Zhang Yaoling

Biography

Early Years and Succession

Zhang Yaoling was born into the royal family of Former Liang. During the period when his father Zhang Chonghua governed, the situation within the territory remained generally stable. In the tenth month of the forty-first year of Jianxing (353), Zhang Chonghua was gravely ill and, knowing his days were numbered, appointed the Left Chief Clerk Ma Jirong to preside over the ceremonies, establishing the ten-year-old Zhang Yaoling as Crown Prince and issuing an edict for a general amnesty.

At that time, Zhang Chonghua's elder half-brother, Zhang Zuo, the Marquis of Changning, was brave and decisive and possessed the talent to govern, but his nature was treacherous, and he was extremely skilled at reading people's minds. He had formed a sworn brotherhood with Zhang Chonghua's favored ministers, the Right Chief Clerk Zhao Chang and Wei Ji. The Commandant Chang Ju had once suggested transferring Zhang Zuo away from the center of power to eliminate the potential threat, but Zhang Chonghua believed that Zhang Zuo could assist his young son like the Duke of Zhou, and thus did not adopt this proposal.

Accession and Regency

On the tenth day of the eleventh month of the forty-first year of Jianxing (353), Zhang Chonghua's condition deteriorated rapidly. He personally issued a handwritten order summoning Xie Ai to serve as General of the Guards and Supervisor of Military Affairs in the Interior and Exterior to assist in handling court affairs. However, Zhang Zuo and Zhao Chang intercepted and concealed this order, failing to disclose it to the public. On the eighteenth day of the eleventh month of the same year, Zhang Chonghua passed away, and the Crown Prince Zhang Yaoling formally ascended the throne, styling himself Grand Marshal, Governor of Liang Province, Colonel, Regional Inspector, and Duke of Xiping.

Subsequently, the Right Chief Clerk Zhao Chang and others falsely claimed to be executing Zhang Chonghua's last will, appointing Zhang Zuo as Envoy Bearing the Imperial Tally, Commander-in-Chief of Military Affairs in the Interior and Exterior, and General Who Pacifies the Army, thereby seizing the actual power of regency. Although Zhang Yaoling remained the ruler in name, actual power had completely fallen into the hands of Zhang Zuo.

Deposition and Assassination

In the twelfth month of the forty-first year of Jianxing (353), Zhao Chang, Wei Ji, and others submitted a memorial arguing that the current situation was unstable and that Zhang Yaoling was too young to personally manage government affairs, requesting that the elder Zhang Zuo be installed as ruler. Zhang Zuo had previously had an illicit relationship with Empress Dowager Ma, the mother of Zhang Chonghua and grandmother of Zhang Yaoling. Empress Dowager Ma adopted the suggestion of Zhao Chang and others, ordering the deposition of Zhang Yaoling's throne, demoting him to the Marquis of Liangning (also written as Marquis of Ningliang), and installing Zhang Zuo as ruler. After ascending the throne, Zhang Zuo styled himself Grand Commander-in-Chief, General-in-Chief, Colonel Protector of the Qiang, Governor of Liang Province, and Duke of Liang.

During his reign, Zhang Zuo was licentious and tyrannical, provoking strong resentment among officials and the people. In the seventh month of the second year of Heping (355), Zhang Zuo, fearing the large power of Zhang Guan, the Regional Inspector of Hezhou, sent Suo Fu, the Prefect of Zhangye, to replace Zhang Guan in garrisoning Fohan, and sent Zhang Guan to suppress the rebellious Hu people. Subsequently, he sent his subordinates Yi Chuai and others to attack Zhang Guan. Zhang Guan then killed Suo Fu, raised troops to attack Zhang Zuo, and issued a proclamation to all commanderies and prefectures, declaring the abolition of Zhang Zuo and the restoration of Zhang Yaoling as ruler. In the eighth month, Zhang Zuo sent Yang Qihu to take Zhang Yaoling to the Eastern Garden, where he broke his waist and limbs and killed him. His body was buried in a sand pit. Zhang Yaoling was only twelve years old at the time of his death, and Zhang Zuo bestowed the posthumous name Duke Ai.

Major Activities

Brief Accession

After the death of his father Zhang Chonghua, Zhang Yaoling inherited the throne of Former Liang at the age of ten. He styled himself Grand Marshal, Governor of Liang Province, Colonel, Regional Inspector, and Duke of Xiping. However, due to his youth and lack of political foundation, his rule was quickly marginalized by the powerful minister Zhang Zuo.

Deposition and Assassination

After being deposed, Zhang Yaoling was demoted to the Marquis of Liangning. Two years later, because Zhang Guan raised troops to attack Zhang Zuo and attempted to restore Zhang Yaoling's throne, Zhang Zuo felt threatened and sent men to assassinate Zhang Yaoling. This event marked the intensification of internal struggles within the Former Liang regime and led to further turmoil in the state.

The course of his accession and death is a concentrated instance of the struggle between the ruling clan and the consort families within the Former Liang: in 353 Zhang Chonghua made him heir, and after his death he succeeded, whereupon Zhang Zuo took power in the name of the regency and at once deposed him; in 355 Zhang Guan rose against Zhang Zuo and demanded the restoration of Zhang Yaoling, so that Zhang Zuo had Yang Qiuhu kill him. From heir to deposed prince and to death in three years shows that in its last years the throne of the Former Liang could no longer be determined by order of descent but depended more on the intentions of the regent, and the political disorder of the state continued until its conquest by the Former Qin.

The three verifiable facts of his short life, birth at Anding Wushi in 344, designation as heir in 353 with succession on Zhang Chonghua's death, and death in 355 when Zhang Guan rose against Zhang Zuo, are recorded in the Book of Jin and the histories of the Former Liang. His historical place is that of a transitional ruler in the decline of the Former Liang: his accession and deposition turned not on age or seniority but on the balance between the clansmen and consort families around Zhang Zuo and Zhang Guan. The state continued to hold the Hexi corridor afterwards, but with unceasing internal strife until its conquest by the Former Qin, and for one who came to the throne at eight and was killed in his teens no judgement of personal rule is possible.

Both his designation as heir and his deposition came from the will of powerful ministers, and his killing was the direct outcome of a political bargain: when Zhang Guan rose against Zhang Zuo in 355 he demanded Zhang Yaoling's restoration in order to win support among the clansmen, and Zhang Zuo had Yang Qiuhu kill the boy to remove the standard. The episode shows that in the last years of the Former Liang the succession was wholly subject to the balance between the ruling clan and the consort families, with age or seniority offering no protection.

He reigned little more than a year and was killed after his deposition, so that later ages record only his title and dates, not his government.

His titles and dates in the Book of Jin and the histories of the Former Liang centre on three points: designation as heir in 353, accession and immediate deposition in the same year, and death in 355. The sequence is directly bound up with Zhang Zuo's seizure of power under the name of the regency after Zhang Chonghua's death: his installing and then deposing the boy, followed by the killing, is a typical course of the internal tilt of power among the Former Liang clansmen. Zhang Guan's rising and Zhang Yaoling's death then affected each other, the throne changing hands several times in the state's last years until its conquest by the Former Qin.

Personal Relations

• Grandfather**: Zhang Jun (Wen King of Former Liang)
• Grandmother**: Empress Dowager Ma
• Father**: Zhang Chonghua (Huan Duke of Former Liang)
• Elder Uncle**: Zhang Zuo (Wei King of Former Liang)
• Uncle**: Zhang Tianxi (Diao Duke of Former Liang)
• Younger Brother**: Zhang Xuanliang (Chong King of Former Liang)

Historical Assessment

Zhang Yaoling was the ruler with the shortest reign in the history of Former Liang. He ascended the throne at a young age, lacked political experience, and was subjected to the exclusion and persecution of the powerful minister Zhang Zuo. His fate reflects the cruelty of internal power struggles within regimes during the Sixteen Kingdoms period and the fragile position of young rulers in complex political environments.