Gongsun Zan

公孫瓚
Courtesy name: Bogui (伯珪)
Died
199
Ancestral home
Lingzhi, Liaoxi (Qian'an, Hebei)
Book mentions
87
Roles:
general warlord
Factions:
Gongsun Zan (primary) Han dynasty
Relationships:
Gongsun Yue Brother
Appears in 11 chapters:
  • Chapter 1 — Three Heroes Swear Brotherhood In The Peach Garden; One Victory Shatters The Rebels In Battlegrounds.
    Liu Bei's classmate under Zheng Xuan and Lu Zhi; mentioned here as a longstanding friend whose role will grow in later chapters.
  • Chapter 2 — Zhang Fei Whips The Government Officer; He Jin Plots To Kill The Eunuchs.
    Praises Liu Bei's former services to the Throne, getting him promoted from Commanding Officer of Gaotang to Magistrate of Pingyuan, where Liu Bei recovers something of his old spirit.
  • Chapter 5 — Cao Cao Appeals To The Powerful Lords; The Three Brothers Fight Against Lu Bu.
    Recruits Liu Bei into the coalition on the march through Pingyuan and presents the Three Brothers at Yuan Shao's tent. At Tiger Trap Pass he takes on Lü Bu himself, breaks, and flees - Red Hare closing on his back - until Zhang Fei's roar saves his life.
  • Chapter 6 — Burning The Capital, Dong Zhuo Commits An Atrocity; Hiding The Imperial Hereditary Seal, Sun Jian Breaks Faith.
    Declares Yuan Shao 'an incapable' as the coalition rots, breaks camp north, and posts Liu Bei in command of Pingyuan on the way home.
  • Chapter 7 — Yuan Shao Fights Gongsun Zan At The River Pan; Sun Jian Attacks Liu Biao Across The Great River.
    Gongsun Zan; tricked into attacking Jizhou by Yuan Shao's promise of joint partition; receives nothing, sends his brother to demand a share, and after his brother is killed marches on the Pan River. Suffers a major defeat there before Liu Bei's relief column closes the chapter's first half.
  • Chapter 11 — Liu Bei Rescues Kong Rong At Beihai; Lu Bu Defeats Cao Cao Near Puyang.
    Gongsun Zan; lends Liu Bei the 2,000 troops and Zhao Yun for the Beihai/Xuzhou expedition.
  • Chapter 18 — Giving Counsels, Jia Xu Directs A Great Victory; Braving Battlefield, Xiahou Dun Loses An Eye.
    The declared target of Yuan Shao's northern expedition - the war that keeps the north busy while Cao Cao turns on Lü Bu.
  • Chapter 21 — In A Plum Garden, Cao Cao Discusses Heroes; Using The Host's Forces, Guan Yu Takes Xuzhou.
    His end arrives in Man Chong's report: walled up in the Yijing Tower with a hundred thousand carts of grain, refusing to rescue his own surrounded men, deserted, his plea-letters intercepted - until a tunnel reaches the tower and it burns. He kills his wife and children and hangs himself in the flames.
  • Chapter 22 — Yuan Shao And Cao Cao Both Take The Field; Guan Yu And Zhang Fei Captures Two Generals.
    Gongsun Zan; named in passing as the recently-immolated northern lord.
  • Chapter 28 — Putting Cai Yang To Death, The Brothers' Doubts Disappear; Meeting At Gucheng, Lord and Lieges Fortify Each Other.
    Gongsun Zan; named in passing in the recap of Zhao Yun's old service.
  • Chapter 120 — Recommending Du Yu, An Old General Offers New Plans; Capturing Of Sun Hao, Three Kingdoms Becomes One.
    Gongsun Zan; named in passing in the closing historical elegies.