimed himself emperor, and adopted the era name Heping. He was killed the following year, in 355, after losing support because of his violent rule. This was the first major upheaval to overturn Former Liang's political order. After his fall, rival forces competed for power, leading to further conflicts among members of the ruling house and military commanders.

Decline: After Zhang Zuo was killed, Former Liang enthroned Zhang Chonghua's young son Zhang Xuanjing. Court affairs, however, were controlled in succession by royal kinsmen and commanders such as Zhang Guan, Song Hun, and Zhang Yong, and internal struggles continued. Zhang Tianxi later killed Zhang Xuanjing and took power himself. Control over Hexi steadily contracted, and the regime declined sharply.

Fall: In 376, the twelfth year of Yonghe, Fu Jian launched a major invasion with 130,000 infantry and cavalry. Zhang Tianxi was defeated and surrendered, and the entire territory of Former Liang, including Shanggui and other areas, was absorbed by Former Qin. After the Battle of the Fei River in 383, Zhang Tianxi escaped to the Eastern Jin. His son Zhang Dayu later attempted to restore the regime but was defeated and killed.

Politics and Institutions

The titles used by Former Liang's rulers changed repeatedly. Zhang Gui and Zhang Shi were styled Inspector of Liangzhou, with the additional title Duke of Xiping around 314. In 323, the first year of Taining, Zhang Mao received the title "Prince of Liang" from Former Zhao. In 345, the thirty-third year of Jianxing, Zhang Jun styled himself "Acting Prince of Liang" and began appointing a complete bureaucracy. Zhang Chonghua adopted the title "Prince of Liang," while Zhang Zuo briefly proclaimed himself emperor; later rulers again used titles such as Prince of Liang or Inspector of Liangzhou. Institutionally, Former Liang broadly followed Wei and Jin practices. Members of the ruling family and aristocratic lineages assisted in government, corresponding central offices were maintained, and local administration followed the three levels of province, commandery, and county. The Zhang family's ability to hold Hexi for so long was connected to its effective use of prominent Liangzhou families, such as the Song and Xin clans, and its respectful treatment of displaced scholars. After Zhang Jun assumed the title Prince of Liang, he appointed literary officials and sought to improve official administration. Details of specific offices are treated in the relevant entries.

Military and Diplomacy

Former Liang relied on Hexi cavalry and difficult terrain for defense. It repelled attacks by Former Zhao and Later Zhao on several occasions, and under Zhang Chonghua it decisively defeated forces of Later Zhao under Shi Hu. It also expanded toward the Western Regions and established Gaochang Commandery. Diplomatically, it recognized the Jin house as the legitimate dynasty and maintained a nominal ruler-subject relationship. Under Zhang Jun, envoys were sent to restore contact with the Eastern Jin. At the same time, Former Liang alternately cooperated and competed with northern regimes; Zhang Mao, for example, accepted the title "Prince of Liang" from Former Zhao as part of a pragmatic policy toward powerful neighbors.

Economy and Commerce

Former Liang promoted military-agricultural colonies, farming, and irrigation, and Hexi possessed a solid agricultural base. Under Zhang Chonghua, policies described as "lightening taxes, abolishing customs duties, reducing imperial parks, and aiding the poor" helped agriculture and commerce recover further. Zhang Gui had earlier minted wuzhu coins that circulated throughout the territory. Because it occupied a major section of the Silk Road, Former Liang maintained frequent contacts and active trade with states in the Western Regions and played an important role in maintaining east-west traffic along the route. Compared with the warfare in the Central Plains, Former Liang was relatively stable and attracted displaced households; its economy was among the more prosperous in the early Sixteen Kingdoms period.

Culture and Society

The Zhang family valued Confucian learning. Scholars gathered in Former Liang, and Dunhuang and Wuwei became places of refuge and scholarship, preserving many academic traditions of the Western and Eastern Jin. Zhang Gui promoted agriculture, sericulture, and schools in Liangzhou, while Zhang Jun established institutions such as the Biyong academy and Mingtang and recruited scholars. Buddhism entered through the Western Regions and achieved a degree of local spread. Compared with the frequent turnover of other northern regimes, Former Liang preserved much of the social order of local aristocratic lineages and communities.

Rulers and Political Leadership

Zhang Shi, Zhang Mao, Zhang Jun, Zhang Chonghua, Zhang Zuo, Zhang Xuanjing, Zhang Tianxi.

> This section explains the position of rulers in the evolution of the regime; complete biographies are provided in the corresponding person entities.

Historical Assessment and Legacy

Contemporary assessment: The Book of Jin, in the biography of Zhang Gui, states that he "secretly planned to hold Hexi while the Jin house was beset by troubles" and that he "promoted agriculture and sericulture and established schools," presenting him as the creator of a stable order in Hexi. The later-compiled Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance also records that Zhang Gui's "authority was renowned in the western region," while in Zhang Jun's time Liangzhou was said to be a place where "the Central Provinces had no music, but Liangzhou alone had sound." These descriptions reflect the contemporary reputation of the Zhang rulers for defending the region, protecting the population, and maintaining cultural learning.

Later historical assessment: The laudatory section of the Book of Jin's biography of Zhang Gui treats the Zhang regime as foremost among the "Five Liangs" and says that it "pacified the surviving people within and repelled powerful enemies without," crediting it with preserving local order and continuing the Confucian and institutional traditions of the Jin. Later historians also treated it as one of the earliest regimes of the Sixteen Kingdoms and emphasized its preservation of the economic and cultural continuity of Hexi during an age of disorder. At the same time, historians have pointed to Zhang Zuo's imperial usurpation, struggles within the ruling house, and domination by powerful ministers as causes of the transition from strength to decline, culminating in the last ruler's surrender to Former Qin. Overall, Former Liang was a relatively stable Han Chinese regime amid the divisions of the Sixteen Kingdoms, and its cultural contribution was significant.

(The assessments above separately identify contemporary and later viewpoints and do not present them as statements from the same period.)