Guo Da 郭大 was a leader of bandits from the Bobo valley in Xihe commandery. He claimed affiliation with the Yellow Turbans.
Biography[]
Guo Da, nicknamed Big Guo 大郭, was from Xihe commandery in Bing province 并州.[1] In 188 A.D.[n 1] Guo Da became the leader of a group of bandits from the Bobo valley and they claimed affiliation with the Yellow Turbans.[n 2] They then ravaged and plundered the commanderies of Taiyuan 太原 and Hedong 河東, which lay east and south of Xihe respectively.[1][2][3]
What happened to Guo Da and his "Yellow Turbans" after their plundering of Taiyuan and Hedong is not exactly known. However, Emperor Ling's biography in Rafe de Crespigny's A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms tells us the following:
- “In 188 a group of rebels from Bobo in Xihe also claimed affiliation with the Yellow Turbans; they ravaged Taiyuan and Hedong, and survived to play a role in the 190s.”[4]
Guo Da, however, is not mentioned in the 190's and perhaps Rafe was referring to the Bobo bandits in general in this sentence.
Notes[]
- ↑ Though Rafe de Crespigny says in Guo Da's biography in A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms that he attacked the commanderies in 187, the Zizhi Tongjian, translated by Rafe, says Guo Da attacked in 188. Emperor Ling's biography in the Biographical Dictionary also mentions the bandits and says 188 too.
- ↑ Interestingly, Rafe's translation of Zizhi Tongjian, known as Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, chapter Zhongping 5 says Guo Da is a remnant of the Yellow Turbans.[2] Carl Leban also mentions the bandits as Yellow Turban remnants on page 125 of Ts'ao Ts'ao and the Rise of Wei[3]. This could mean that Guo Da was one of the original Yellow Turbans. The commandery of Xihe, where Guo Da was born, lies far away from commanderies in which the original Turbans were active though.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 de Crespigny, A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms, biography of Guo Da, page 280 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "HDO280" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "HDO280" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 2.0 2.1 de Crespigny, Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, Zhongping 5
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Leban, Ts'ao Ts'ao and the Rise of Wei, page 125
- ↑ de Crespigny, A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms, biography of Emperor Ling, pages 510-7
Sources[]
- de Crespigny, Rafe. A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23 - 220 AD). Leiden: BRILL, 2007.
- —. Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling. Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1989.
- Fan Ye 范曄 (398–445). Hou Han shu 後漢書 “History of the Later Han”.
- Leban, Carl. Ts'ao Ts'ao and the Rise of Wei: The Early Years. Columbia University, Ph. D., 1971.
- Sima Guang 司馬光 (1019–1086). Zizhi tongjian 資治通鑒 “Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government”.