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Zhang Liang (Western Han)

Chinese statesman

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ701326 ↗
Source-derived summary

Note: In this article, to distinguish between the Han state of the Warring States period and the Han dynasty, the former is referred to as "Hán" while "Han" is reserved for the latter.

Zhang Liang (c. 251 BC – 189 BC), courtesy name Zifang (子房), was a Chinese military strategist and politician who lived in the early Western Han dynasty. He is also known as one of the "Three prominences of the early Han dynasty" (漢初三傑), along with Han Xin (韓信) and Xiao He.

Zhang Liang contributed greatly to the establishment of the Han dynasty. He was enfeoffed as the Marquess of Liu (留侯) with estates in Liu County (留縣, in modern day Pei County). He was honoured with the posthumous name Wencheng (Chinese: 文成; lit. 'Civilly Accomplished') by Emperor Qianshao.

Early life

Zhang Liang was born in Xinzheng (新鄭; present-day Zhengzhou, Henan), the capital of the Hán state (韓國), while his ancestral home was in Chengfu (城父; present-day Chengfu Town, Bozhou, Anhui). He descended from an aristocrat family in Hán.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Zhang Liang (Western Han)” as chinese statesman. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Zhang, Liang and Western.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current 171-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The linked authority record independently contributes the date -0262-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Zhang, Liang and Western providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Zhang Liang (Western Han)”, the useful work is to connect “chinese statesman” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q701326. VIAF identifies the subject as 63005094. The Library of Congress control number is n85333978. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Zhang Liang (Western Han)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Zhang Liang (Western Han) primary sources, Zhang Liang (Western Han) archive and Zhang research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Zhang Liang (Western Han)”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Zhang Liang (Western Han)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.