Guo Tu (died 205),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theo ...

Gongze, was an official and adviser serving under the warlords

Yuan Shao Yuan Shao (, ; died 28 June 202), courtesy name Benchu (), was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He occupied the northern territories of China during the civil wars that occurred t ...

and

Yuan Tan Yuan Tan (died 205), courtesy name Xiansi, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who was the eldest son of Yuan Shao, a warlord who occupied much of northern China during the late Eastern Han dynasty. After Yuan Shao's death, Y ...

during the late

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

of China.

Life

Guo Tu was from Yingchuan Commandery (潁川郡), which is around present-day

Xuchang Xuchang (; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province in Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe to the southeast, and Pi ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...

. He started his career as a subordinate of Han Fu, the Governor of

Ji Province Ji Province, also known by its Chinese name Jizhou, was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China. It is referenced in Chinese historical texts such as the '' Tribute of Yu'', ''Erya'' and '' Rites of Zhou''. Rites of Zhou,Offices of Summer (� ...

. In 191, Guo Tu, along with Xin Ping,

Xun Chen Xun Chen, courtesy name Youruo, was an official who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Born in the influential Xun family of Yingchuan Commandery (around present-day Xuchang, Henan), he was the fourth brother of Xun Yu and a ...

and others, managed to convince Han Fu to relinquish his governorship to the warlord

. Guo Tu then became an adviser to Yuan Shao. In 195, the Han Emperor Xian called for help from the lords, pleading them to escort him and the imperial court away from the tyrants Li Jue and

Guo Si Guo Si () (died 197), also known as Guo Duo, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord serving under the warlord Dong Zhuo during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He assisted Dong Zhuo in his many campaigns and served as a su ...

. Yuan Shao's strategist Ju Shou advised Yuan Shao to take the emperor in and use him as a puppet to control and manipulate the other warlords. Just as Yuan Shao was about to agree and send out an army to rescue the Emperor, Guo Tu objected and said Emperor Xian would control him, not the other way round. Yuan Shao was persuaded by it and did not rescue the Emperor. As a result, the much less powerful warlord

Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the dynasty's final years. As one o ...

took Emperor Xian into his capital of

and issued many edicts in the Emperor's name, including a harshly worded edict condemning Yuan Shao for conquering Han provinces from other governors. During the

Battle of Boma The Battle of Boma or Battle of Baima was the first of a series of battles that led to the decisive Battle of Guandu between the warlords Yuan Shao and Cao Cao in northern China in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Although Cao Cao won the ...

in 200, Yuan Shao ordered

Yan Liang Yan Liang () (died 200) was a military general serving under the warlord Yuan Shao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was slain by Guan Yu at the Battle of Boma. Life Little is known about Yan Liang's life. The only historic ...

, with Guo Tu and Chunyu Qiong providing support, to lead troops to attack Boma (白馬; near present-day Hua County, Henan), which was defended by Liu Yan (劉延), a military officer under Yuan Shao's rival

. Yan Liang lost the battle and was slain by

Guan Yu Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...

, who was then a subordinate of Cao Cao. Later that year, during the

Battle of Guandu The Battle of Guandu was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in 200 AD in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Cao Cao's decisive victory against Yuan Shao's numerically superior forces marked the turning point in their war. The victo ...

, Cao Cao led a successful raid on Yuan Shao's supply depot at Wuchao (烏巢) and set fire to the supplies. Zhang He and Gao Lan (高覽), two of Yuan Shao's officers, wanted to lead troops to attack Cao Cao at Wuchao and salvage whatever supplies they could. However, Guo Tu strongly objected to this plan and proposed that they attack Cao Cao's main camp instead to divert Cao Cao's attention away from Wuchao. Yuan Shao heeded Guo Tu's advice and ordered Zhang He and Gao Lan to lead troops to attack Cao Cao's main camp. When news reached Yuan Shao that Zhang He and Gao Lan had failed to capture Cao Cao's main camp, Guo Tu became fearful because his idea had gone wrong. He then accused Zhang He and Gao Lan of not doing their best because they were planning to defect. After Zhang He and Gao Lan heard about it, they were so angry that they led their troops and defected to Cao Cao's side.

Shen Pei Shen Pei (died 204), courtesy name Zhengnan, was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord Yuan Shao during the late Eastern Han dynasty. Xun Yu, an official serving under Yuan Shao's rival Cao Cao, once said that Shen ...

's two sons were captured by Cao Cao's forces during the Battle of Guandu. After the battle, Meng Dai (孟岱), one of Yuan Shao's subordinates, slandered Shen Pei in front of Yuan Shao. Guo Tu and Xin Ping agreed with what Meng Dai said, so Yuan Shao removed Shen Pei from his command in Ye city and replaced him with Meng Dai. In 202, following Yuan Shao's death, his subordinates became polarised into two camps because Yuan Shao did not clearly designate one of his sons as his successor. In one camp,

Pang Ji Pang Ji (died 202), courtesy name Yuantu, was a Chinese politician serving under the warlord Yuan Shao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Pang Ji was criticised by Cao Cao's advisor Xun Yu as "brave but heedless of other's opinions ...

and others supported

Yuan Shang Yuan Shang (died December 207), courtesy name Xianfu, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the third son and successor of the warlord Yuan Shao. In the 14th-centu ...

and wanted him to be the new Governor of

. In the other camp, Xin Ping, Guo Tu and others supported

, Yuan Shao's eldest son. Pang Ji and Shen Pei feared that Yuan Tan would harm them if he came to power so they lied that Yuan Shao had named Yuan Shang as his successor on his deathbed. Yuan Tan retreated to Liyang County (黎陽縣; present-day

Xun County Xun County or Xunxian () is a county in the north of Henan province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Hebi and located on the transition of the East China Plain and the Taihang Mountains. Xun County has a his ...

) and appointed himself General of Chariots and Cavalry (車騎將軍) there. Internal conflict soon broke out between Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan, but they cooperated when Cao Cao led his forces to attack them. After Cao Cao retreated, the Yuan brothers started fighting again for control over northern China. In 205, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Tan at the Battle of Nanpi and eliminated him, along with Guo Tu and his other subordinates.

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220� ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Fan, Ye (5th century). ''

Book of the Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Lat ...

'' (''Houhanshu''). * Luo, Guanzhong (14th century). ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD ...

'' (''Sanguo Yanyi''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms () by Pei Songzhi (372-451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After leaving his native land, Pei ...

'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Guo, Tu 2nd-century births 205 deaths Han dynasty politicians from Henan Officials under Yuan Shao Han dynasty people killed in battle

Life

See also

References