Guo Yuan 國淵

Guo Yuan, courtesy name Zini, was a man of Gai County in Le'an State. He served Zheng Xuan as his teacher, and later took refuge from the disorder in Liaodong with Bing Yuan, Guan Ning and others. When he returned home, Taizu (Cao Cao) summoned him to be a clerk (yuanshu) on the staff of the Minister of Works. Whenever matters were debated at the public court he always spoke frankly with a stern countenance, and on withdrawing he showed no partiality. Records, Wei 11 §29

When Taizu wished to set up military agricultural colonies widely, he put Guo Yuan in charge of the matter. Guo Yuan repeatedly set out what should be cut back and what added; he surveyed the land to settle the people, appointed officials according to the number of people, and made clear the rules for evaluating performance. Within five years the granaries were full, and the people vied with one another in their work and were content in their livelihoods. Records, Wei 11 §29

In the 16th year of Jian'an (211), when Taizu campaigned in Guanzhong, he made Guo Yuan Chief Clerk Remaining at Headquarters, in overall charge of the affairs left behind. At this time Tian Yin and Su Bo rebelled in Hejian. After Tian Yin and the others were defeated, their remaining followers should all have been executed according to the law, but Guo Yuan asked that the punishment not be carried out, since they were not the chief culprits. Taizu agreed, and more than a thousand people owed their lives to Guo Yuan. Records, Wei 1 §109–110Records, Wei 11 §30

It had long been customary for reports of victories over rebels to inflate one into ten, but when Guo Yuan reported the number of heads taken, he gave the actual figure. When Taizu asked why, Guo Yuan answered that inflating the numbers killed and captured in campaigns against outside enemies was meant to magnify military achievement and to impress the people, but Hejian lay within the state's own borders and Tian Yin and the others were rebels, so even if there was merit in the victory, he privately felt ashamed of it. Taizu was greatly pleased and transferred him to Administrator of Wei Commandery. Records, Wei 11 §30–31

At that time someone wrote anonymous letters of slander, and Taizu, detesting this, was determined to find the author. Guo Yuan asked that the original letter be kept and not made public. The letter quoted the Rhapsody on the Two Capitals in many places. Guo Yuan instructed his Officer of Merit that this commandery was large and was now the seat of the capital, yet had few learned men, so he wished to choose quick-witted young men and send them to a teacher to study. When the Officer of Merit picked three men, Guo Yuan received them before sending them off and instructed them that the Rhapsody on the Two Capitals was a book of broad learning that people neglected, so that there were few teachers of it, and that they should seek out someone who could read it and study under him; he also secretly told them what he intended. Records, Wei 11 §32–33

Within ten days they found a man who could read it, and they went to study under him. The officials asked him to write a letter and compared it with the anonymous letter, and it was in the same hand; when he was arrested and interrogated, the whole story came out. Guo Yuan was transferred to Minister Coachman. Even in the rank of the Nine Ministers he wore plain cloth and ate vegetables, distributed his salary and gifts among old friends and his clan, and kept himself respectful and frugal until he died in office. Chen Shou's main text does not record the year of his death. Records, Wei 11 §33

In his assessment, Chen Shou said that Yuan Huan, Bing Yuan and Zhang Fan walked the path of purity themselves and advanced and withdrew according to the Way, so that they were probably the peers of Gong Yu and the two Gongs, and wrote that Liang Mao and Guo Yuan came next. Records, Wei 11 §111