Gongsun Yuan 公孫淵

His grandfather Gongsun Du, a man of Xiangping in Liaodong, seized Liaodong in the 6th year of Zhongping (189) and made himself Marquis of Liaodong and Governor of Ping Province. When Gongsun Du died in the 9th year of Jian'an (204), his son Gongsun Kang succeeded him; in the 12th year of Jian'an (207) Gongsun Kang cut off the head of Yuan Shang, who had fled to Liaodong, and sent it off, and was made Marquis of Xiangping and General of the Left. When Gongsun Kang died, his sons Gongsun Huang, Gongsun Yuan and the others were all young, so the people set up Gongsun Kang's younger brother Gongsun Gong as Administrator of Liaodong. Records, Wei 8 §36 · 39–41 · 50

Gongsun Gong had been made a eunuch by illness and was too weak to govern the state. In the 2nd year of Taihe (228) Gongsun Yuan coerced Gongsun Gong and seized his position, and Emperor Ming, Cao Rui, at once appointed him General Who Displays Valor and Administrator of Liaodong. Liu Ye urged that troops be sent while he was newly established, saying that the Gongsun family had long held power for generations and would become a source of disaster later if not destroyed now. In the 4th year of Taihe (230) he was made General of Chariots and Cavalry. Records, Wei 8 §43Records, Wei 3 §10 · 18Records, Wei 14 §108

Gongsun Yuan sent envoys south to come to terms with Sun Quan, and they exchanged gifts. In the 10th month of the 1st year of Jiahe (232) he sent the Colonel Su Shu and the Chamberlain of the Palace Gentlemen Sun Zong to declare himself Sun Quan's vassal and present sable furs and horses. In the 3rd month of the following year Sun Quan gave Zhang Mi, Xu Yan, He Da and others 10,000 soldiers, gold, silver and treasures, and the ceremonial gifts of the Nine Bestowals, and had them cross the sea to make Gongsun Yuan King of Yan. The Chancellor Gu Yong and the entire court below him, as well as Zhang Zhao, remonstrated that Gongsun Yuan could not be trusted, but Sun Quan would not listen. Records, Wei 8 §43–44Records, Wu 2 §72–73 · 75Records, Wu 7 §13

Fearing that Sun Quan was too far away to be relied upon, and coveting the goods as well, Gongsun Yuan lured the envoys in, cut off the heads of Zhang Mi, Xu Yan and the others and sent them to Wei, and seized their soldiers and supplies. In the 12th month of that year Emperor Ming made Gongsun Yuan Grand Marshal and enfeoffed him as Duke of Lelang. Sun Quan, in a great rage, wanted to attack him in person, but gave it up at the remonstrance of Xue Zong, Lu Xun and others. Records, Wei 8 §44–45Records, Wei 3 §34Records, Wu 2 §76Records, Wu 13 §39

When envoys from Wei came, Gongsun Yuan arrayed armored troops as if in battle formation before going out to meet them, and he repeatedly spoke insolently before the guests in his state. In the 1st year of Jingchu (237), when Guanqiu Jian, Inspector of You Province, came bearing an edict under the imperial seal to summon him, Gongsun Yuan raised troops and met him in battle at Liaosui County, and Guanqiu Jian, faring badly, withdrew. The Annals of Emperor Ming record that rain fell for ten days at this time, the Liao River rose greatly, and Guanqiu Jian was recalled. Gongsun Yuan then made himself King of Yan, established a full set of officials and proclaimed the 1st year of Shaohan; he lent a seal to the Xianbei chanyu and enticed the Xianbei to harass the north. Records, Wei 8 §46Records, Wei 3 §53–54

In the spring of the 2nd year of Jingchu (238) Emperor Ming sent the Grand Commandant Sima Yi to attack Gongsun Yuan. His ministers said that 40,000 men were too many and the cost would be hard to bear, but Emperor Ming, saying that a campaign of 4,000 li required a full commitment of strength, sent 40,000 men. In the 6th month, when the Wei army reached Liaodong, Gongsun Yuan gave his generals Bei Yan, Yang Zuo and others several tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry and had them hold Liaosui County behind more than twenty li of encircling trenches. Sima Yi sent Hu Zun and others to defeat Bei Yan, and, feigning a move to the southeast, turned sharply northeast and made straight for Xiangping. Fearing that Xiangping was undefended, Bei Yan and the others fled by night, and at Mount Shou they fought again to the death but were heavily defeated. Records, Wei 8 §47–48Records, Wei 3 §61–62

The Wei army reached the foot of the walls of Xiangping and dug siege trenches. Just then heavy rains fell for more than thirty days and the Liao River rose, so that transport ships came straight from Liaokou to the foot of the walls. Some at court proposed recalling Sima Yi, but Emperor Ming said that Sima Yi met danger by adapting to change, and that the capture of Gongsun Yuan could be counted in days. When the rain cleared, the Wei army raised earthen mounds and towers and shot into the city with catapults and repeating crossbows. Gongsun Yuan was hard pressed; food ran out, people ate one another, and his general Yang Zuo and others surrendered. Records, Wei 8 §48Records, Wei 3 §62

On the night of the bingyin day of the 8th month, a great meteor several tens of zhang long fell from northeast of Mount Shou to the southeast of the city of Xiangping. On the renwu day Gongsun Yuan's forces collapsed, and he and his son Gongsun Xiu, leading several hundred horsemen, broke through the siege and fled southeast. The main army attacked swiftly and beheaded Gongsun Yuan and his son on the very spot where the meteor had fallen. When the city fell, those beheaded from the Chancellor of State downward numbered in the thousands; Gongsun Yuan's head was sent to Luoyang, and Liaodong, Daifang, Lelang and Xuantu were all pacified. Records, Wei 8 §49

His elder brother Gongsun Huang, who was at court as a hostage, had repeatedly reported the coming trouble before Gongsun Yuan rebelled. Gao Rou memorialized that if his words were true he should be spared death, but Emperor Ming would not listen and made Gongsun Huang and his wife and children drink powdered gold. Records, Wei 24 §49–50

Earlier, strange things had often happened in Gongsun Yuan's household. A dog wearing a cap and headcloth and a red robe climbed onto the roof; when rice was being steamed, a small child was found steamed to death in the pot; and in the northern market of Xiangping a lump of flesh appeared that had a head, eyes and a mouth but no hands or feet, and wriggled. The divination said, 'It has form but is not complete, it has a body but no voice; that state will perish.' From Gongsun Du's seizure of Liaodong to Gongsun Yuan, the family lasted three generations, fifty years in all, before it fell. Records, Wei 8 §50

In his assessment, Chen Shou wrote that Gongsun Du was cruel and violent without restraint, and that Gongsun Yuan, inheriting his enterprise, added to its viciousness, which served only to overturn his own clan. Records, Wei 8 §71