Zhang He

Zhang He
An illustration of Zhang He in a Qing dynasty edition of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
General of Cao Wei
Born	(Unknown)
Died	231
Names
Traditional Chinese	張郃
Simplified Chinese	张郃
Pinyin	Zhāng Hé
Wade–Giles	Chang Ho
Courtesy name	Junyi (Chinese: 儁乂; pinyin: Jùnyì; Wade–Giles: Chün-i)
Posthumous name	Marquis Zhuang (simplified Chinese: 壮侯; traditional Chinese: 壯侯; pinyin: Zhuàng Hóu)

Zhang He (died 231),courtesy name Junyi, was a military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He continued serving in the state of Cao Wei under its first two rulers, Cao Pi and Cao Rui, during the Three Kingdoms period until his death.

Zhang He began his career under Han Fu, the Inspector of Ji Province, in the 180s when he joined the Han imperial forces in suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion. He became a subordinate of the warlord Yuan Shao in 191 after Yuan seized the governorship of Ji Province from Han Fu. Throughout the 190s, Zhang He fought in the battles against Yuan Shao's northern rival, Gongsun Zan. In 200, Zhang He initially fought on Yuan Shao's side at the Battle of Guandu against Cao Cao, a warlord who controlled the Han central government. However, he defected to Cao Cao after Yuan Shao's defeat at Guandu in the same year. Since then, he had fought in several wars under Cao Cao's banner, including the campaigns against Yuan Shao's heirs and allies (201–207), the expeditions in northwestern China (211–214), and the battles around Hanzhong (215–219). After Cao Cao's death in 220, Zhang He served in Wei and fought in battles against Wei's rival states, Shu Han and Eastern Wu. His best known victory was at the Battle of Jieting in 228, in which he defeated the Shu general Ma Su by cutting off the enemy's access to water supplies and then attacking them. In 231, he was killed in an ambush laid by Shu forces during the Battle of Mount Qi while he was reluctantly pursuing a retreating enemy force.