Guo En 郭恩
| Occupation | RNOther | Faction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appears | RN | Biography in | |
| Existence | Historical | Mentions | R15 |
Profile
Guo En was a commoner living at Licao when Guan Lu's father was an official there. When he and his brothers, three in all, came down with a crippling lameness, he had Guan Lu divine the cause with yarrow stalks, and when Guan Lu spoke of the grievance of a female ghost in the family tomb, he wept and confessed the crime. He has no biography of his own in the Records and appears twice in the section on Guan Lu in the Biographies of Technicians. Records, Wei 29 §57 · 64
In the Romance he appears only in Chapter 69, in 1 of the 120 chapters, and no chapter has his name in its title. He appears in the story Xu Zhi tells Cao Cao about Guan Lu's marvelous divinations, in the episode of the three brothers stricken with lameness. Romance, Ch. 69 §3 · 6–7
In the Records
When Guan Lu's father was an official at Licao, Guo En, a commoner of Licao, and his brothers, three in all, came down with a crippling lameness. When Guo En had Guan Lu divine the cause with yarrow stalks, Guan Lu said that the hexagram showed the family's ancestral tomb, and in the tomb was a female ghost who, if not the wife of his father's elder brother, must be the wife of his father's younger brother. In a time of famine long ago, someone who coveted her few measures of rice had pushed her into a well, and when she groaned he had pushed down a large stone that smashed her head, so that her lonely spirit, aggrieved and in pain, had appealed to Heaven itself. At this Guo En wept and confessed the crime. Records, Wei 29 §57
When Guan Lu went to Guo En's house again, a dove flew in, perched on the end of a roof beam and cooed very mournfully. Guan Lu said that an old man would come from the east bringing a pig and a jug of wine, and that although the host would be pleased, there would be a minor mishap. The next day a guest came, exactly as foretold. Guo En had the guest go easy on the wine, abstain from meat and be careful with fire, but when they shot a chicken to prepare a meal, an arrow glanced off between the trees and struck the hand of a girl a few years old, drawing blood, and everyone was alarmed and frightened. Records, Wei 29 §64
In the Romance
In Chapter 69 of the Romance, when Cao Cao falls ill, Xu Zhi asks him whether he has heard of the marvelous diviner Guan Lu and tells him about Guan Lu in detail. In that story, the three brothers of a commoner named Guo En all come down with a crippling lameness and ask Guan Lu to divine for them. Guan Lu says that the hexagram shows, in the family's ancestral tomb, a female ghost who is either the wife of their father's elder brother or the wife of his younger brother. In a famine year long ago, someone coveting a few measures of rice pushed her into a well and crushed her head with a large stone, so her lonely spirit has appealed to Heaven, and that is why the brothers suffer this retribution, which cannot be averted by prayer. Guo En and his brothers weep and confess the crime. Romance, Ch. 69 §2–3 · 6–7
Where the Romance differs
Where the story is told: In Chapter 69 of the Romance, Guo En's story appears within the tale Xu Zhi tells Cao Cao in introducing Guan Lu, and Xu Zhi says that Guan Lu's father had been Chief of Jiqiu in Langya. The Biographies of Technicians in the Records record it as an episode in which, when Guan Lu's father was an official at Licao, Guo En, a commoner of that place, had Guan Lu divine for him. Romance, Ch. 69 §3 · 6Records, Wei 29 §57
The words of the divination: Guan Lu in Chapter 69 of the Romance adds that the brothers' illness is that retribution and cannot be averted by prayer, but does not say that the woman made a sound in the well. Guan Lu in the Records says that when the woman groaned in the well a large stone was dropped to smash her head, and says only that her lonely spirit, aggrieved, appealed to Heaven. Romance, Ch. 69 §6–7Records, Wei 29 §57
The dove divination: The Biographies of Technicians in the Records include an episode in which Guan Lu went to Guo En's house again and, from a dove's cries, correctly foretold a guest and a minor mishap. In Chapter 69 of the Romance, Guo En appears only in the divination about the lameness. Records, Wei 29 §64Romance, Ch. 69 §6–7
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.
Abilities
The Records score (Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms, main text) is the baseline. Each ability compares how the Romance redrew the same person, and the evidence from both sources explains the difference.
- LEA3131±0
- STR3131±0
- INT3636±0
- POL3131±0
- CHA3535±0
- VIR2222±0
- ADP4240−2
- SCH3333±0
- DIP3333±0
- DIS3333±0
Abilities shaped by the Romance — where it differs from the Records Differences of 10 or more
No ability differs by 10 or more — the Romance portrays this person much as the Records do.
10 similar abilities — show evidence
RNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner of LicaoWei 29 §57
NNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner who asked Guan Lu for a divinationCh. 69 §6
RNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner of LicaoWei 29 §57
NNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner who asked Guan Lu for a divinationCh. 69 §6
RNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner of LicaoWei 29 §57
NNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner who asked Guan Lu for a divinationCh. 69 §6
RNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner of LicaoWei 29 §57
NNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner who asked Guan Lu for a divinationCh. 69 §6
RNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner of LicaoWei 29 §57
NNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner who asked Guan Lu for a divinationCh. 69 §6
RWhen Guan Lu's divination revealed that a woman of the family had been killed in a well during an old famine, he wept and admitted the guiltWei 29 §57
NWhen Guan Lu's divination revealed that a woman of the family had been killed in a well during an old famine, he wept and admitted the guiltCh. 69 §6Ch. 69 §7
RFollowing Guan Lu's words, had his guest go easy on wine, meat and fireWei 29 §64
NNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner who asked Guan Lu for a divinationCh. 69 §6
RNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner of LicaoWei 29 §57
NNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner who asked Guan Lu for a divinationCh. 69 §6
RNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner of LicaoWei 29 §57
NNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner who asked Guan Lu for a divinationCh. 69 §6
RNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner of LicaoWei 29 §57
NNo direct record — estimated from his being a commoner who asked Guan Lu for a divinationCh. 69 §6
Records Romance Unverified No direct record; scored from their actions (evidence grade C)
3KDEX scoring — the Records use the main text of Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms; the Romance uses the 120-chapter Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Click a source tag to open that passage in the reader.
Romance chapters (1)
AppearsNot present Chapter list →