China’s military generals changed history era after era, leaving legends behind them. Guo Ziyi braved the battles, was loyal to his kingdom, and was wise and brave. He mastered warcraft and understood the hidden designs of fate. Listen carefully; you can almost hear the horses galloping on the battlefields.
Guo Ziyi, a general and leader during the renowned Tang Dynasty, had the rare distinction of actually living out what ancient books said Chinese officials should be like.
One of the bedrock concepts of Chinese strategic thought, as told by the classic Art of War, is the concept that “to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.” But how many Chinese generals did that?
Guo Ziyi of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) did.
“He was all-powerful across China, but the courtesans did not envy him,” announced Vol. 70 of the magnum opus The Old Book of Tang. “His deeds were known throughout the land, but the emperor did not doubt him.” Guo lived to a rare 85 years of age. He sired eight sons and they, along with his seven sons-in-law, held important positions in adulthood.
Guo Ziyi’s long and illustrious military career included major battles with Uyghur and Tibetan minority groups, whose invasions he repelled without utilizing soldiers or weapons. His reputation alone was sufficient, built up over decades of battling courageously and outwitting enemies.
In 763, as the Tang Dynasty was just recovering from the devastating An Shi rebellion of 755-763, a massive force of Tibetan warriors was on Chang’an’s, the capital’s, doorstep, ready to loot and plunder. Guo Ziyi immediately dispatched scouts to light hundreds of fires in places that the Tibetans would see — making them think that troops were encamped there. At the same time, he had Chang’anese set off fireworks and strike gongs. The Tibetans, terrified by the commotion, thought they were surrounded and fled.
Guo Ziyi had Chang’anese set off fireworks and strike gongs to frighten the Tibetans. (Image: via Dreamstime.com © Kraifreedom)
Guo Ziyi’s most important non-battle
Guo’s most important non-battle took place two years later. A treacherous Marshal, Pugu Huai’en, seized a troublemaking opportunity, coaxing the Uyghurs and Tibetans to invade Chang’an again. Three hundred thousand enemy soldiers were about to descend. Guo Ziyi, with only 10,000 troops, was sent to stop them.
At nearly 70 years of age, Guo Ziyi decided the best solution was to go to the Uyghur commander and discuss the matter. His own officials thought it too risky — but he went ahead. Guo’s son pleaded: “You will be feeding yourself to the tigers.” Guo Ziyi responded: “Our country is in a life-and-death situation. If I can convince the Uyghurs to side with us, the country can be safe. What else is there to consider?” He whipped his son’s hand free from his horse, slapped the reins, and galloped forth.
The Uyghur commander, wary, ordered his soldiers to continue preparing for battle. Guo Ziyi, seeing this, tossed aside his armor and weapons as he rode closer. He already knew these troops: They had served under him during actions when he put down other rebels. Guo Ziyi, gracious and generous to the Uyghurs, had become a father figure to them. Recognizing him, the Uyghurs knelt.
Seeing Guo Ziyi, the Uyghurs realized that Huai’en had tricked them into attacking. Quickly, the Uyghurs joined forces with Ziyi’s army, the one they had been sent to defeat. When word broke to the Tibetans, they fled overnight.
Guo Ziyi “broke the enemy’s resistance without fighting” in court as well. He parried the blows of narrow-minded officials who envied his achievements and closeness with the monarch.
General Guo Ziyi as depicted by artist Zhou Shangguan of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). This likeness was first published in 1921. (Image: via Wikimedia Commons)
The sneaky eunuch Yu Chao’en, Emperor Suzong’s Military Attaché, was one of the most dangerous. Yu lost a significant battle and blamed Guo Ziyi. Suzong, trusting the deceitful eunuch, stripped Guo Ziyi of his military rank. Guo Ziyi, however, held no grudge: He waited, and when the next emperor rose to the throne, his position and powers were reinstated.
As the years passed, Guo Ziyi showed the extent of his magnanimity, most memorably after Yu looted Guo Ziyi’s father’s tomb. Looting a family tomb was among the most disrespectful and insulting acts in ancient China, and he could easily have proven the arrogant Yu guilty. That, however, would have caused a massive rift at the center of the Tang state, imperiling the dynasty.
Guo Ziyi took the extraordinary step of placing his personal interest and honor below that of the country’s safety. He, whom countless soldiers looked upon as a father and obeyed without question, blamed himself for the looting. While on the campaign, his soldiers had been careless around other family’s tombs, he offered, and now that his own fathers was robbed, it must be divine retribution. He was extremely sorry, he lamented, that he had not been the leader he hoped to be.
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