Guo Si
Guo Si | |
---|---|
郭汜 | |
General of Chariots and Cavalry (車騎將軍) | |
In office 195–197 | |
Monarch | Emperor Xian of Han |
General of the Rear (後將軍) | |
In office 192–195 | |
Monarch | Emperor Xian of Han |
Personal details | |
Born | Unknown Yongchang County, Gansu |
Died | 197[1] Mei County, Shaanxi |
Occupation | Military general, politician, warlord |
Peerage | Marquis of Meiyang (美陽侯) |
Other name | Guo Duo (郭多) |
Guo Si (
Early to mid-career
As an early supporter of Dong Zhuo, he participated in most of Dong Zhuo's major battles, including the subjugation of the Yellow Turban rebels, the battle of Liang Province, and the war with the coalition against Dong Zhuo.
At the start of the war with the eastern warlords, Guo Si was sent to assist
Battle of Chang'an
Because he was stationed outside the capital, Guo Si was able to return to Liang Province when Dong Zhuo was assassinated by
As a regent
The four then demanded high ranks, and Guo Si and Li Jue even thought about assassinating the emperor to take the throne, however was dissuaded from doing so by Fan Chou and Zhang Ji. With Li Jue as the leader of the rebels, the four took almost complete control of the court and demoted and promoted anyone at will.
When the western forces of Han Sui, Ma Teng and Liu Yan formed an alliance to challenge the Han central government controlled by the four, Li Jue sent his nephew Li Li (李利), Guo Si and Fan Chou to counter the allied forces. The allied forces suffered a major defeat with casualties numbering up to 10,000 at a location about 13 miles west of Chang'an. Knowing the allied forces were low on supplies, Li Li ordered Fan Chou to pursue and wipe the enemy out, but Fan Chou refused because of his friendship with Han Sui. Li Li later reported this incident to Li Jue upon returning to Chang'an. Li Jue then assembled the officers for a banquet, wherein he openly executed Fan Chou for betrayal and causing the Liang Province officers to distrust him.
At the time, Guo Si's jealous wife, Lady Qiong, became suspicious that her husband was having an affair with one of Li Jue's concubines so she decided to prevent her husband from attending Li Jue's banquets. She poisoned the gifts of food that Li Jue had given to them and convinced her husband that he should not be so trusting of Li Jue. Later, Guo Si became very drunk at another one of Li Jue's banquets and suddenly convinced himself that he was poisoned. He ingested liquid feces to force himself to vomit, which greatly offended Li Jue and drove the two leaders to battle. The situation ended up with Li Jue kidnapping Emperor Xian and Guo Si kidnapping the emperor's ministers.[1]
Downfall and death
However, the situation was totally out of control: there were several tens of battles fought everyday in the alleys or market at its peak. The frequent battles had made Chang'an untenable for its inhabitants. Therefore, Emperor Xian asked Jia Xu to request a truce between Guo Si and Li Jue, who listened to Jia Xu and temporarily ceased fighting.
Taking advantage of the chaos and massive confusion caused by the civil war between Li Jue and Guo Si, Emperor Xian sneaked out of Chang'an and was rescued by the leader of the
Cao Cao became the next hegemonist to seize control of Emperor Xian as Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and Guo Si had done before him. The power of Li Jue and Guo Si had greatly diminished resulting from previous infighting and the loss of Emperor Xian. Guo Si was eventually slain by his subordinate Wu Xi (伍習), who led his remnants to join Li Jue in 197.
See also
References
- ^ a b de Crespigny (2007), p. 289.
- ^ de Crespigny (1996), Passage X of section Jian'an 2.
- ^ Houhanshu, vol. 71.
- ^ Sanguozhi vol. 6.
- Chen, Shou (3rd century). Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi).
- ISBN 0-86784-410-8.
- ISBN 978-0-7315-2526-3.
- ISBN 9789004156050.
- Fan, Ye (5th century). Book of the Later Han (Houhanshu).
- Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms(Sanguozhi zhu).
- Sima, Guang (1084). Zizhi Tongjian.