郭援 / 郭元 / Guo Yuan (Late Han)

Overview

郭援 / 郭元 / Guo Yuan (Late Han) is a Yuan-family western commander whose bounded wiki profile now includes both the setup of his Hedong campaign in Hanji 1056 and the defeat at 平阳 in Hanji 1057. The sources use him to show how a Yuan Shang pressure line could look dangerous militarily while still depending on fragile alliance work, brittle coercion, and timing vulnerabilities.

Current Profile

Hanji 1056 presents Guo Yuan as the force sent west by 袁尚 while the Yuan brothers are trying to withstand 曹操. He joins 高干 and the 南匈奴, attacks 河东郡, and overruns the Jiang County branch guarded by 贾逵. His treatment of Jia Kui becomes politically costly: local elders agree to surrender only if Jia Kui is protected, officials and people resist Guo Yuan’s attempt to kill or coerce him, and Jia Kui is eventually hidden in confinement until 祝公道 secretly rescues him.

Hanji 1057 completes the same western branch at Pingyang. Guo Yuan is also identified as 钟繇’s nephew, but the kinship does not change Zhong Yao’s public-duty stance. Zhong Yao predicts that Guo Yuan’s pride will make him careless and refuses to retreat. When Guo Yuan’s troops are only partly across the Fen River, Zhang Ji urges an immediate strike; Guo Yuan is defeated and 庞德 presents his head.

Key Characteristics

• Yuan-family western pressure actor rather than an independent long-term regional power.
• Yuan Shang-side commander whose attack depends on coordination with Gao Gan, the Southern Xiongnu, and attempted Ma Teng alignment.
• Coercive occupier in the Jiang County/Jia Kui branch, where military success fails to secure local trust.
• Kinship tie to Zhong Yao complicates the aftermath but does not protect him in the source’s public-duty framing.
• Proud and careless commander in Zhong Yao’s assessment.
• Defeated because crossing-state vulnerability turns his attack into a timing trap.

Evidence

• Western-pressure setup: Hanji 1056 says Yuan Shang sends Guo Yuan west to connect with Gao Gan and the Southern Xiongnu while also trying to pull Ma Teng into the pressure line.
• Hedong and Jia Kui branch: Hanji 1056 says Guo Yuan attacks Hedong, takes the Jiang County position, and tries to kill or coerce Jia Kui before local people protect Jia Kui and Zhu Gongdao rescues him.
• Pingyang command judgment and defeat: Hanji 1057 frames Zhong Yao’s refusal to abandon Pingyang around Guo Yuan’s pride, then records Zhang Ji’s advice to strike while the enemy is not fully across the river.
• Kinship and public duty: Hanji 1057 says Pang De did not know the severed head belonged to Zhong Yao’s nephew, and Zhong Yao answers that Guo Yuan was a rebel against the court.

Qualifications

The page treats 郭援 and 郭元 as the same late-Han Yuan-family western commander because Hanji 1056 and Hanji 1057 describe the same Yuan Shang-Gao Gan-Southern Xiongnu-Hedong/Pingyang campaign branch. The name-variant normalization remains source-scoped. Guo Yuan’s motives, exact force scale, and the source’s judgment of his pride should not be generalized beyond these notes without further evidence.

What Changed

• Added Hanji 1056’s setup before the Hanji 1057 Pingyang defeat.
• Renamed the page title to include both 郭援 and 郭元 as source-attested variants.
• Added Jia Kui and Zhu Gongdao as the local-defense branch that exposes the political weakness of Guo Yuan’s occupation.

Relationships

• 袁尚 - sending patron in the Yuan-family western pressure plan.
• 高干 - allied Yuan-family-side western actor in the campaign setup.
• 南匈奴 - allied pressure component in the western attack.
• 贾逵 - Hedong official whom Guo Yuan tries to kill or coerce after taking Jiang County.
• 祝公道 - rescuer who extracts Jia Kui from Guo Yuan’s confinement.
• 钟繇 - opposing commander and maternal uncle/kinship counterpart in the aftermath.
• 庞德 - killer who presents Guo Yuan’s head after the battle.
• 马腾 - western leader whom Yuan Shang’s side tries to attach before Fu Gan’s persuasion pulls him toward Zhong Yao.
• 河东郡 - campaign region where Guo Yuan’s local occupation branch begins.
• 平阳守战 - battle setting of Guo Yuan’s defeat.
• 半渡击敌 - tactical pattern that explains the timing of his defeat.
• 民心型政治安全 - concept sharpened by the local protection of Jia Kui under Guo Yuan’s coercion.
• 利益结构式联盟脆弱性 - concept explaining why the Yuan-family western pressure line depends on unstable coordination.