Three Kingdoms History: Gongsun Du

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Gongsun Du, often called ‘Gongsun Du the Warlike,’ was the governor of Liaodong during the Late-Han era. When Dong Zhuo took over the capital, Gongsun Du was authorized to launch a sea-borne invasion of Korea.

In AD 204, Gongsun Du died and was succeeded by his son, Gongsun Kang. The Gongsun family would hold parts of Korea and Northeastern China for many years. In AD 238, however, Gongsun Du’s grandson, Gongsun Yuan, would be defeated by the Wei Empire.

Despite his warlike nature, Gongsun Du was said to have been honored abroad. The Zizhi Tongjian states, “Gongsun Du’s authority was respected across the seas. Many people fled to him to escape the disorders of China proper, including Guan Ning, Bing Yuan and Wang Lie, all of whom hailed from Beihai.” Gongsun Du had a lodge built for the former of these two, and wanted to appoint Wang Lie as his Chief Clerk [but later refrained from doing this when Wang Lie became a merchant, the lowest class in Confucianist society]. At first, people started immigrating to the Southern portions of Gongsun Du’s land, but later, after Guan Ning established a hut in a mountain valley to the north of Gongsun Du’s territory, a virtual community sprang up there as well.