张猛 / 张萌 / Zhang Meng (Western Han)

Overview

张猛 / 张萌 / Zhang Meng enters the wiki through Hanji 478 and Hanji 483-1 as 周堪’s paired Western Han ally in the struggle against 石显’s court group. Hanji 475 adds an earlier Zhang Meng layer as Guanglu Dafu, where he reframes 薛广德’s river-crossing warning so 汉元帝 can accept it without humiliation.

Current Profile

Hanji 475 shows the constructive side of Zhang Meng’s court speech. When Xue Guangde turns a safety warning into a public threat, Zhang Meng preserves the substance but changes the path of acceptance: he praises Yuan’s willingness to hear direct speech, acknowledges Xue’s concern, and then gives practical reasons that autumn wind and river conditions make the bridge safer than the boat. The source makes him a case for 留面子式进谏包装 rather than for evasive flattery.

Hanji 478 shows later damage to Zhang Meng’s position. He is paired with Zhou Kan as a target of Shi Xian and Shi Gao’s disaster-omen blame, then of Yang Xing’s over-eager attack and Zhuge Feng’s reversal from praise to denunciation. Hanji 483-1 then presents Zhang Meng as part of the same failed return sequence as Zhou Kan. Earlier disaster blame sends them out of the center; later disasters make that blame unsustainable; 汉元帝 recalls Zhang Meng as taizhong dafu and jishi zhong. But the return does not give the pair effective power because Shi Xian’s allies dominate the court’s information and personnel environment.

Zhang Meng’s fate is more explicitly coercive than Zhou Kan’s. After Zhou Kan’s death, the episode says Shi Xian begins falsely accusing Zhang Meng, who ultimately kills himself while in office. The source uses this outcome to show that restored rank is fragile when the hostile faction still controls access and accusation channels.

Key Characteristics

• Western Han official paired with Zhou Kan in an anti-Shi-Xian court struggle.
• Earlier target of disaster-omen blame later weakened by subsequent disasters.
• Target of Yang Xing’s and Zhuge Feng’s damaging speech in the earlier Hanji 478 layer.
• Guanglu Dafu who successfully restates Xue Guangde’s safety advice in a face-saving form.
• Recalled to court as taizhong dafu and jishi zhong.
• Remains vulnerable because Shi Xian’s group dominates the surrounding power field.
• Dies by suicide after Shi Xian’s false accusations, according to the episode.

Evidence

Recall:

• Hanji 475 says Zhang Meng, as Guanglu Dafu, persuades Yuan to cross by bridge after Xue Guangde’s harsher warning angers the ruler.
• Hanji 475 says Zhang Meng does this by first preserving Yuan’s dignity and then naming autumn wind, wide water, and wave danger.
• Hanji 478 says Shi Xian and Shi Gao blame Zhang Meng with Zhou Kan for disaster omens.
• Hanji 478 says Yang Xing recommends harsh action against Zhang Meng and Zhou Kan, while Zhuge Feng later denounces them despite earlier praise.
• Hanji 483-1 says Yuan recalls Zhang Meng and appoints him taizhong dafu and jishi zhong.

Weak position:

• Hanji 483-1 says the higher court remains filled with Shi Xian’s party, so Zhou Kan and Zhang Meng return without much speech power.

Death:

• Hanji 483-1 says Shi Xian later falsely accuses Zhang Meng and drives him to suicide in office.

Qualifications

This profile is source-scoped to Hanji 475, Hanji 478, and Hanji 483-1. It does not settle Zhang Meng’s full biography, exact relationship to Zhou Kan, the full accusation record, or the legal and personal circumstances of his suicide. The character variant 张猛/张萌 is preserved as a source-scoped naming issue rather than split into separate pages.

What Changed

• Added Hanji 475’s earlier face-saving remonstrance layer before the later disaster-blame, recall, and suicide sequence.
• Preserved Hanji 478’s earlier disaster-blame and opportunistic-denunciation layer before the later recall and suicide sequence.

Relationships

• 周堪 - paired ally in the same disaster-blame, recall, and neutralization sequence.
• 石显 - hostile power holder whose accusations destroy Zhang Meng.
• 汉元帝 - ruler who recalls Zhang Meng but does not prevent his later destruction.
• 薛广德 - harsher remonstrant whose warning Zhang Meng reframes.
• 留面子式进谏包装 - concept created from Zhang Meng’s successful speech pattern.
• 杨兴 and 诸葛丰 - damaging speakers in the earlier Hanji 478 demotion field.
• 传话式信息权力 - related mechanism because hostile access control leaves Zhang Meng exposed.
• 灾异人事攻防 - earlier attack frame that the episode says later disasters undercut.
• 投机型朝堂站队 - related concept because Zhang Meng is harmed by signal-chasing and reversal speech.