Guo Xiaoke


Guo Xiaoke was a general in the early Tang dynasty and General of Anxi Protectorate.

Biography

He was from Yangdi in Xuzhou. In his youth he had uncommon ambitions, and his father and elder brothers thought him a ne’er-do-well. At the end of the Sui he led several hundred youths to submit to Li Mi of the Wagang army. Li Mi was delighted and had him, together with Xu Shiji to defend Liyang. After Li Mi was defeated, Xu Shiji sent Guo Xiaoke into Chang’an to surrender to the Tang. Emperor Gaozu of Tang enfeoffed Guo Xiaoke as Duke of Yangdi and appointed him governor of Songzhou, issuing an edict ordering Guo Xiaoke and Xu Shiji to manage the region east of Wulao. In the prefectures and counties they pacified, they were entrusted with selections and appointments.
In 621, when Dou Jiande came to relieve Wang Shichong in Luoyang, Guo Xiaoke went to pay respects to the Prince of Qin, Li Shimin, and offered a plan to hold Wulao firmly, deploy the army to Sishui, and respond flexibly. Li Shimin accepted his advice and won the Battle of Hulao. After Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong were captured, Li Shimin held a great banquet at Luoyang Palace and said to the assembled generals: “Xiaoke devised the stratagem to capture the bandits; Wang Chang advanced first down the canal; their merits indeed stand to the right of you gentlemen.” Guo Xiaoke was promoted to Grand Pillar of State. He subsequently served as governor of four prefectures: Bei, Zhao, Jiang, and Jing. He was later reassigned as General of the Left Vanguard and was successively elevated to Grand Master of Splendour with the Golden and Purple insignia.
In 642, Emperor Taizong appointed Guo Xiaoke as commander of Liangzhou, and then as Anxi Protector-General and governor of Xizhou. Same year Western Türk qaghan Yukuk Shad attacked Yiwu in 642, which had by now been converted into the Tang's Yi Prefecture. Guo Xiaoke led 2,000 light cavalry to defeated his raiding party. Lhagan also sent the Chuyue and Chumi tribes to besiege Tianshan County; Guo Xiaoke again attacked and routed them. Pressing his advantage, Guo advanced, subdued chief of the Chuyue, pursued them to Mount Esuo, beheaded over a thousand, and compelled the Chumi tribes to surrender.
In 644, the king of Karasahr, Long Tuqizhi rebelled against Tang and submitted to Western Türk qaghan; Guo Xiaoke requested to attack Karasahr, was appointed Acting Grand Commander of the Xizhou Route. Long Lipozhun, a brother of the king, defected to the Tang and served as Guo's guide. Guo planned a surprise attack, marching towards the city from the Yulduz basin, led three thousand infantry and cavalry along the Yinshan route, and attacked the kingdom at dawn. The city fell and the king Long Tuqizhi was captured when the Tang troops swam across the moat that surrounded the city. The Western Turks sent 5,000 cavalry to assist Karasahr. They arrived three days after Guo's departure and captured Long Lipozhun. They then pursued Guo Xiaoke's army, but were defeated by the Tang troops. One of the Western Turk leaders later sent a tudun to rule Karasahr, but the tudun pulled out after receiving threats from the Tang. The people of Karasahr then installed Long Lipozhun's cousin Long Xuepo'anazhi as their king and remained vassals of the Western Turks.
In 648, Emperor Taizong appointed Ashina She’er as Grand Commander of the Kunqiu Route and Guo Xiaoke as his deputy to campaign against Kucha. They took the capital; Guo Xiaoke remained to hold it and sent the rest of the army along separate routes to pursue the fleeing Kucha chancellor Nali. However, Guo Xiaoke encamped outside the city and failed to guard against Nali, who colluded with insiders to launch a surprise attack on the Tang army. Guo Xiaoke fought to the death, was killed by a stray Turkic arrow, and his son Guo Daizhao fell with him. General Cao Jishu advanced and retook Kucha. Even though Taizong blamed Guo Xiaoke for poor reconnaissance, posthumously stripping his titles, later, moved by pity for his death in battle, he held mourning for him. When Emperor Gaozong ascended the throne, he posthumously restored Guo Xiaoke's rank and title and granted 300 bolts of cloth as funeral gifts.

Family

He had at least three sons:
  1. Guo Daizhao – died on 19 January 649 alongside his father, posthumously a Roving General.
  2. Guo Daifeng – rose to General of the Left Leopard-Quelling Guard. Around 670, serving as deputy to Xue Rengui in the campaign against Tibetan Empire, he was defeated at Battle of Dafei River and, spared death, was reduced to commoner.
  3. Guo Daipin – served as governor of Songzhou during Empress Wu's reign.