'Zhang Jiangzhi' (張柬之) (
625 -
706), was a
Chancellor. He was born in north-west
Hubei. He became an official after he became the first in the
civil service examination. He was an official in
Guangdong and
Chongqing. Then he was recommended by
Di Renji to enter the court.
Shortly after he became chancellor in January
705, along with important ministers such as
Yao Chong,
Jing Hui (敬暉),
Yuan Shuyi (袁恕己) and
Run Xianfan (桓彥范), he led and engineered a
coup d'etat against
Empress Wu with the help of
Li Duoja (右羽林大將軍李多祚), killed the Zhang brothers (officials in power), forced the empress to give up her throne and restored
Emperor Zhongzong as emperor of
Tang Dynasty, marking the end of the short lived
Zhou Dynasty. Because of power-fighting and because he oppose
Empress Wei, he was dismissed by the court in late
705. He died with
heart disease because of anger and disappointment in
706 while in exile in
Xinzhou.