张汤 / Zhang Tang (Western Han)

Overview

张汤 / Zhang Tang enters the wiki through Hanji 431 as the Western Han cruel official whose reputation and death form the family background for 张安世’s later caution.

Current Profile

The source does not profile Zhang Tang independently. It uses him as a remembered negative inheritance: a capable but harsh official close to imperial power, resented and pressured by other ministers, and finally dead by suicide. In the episode’s reading, Zhang Anshi learns from that family memory that proximity to the ruler and visible influence can create jealousy even when one is useful.

Key Characteristics

• Western Han official remembered in the episode as a famous cruel official.
• Father of 张安世.
• Associated with harsh, cold, and poisonous methods in the host’s summary.
• Used as a cautionary family precedent for court jealousy and overexposure near the ruler.

Evidence

Cruel-official background:

• Hanji 431 introduces Zhang Tang as a famous Western Han cruel official and Zhang Anshi’s father.
• Hanji 431 says Zhang Anshi remembers that Zhang Tang was close to the ruler, drew ministerial exclusion and jealousy, and died by suicide.

Influence on Zhang Anshi:

• Hanji 431 uses Zhang Tang’s death to explain Zhang Anshi’s low-profile posture.

Qualifications

This page is source-scoped to Hanji 431’s use of Zhang Tang as Zhang Anshi’s family precedent. It does not reconstruct Zhang Tang’s full legal career under Han Wudi, case record, official positions, or historical debates about his culpability.

What Changed

• Created the page from Hanji 431’s Zhang Tang background role.

Relationships

• 张安世 / Zhang Anshi (Western Han) - son whose political caution is explained partly through Zhang Tang’s fate.
• 不显功式自保 / Quiet Credit Self-Protection - concept that uses Zhang Tang’s fate as a negative precedent for visible closeness to power.
• 恐怖治理反噬 / Terror Rule Backfire - adjacent cruel-official risk field, though Hanji 431 does not detail Zhang Tang’s cases.