甘延寿 / Gan Yanshou (Western Han)

Overview

甘延寿 / Gan Yanshou enters the wiki through Hanji 570 as the Western Han commander paired with 陈汤 in the distant campaign against 郅支单于. Hanji 489 adds the pre-operation command layer: Gan Yanshou accepts Chen Tang’s strategic concern but wants to seek imperial permission, falls ill before the forged-order mobilization, tries to stop it after learning what Chen has done, and then complies once Chen threatens him and the army is already gathering. Hanji 490 adds the operational layer: Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang use false imperial command to assemble the army, send a self-accusing memorial while marching, push through Western Regions routes, negotiate before the city, and launch the final assault. Hanji 491 adds the immediate victory-publication layer: Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang send Zhizhi Chanyu’s head to Chang’an, ask that it be displayed as a warning, and receive first public title recognition. Hanji 496 adds the pre-reward dispute: after the victory, Gan Yanshou is targeted with Chen Tang for false imperial-order mobilization, while 石显’s old resentment over a refused marriage alliance helps color the opposition. Hanji 497 backfills the reward outcome: 刘向 defends both men, 汉元帝 pardons them, and Gan Yanshou is made Yicheng Hou with a three-hundred-household grant.

Current Profile

The sources do not give Gan Yanshou an independent biography. His role is paired and memorialized: he and Chen Tang are presented as having fought far away from the Han center, killed a defiant Xiongnu ruler, and created a prestige and security effect that court actors used in reward, pardon, and later vindication arguments.

Gan Yanshou’s importance in this wiki is therefore evidentiary and comparative. Hanji 489 makes him the cautious superior whose desire for authorization contrasts with Chen Tang’s emergency logic, while his eventual compliance shows how a procedural objection can be overtaken by a fait accompli. Hanji 490 shows that he is not only a name in later reward debates but one of the two field commanders in the forged-command march and final siege. Hanji 491 shows the public version of the service: his joint memorial turns the campaign into a Chang’an display and deterrence statement. Hanji 496 shows the contested precondition of the first reward decision: great achievement is immediately filtered through legal procedure and court grievance. Hanji 497 then makes him part of the first proportional-reward outcome, including Yuan’s pardon, title, and reduced household grant after opposition from Shi Xian and Kuang Heng. Hanji 570 later lets Geng Yu argue that the original recognition was already too small, while Chen Tang’s later disgrace shows how an inadequate reward settlement can turn into a broader lesson about whether great service will be honored.

Key Characteristics

• Western Han frontier commander currently known here through a Yuan-era reward source and a later Aidi-era merit-vindication source.
• Paired with Chen Tang in the forged-command campaign that killed Zhizhi Chanyu and in the victory-publication memorial asking Han to display the head as deterrence.
• Functions as the cautious superior in the launch story, initially preferring court authorization before being pulled into Chen Tang’s fait accompli.
• Targeted in the first reward dispute because the campaign was launched through false imperial order.
• Serves as part of Geng Yu’s evidence that the Han court had a duty to remember extraordinary service.
• Receives initial pardon and title recognition under Han Yuandi after Liu Xiang’s defense.
• Helps anchor the episode’s distinction between military achievement and later court treatment.

Evidence

• Pre-reward accusation: Hanji 496 says Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang face impeachment after killing Zhizhi Chanyu because they falsely transmitted imperial command and mobilized troops without authorization.
• Political resentment: Hanji 496 says Shi Xian had earlier tried to marry his sister to Gan Yanshou and was refused.
• Original pardon: Hanji 497 says Liu Xiang defends Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang, leading Yuan to pardon faults and forbid further accusation.
• Initial reward: Hanji 497 says Gan Yanshou is made Yicheng Hou, receives three hundred households, and is given gold.
• Victory display request: Hanji 491 says Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang ask to display Zhizhi Chanyu’s head between Chang’an’s street and the barbarian guest quarters.
• Operational march: Hanji 490 says Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang falsely transmit command, gather more than forty thousand troops, submit a self-accusing memorial, and march before approval arrives.
• Caution and compliance: Hanji 489 says Gan Yanshou accepts Chen Tang’s plan in principle but wants permission first, then tries to stop the forged mobilization before Chen threatens him and he helps arrange the army.
• Final assault: Hanji 490 says Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang decide the timing is ready, order the drum-led assault, and use shields, crossbows, fire, and encirclement in the attack on Zhizhi Chanyu’s city.
• First public title notice: Hanji 491 says Yuan makes Gan Yanshou Yicheng Hou after the victory celebration.
• Opposition motive: Hanji 497 says Shi Xian’s hostility is tied to Gan Yanshou’s refusal to join Shi’s family network through marriage.
• Shared campaign: Hanji 570 says Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang fought far away and killed Zhizhi Chanyu.
• Public prestige: Hanji 570 says the earlier court publicized the victory as a restoration of Han honor.
• Under-reward claim: Hanji 570 says Geng Yu blames obstruction for leaving the commanders with only several hundred households.

Qualifications

This page is source-bounded. Hanji 489, Hanji 490, Hanji 491, Hanji 496, Hanji 497, and Hanji 570 treat Gan Yanshou mainly through the launch conflict, shared campaign, public display request, reward dispute, reward decision, and later memory dispute, so his office history, personal decisions beyond the Chen Tang conflict, campaign command hierarchy, full marriage-network context, and later life remain outside the current evidence.

What Changed

• Added Hanji 489’s pre-operation layer, including Gan Yanshou’s cautious preference for authorization, illness, attempted obstruction, and eventual compliance after Chen Tang’s threat.
• Preserved Hanji 490’s operational campaign layer, including the forged-command mobilization, march, negotiations, and assault.
• Preserved Hanji 496’s pre-reward accusation layer, including false-order mobilization and Shi Xian’s earlier failed marriage alliance.
• Added Hanji 491’s immediate public-victory layer, including the head-display request and first title notice.
• Preserved Hanji 497’s original pardon and reward layer, including Liu Xiang’s defense and Yuan’s title grant.

Relationships

• 陈汤 - co-commander and primary later vindication subject in the episode.
• 郅支单于 - defeated Xiongnu ruler whose death grounds the shared merit.
• 耿育 - memorialist who recalls Gan Yanshou’s achievement.
• 刘向 - memorialist who defends Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang before Yuan.
• 汉元帝 - ruler who pardons and rewards Gan Yanshou.
• 石显 - hostile court actor whose failed marriage connection with Gan Yanshou shapes the reward dispute.
• 匈奴 - frontier opponent whose conflict with Han frames the campaign.
• 英雄记忆与政治信用 - broader concept for why public memory of service matters.