Guo Wei () (10 September 904 – 22 February 954According to Guo Wei's biography in "Old Histories of the Five Dynasties", he died between 9am and 11 am on the ''renchen'' day of the 1st month of the 1st year of the ''Xiande'' era of his reign. This corresponds to 22 Feb 954 on the Julian calendar. ( ��德元年春正月��辰.....是日巳時，帝崩於滋德殿，聖壽五十一。) ), also known by his

temple name Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dyna ...

as the Emperor Taizu of Later Zhou (), was the founding

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

of the Chinese

Later Zhou dynasty Zhou, known as the Later Zhou (; ) in historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty and the last of the Five Dynasties that controlled most of northern China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Founded by Guo Wei ( ...

during the

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...

, reigning from 951 until his death. Nicknamed "Sparrow Guo" () after a sparrow-shaped

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing ...

on his neck,(周太祖少賤，黥其頸上為飛雀，世謂之郭雀兒。) he rose to a high position in the Later Han as an assistant military commissioner. He founded the

Later Zhou Zhou, known as the Later Zhou (; ) in historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty and the last of the Five Dynasties that controlled most of northern China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Founded by Guo Wei ( ...

in 951.

Early life

When Guo Wei was born in 904 in Yaoshan (堯山; in modern Longyao County,

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

), the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

had disintegrated into regions controlled by

warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

s fighting amongst one another. Guo was just a

toddler A toddler is a child approximately 12 to 36 months old, though definitions vary. The toddler years are a time of great cognitive, emotional and social development. The word is derived from "to toddle", which means to walk unsteadily, like a child ...

when his family moved to Taiyuan (in modern Shanxi), as his father Guo Jian () became the

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

() of Shunzhou (順州, modern Shunyi District,

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

), serving the Taiyuan-based warlord

Li Keyong Li Keyong () (October 24, 856 – February 24, 908) was a Chinese military general and politician of Shatuo ethnicity, and from January 896 a Prince of Jin (, ''Jin Wang''), which would become an independent state after the fall of the Tang dyn ...

. Shortly afterwards, Guo Jian was killed by warlord Liu Rengong's forces which conquered Shunzhou, and before Guo Wei's deciduous teeth fell out, his mother Lady Wang () also died. Orphaned, the young boy was raised by a distant relative, Lady Han ().(父簡，事晉為順州刺史。劉仁恭攻破順州，簡見殺，子威少孤，依潞州人常氏。) In ''Xin Wudai Shi'', Lady Han was not mentioned. Guo Wei grew up into a muscular young man interested more in warfare than agriculture. He was also fond of drinking and gambling, and frequently participated in brawl; his wife Lady Chai often advised him not to indulge in these activities.(太祖微時，喜飲博任俠，不拘細行，后常諫止之。) When he was around 17, to escape arrest, he went to live with an acquaintance Gentleman Chang () in Huguan close to Luzhou (潞州, modern

Changzhi Changzhi () is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Shanxi Province, China, bordering the provinces of Hebei and Henan to the northeast and east, respectively. Historically, the city was one of the 36 administrative areas (see Adminis ...

, Shanxi), shortly before joining the army of Luzhou's interim regent ()

Li Jitao Li Jitao (; died 20 January 924''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 272. = 20 January 924.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), nickname Liude (), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms ...

. Li Jitao was serving Jin, ruled by Li Keyong's son

Li Cunxu Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (), personal name Li Cunxu (), nickname Yazi (), stage name Li Tianxia (), was the ruling prince of the Former Jin dynasty (r. 908–923) and later became the founding emperor of the Later Tang dynasty (r. 923 ...

, but actually plotting to defect to the Later Liang, Jin's archenemy. He was therefore more interested in recruiting brave and talented soldiers than enforcing the law, so when an inebriated Guo stabbed a menacing marketplace butcher to death following an argument, he let Guo walk free, eventually summoning Guo back to serve him.

Career under Later Tang

In 923, Li Cunxu established the

Later Tang Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history. The first three of the Later Tang's four ...

and overthrew Later Liang. Li Jitao was killed a few months later and all of his former soldiers, including 19-year-old Guo Wei, were assigned to the cavalry rotations. As Guo was literate and good at mathematics, he soon became an officer. He delved into the available literature on military strategy as much as he could, particularly enjoying ''Spring and Autumn Annals for a Wider World'' (), recommended by a

blood brother Blood brother can refer to two or more men not related by birth who have sworn loyalty to each other. This is in modern times usually done in a ceremony, known as a blood oath, where each person makes a small cut, usually on a finger, hand or ...

Li Qiong (); Guo Wei also regarded Li Qiong as a teacher as he asked Li to explain to him parts of the ''Annals'' which he could not understand.(即應募，與周祖等十人約為兄弟。一日會飲，瓊熟視周祖，知非常人。因舉酒祝曰：“凡我十人，龍蛇混合，異日富貴無相忘，苟渝此言，神降之罰。”皆刺臂出血為誓。周祖與瓊情好尤密，嘗造瓊，見其危坐讀書，因問所讀何書，瓊曰：“此《閫外春秋》，所謂以正守國，以奇用兵，較存亡治亂，記賢愚成敗，皆在此也。”周祖令讀之，謂瓊曰：“兄當教我。”自是周祖出入常袖以自隨，遇暇輒讀，每問難瓊，謂瓊為師。) In 927, the Later Tang

Li Siyuan Li Siyuan (李嗣源, later changed to Li Dan (李亶)) (10 October 867 – 15 December 933), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang (後唐明宗), was the second emperor of the Later Tang dynasty of China, reigni ...

personally led an army to suppress Zhu Shouyin's rebellion. Guo Wei, then under the leadership of general Shi Jingtang, was among the first soldiers scaling the defensive wall of Xun (in modern

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 al ...

). Shi saw Guo's literary talents and tasked him to manage military records. Guo proved very popular among generals and ministers.

Career under Later Jin

Later Tang was replaced by the Later Jin in 936.

Career under Later Han

The Later Han was a Shatuo-led Chinese dynasty founded by

Liu Zhiyuan Liu Zhiyuan () (March 4, 895 – March 10, 948), later changed to Liu Gao (), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Gaozu of Later Han (), was the founding emperor of the Shatuo-led Later Han dynasty, the fourth of the Five Dynasties du ...

, posthumously known as Emperor Gaozu of Later Han. Guo Wei was already familiar with life under the Shatuo people as he had lived under their rule since he was nineteen years old. He served as the Assistant Military Commissioner to Liu Zhiyuan. However, when the teenage

Liu Chengyou Liu Chengyou () (28 March 931Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter – 2 January 951), also known by his posthumous name Emperor Yin (), was the second and last emperor of imperial China's short-lived Later Han dynasty, during t ...

assumed the Later Han throne in 948, court intrigue enabled Guo to usurp the throne in a coup and declare the establishment of the

on New Year’s Day in 951 (11 February in the modern calendar).

Reign

He was the first

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...

Emperor in northern China since 923. His rule was able and he passed reforms that attempted to relieve pressures on China’s massive

peasantry A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

. His rule was vigorous and well-organized. However, he died from an illness three years into his reign in 954.

Ancestry

Family

Consort and issue(s): *Empress Shengmu, of the Chai clan (聖穆皇后柴氏) *Pure Consort Yang, of the Yang clan (楊淑妃楊氏; 911 – 947) *Noble Consort Zhang, of the Zhang clan (張貴妃張氏; b. 915, executed December 950) *Virtuous Consort Dong, of the Dong clan(董德妃董氏;915－953) *Unknown **''Unnamed Prince'',Most likely died young. 1st son **Guo Qingge, Prince of Shan (剡王郭青哥, executed on 24 December 950), 2nd son **Guo Yige (郭意哥, executed on 24 December 950), 3rd son **Unnamed Princess, 1st daughter **Unammed Princess, 2nd daughter **Princess Chang of Ju State (莒國長公主, executed in 950), 3rd daughter **Princess Shou'an (壽安公主), 4rd daughter ***Married Zhang Yongde (張永德) **Princess Yongning (梁國長公主), 5th daughter

References

Sources

* * * * * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Guo, Wei 904 births 954 deaths Later Zhou emperors Politicians from Xingtai Generals from Hebei Jin (Later Tang precursor) people born during Tang Later Liang (Five Dynasties) people born during Tang Later Tang people Later Jin (Five Dynasties) people Liao dynasty people Later Han (Five Dynasties) shumishi Later Han (Five Dynasties) jiedushi of Tianxiong Circuit Later Han (Five Dynasties) chancellors Founding monarchs