张牛角 / Zhang Niujiao (late Han)

Hanji 932 gives a brief earlier notice of Zhang Niujiao as one of the armed leaders named after 张角’s uprising. The episode uses him as part of a wider disorder field rather than developing his biography.

张牛角 / Zhang Niujiao is then developed by Hanji 933 as the insurgent leader whose death creates the succession path for 张燕. The episode places him and Chu Yan / Chu Feiyan in the disorder around the Yellow Turban uprising, then says Zhang Niujiao is struck by a stray arrow while attacking Yingtao.

His importance is less biographical than institutional. Before dying, he tells followers to recognize Chu Yan as leader and have him adopt the Zhang surname. That transfer turns a local rebel command into the origin story for the 黑山军 under Zhang Yan, which later becomes too large for 汉灵帝’s court to suppress directly.

Connections

• Hanji 932 and 张角 - brief earlier notice in the post-Yellow-Turban armed proliferation list.
• Hanji 933 - source episode.
• 张燕 - successor who becomes the durable Black Mountain leader.
• 黑山军 - broader force field that grows after the succession.
• 授官式招安 - downstream court incorporation of the force led by Zhang Yan.