Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 01-12-11 20:36
Chinese surname - the 16th most common Chinese surname -- 郭 (GUO)
Guo means: second wall of a city.
The surname Guo is about 2,600 years old.
The surname Guo originated in an area referred to during the Qin Dynasty
(秦朝 221BC to 207BC), as the Taiyuan prefecture (太原郡). The present day
location of Taiyuan prefecture is the city of Taiyuan (太原市 112.6 degree
East and 37.8 degree North on the world map) in Shanxi province (山西省).
After Zhou King Wu (周武王) had founded the Zhou Dynasty (周朝 1134BC to
256BC) he gave the authority to his uncle, his father's younger brother,
Ji Zhong (姬仲), to rule a district called Guo (虢 present day northeast
of Yingyang county 滎陽縣 in Henan province 河南省). Zhou King Wu also
bestowed upon him the inheritable title of Gong (公) or Duke. The district
Guo was renamed the State of Guo (虢國) and Ji Zhong came to be known as
Guo Gong (虢公). Ji Zhong's offspring continued to rule the State of Guo.
In 771BC, the Quan Rong (犬戎), a nomadic tribe in the northwest, attacked
and overran the Zhou capital of Hao (鎬 the present day city of Xian 西
安市 in Shaanxi province 陜西省). Zhou King You (周幽王 reign 781BC to 771BC)
, the 12th King of the Zhou Dynasty, was killed in the turmoil. The Quan
Rong razed the capital to the ground.
Ji Yijiu (姬宜臼), the crown prince and son of Zhou King You, raised an
army from several vassal States and went to rescue the capital. The Quan
Rong were driven out of the capital and pushed back to the northwest region,
where they belonged.
Ji Yijiu ascended to the throne and was crowned Zhou King Ping (周平王),
the 13th King. He moved his capital to Chengzhou (成周 the present day city
of Luoyang 洛陽市in Henan province) because the destroyed capital was uninhabitable.
Ji Yijiu's cousin, Ji Juetu (姬掘突) helped Zhou King Ping to defeat the
Quan Rong. Ji Juetu also assisted Zhou King Ping to shift his capital to
Chengzhou. In appreciation Zhou King Ping rewarded him as the ruler of the
State of Guo. The State of Zheng (鄭國), which he inherited from his father
Ji You (姬友), near the old capital of Hao, was absorbed by the State of
Qin (秦國 present day Fengxiang county 鳳翔縣 in Shaanxi province). Zhou
King Ping forced Ji Xu (姬序), the ruler of Guo, to give up his domain in
favour of Ji Juetu. Many of the rulers of the vassal states were unhappy
to see Zhou King Ping deprived of Ji Xu's domain by force. The ruler of
the State of Chu (楚國 present day Jiangling county 江陵縣 in Hubei province
湖北省) was so angry with Zhou King Ping that he threatened to attack the
new capital. Seeing trouble lying ahead of him, and to pacify the anger
of the vassal states, Zhou King Ping reinstated Ji Xu, the former ruler
of Guo, by giving him to ruler the district of Yangqu (陽曲 in the north
of present day city of Taiyuan 太原 in Shanxi province). The new domain
of Ji Xu was named as the State of Bei Guo 北郭國). Ji Xu changed the character
of Guo (虢) to Guo (郭). Ji Xu came to be known as Bei Guo Gong (北郭公)
or the Duke of North Guo.
The offspring of Ji Xu continued to rule Bei Guo until in 655BC when it
was absorbed by the State of Jin (晉國 present day Yicheng county 翼城縣
in Shanxi province). The 19th ruler of the State of Jin was Ji Guizhu (姬
詭諸) who ruled Jin from 676BC to 651BC. The offspring of Ji Xu adopted
GUO (郭) as their surname in remembrance of their beloved extinct State.
The couplet of surname Guo is:
太原世澤
姓自周代
Prominent figures of the Guo clan are:
(1) Guo Moruo (郭沫若 (Guo Moruo 1892 to 1978)
He was a Chinese author, poet, historian, archaeologist, and government
official from Sichuan province (四川省). He was born in a small town called
Shawan (沙灣). His ancestors were Hakkas from Ninghua County (寧化縣) in
Tingzhou (汀州), near the western border of Fujian province (福建省). They
moved to Sichuan in the second half of the 17th century, after Sichuan had
lost much of its population to the rebels/bandits of Zhang Xianzhong (ca.
1605-1647). According to the family legend, the only possessions that Guo's
ancestors brought to Sichuan were things they could carry on their backs.
Guo Moruo's great-grandfather, Guo Xianlin, was the first in the family
to achieve a degree of prosperity. Guo Xianlin's sons established the Guo
clan as the leaders of the local river shipping business, and thus important
people in that entire region of Sichuan. It was only then that the Guo clan
members became able to send their children to school.
Guo Moruo's father, one of whose names may possibly have been Guo Mingxing
(1854-1939) had to drop out of school at the age of 13, spent half a year
at an apprentice at a salt well, and then entered his father's business.
A shrewd and smart man, who also obtained some local renown as a Chinese
medicine doctor, he traded successfully dealings in oils, opium, liquor,
and grain, and operated a money changing business. His business success
allowed him to magnify family's real estate and salt well holdings.
After his high school, Guo Moruo left China in December 1913 and went to
Japan to study. After a year of preparatory study in Tokyo, he entered Sixth
Higher School in Okayama. After graduation, he entered in 1918 the Medical
School of Kyushyu Imperial University (九州帝國大學) in Fukuoka. There he
fell in love with a Japanese woman who became his common-law wife. His studies
at this time focused on foreign language and literature, namely that of:
Spinoza, Goethe, Walt Whitman, and the Bengali poet Tagore. Along with numerous
translations, he published his first poem anthology, titled The Goddesses
(女神) in 1921. He was one of the co-founder of the Ch'uang-tsao she ("Creation
Society") in Shanghai, which promoted modern and vernacular literature.
He joined the Communist Party of China in 1927. He was involved in the Communist
Nanchang Uprising and fled to Japan after its failure. He stayed there for
10 years studying Chinese ancient history until he returned in 1937 to join
the anti-Japanese resistance. Guo remarried in 1939 to Yu Lichun. He became
one of the Communist leaders. After the war, his Japanese wife went to reunite
with him but was disappointed to know that he had already formed a new family.
Along with holding important government offices in the People's Republic
of China, he was a prolific writer, not just of poetry but also fiction,
plays, autobiographies, translations, and historical and philosophical treatises.
He was the first President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and remained
so from its founding in 1949 until his death in 1978. He was also the first
president of University of Science & Technology of China (USTC), a new type
of university established by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) after
the founding of the People's Republic of China and aimed at fostering high-level
personnel of science and technology. In this work, he attempted to demonstrate,
according to the Communist doctrine, the "slave society" nature of ancient
China. His theory on the "slave society of China" remains highly controversial,
although it was praised by Mao and the party.
In 1966 he was one of the first to be attacked in the Great Proletarian
Cultural Revolution. He confessed that he had not properly understood the
thought of Mao Zedong, and agreed that his works should be burned. However,
this was not enough to protect his family. Two of his sons died following
persecution by Red Guards.
Unlike the others similarly attacked, Guo Moruo's was spared as he was chosen
by Mao as "the representative of the rightwing" in the 9th National Congress
of the Communist Party of China in 1969. He regained much of his influence
by the seventies until he died in 1978.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Mao Zedong's poem on his wife Yang Kaihui 楊開慧 who was executed by one
of Chiang Kai-shek's general He Jian (何健).
http://yn.chung.id.au/Yang.Kaihui&Sons.jpg
Guo Moruo (郭沫若) rewrites it into a modern poetry.
This is a poem that Mao Zedong replied to Li Shuyi (李淑一) on 11th May
1957. Li Shuyi was a language teacher at the No.10 High School in Changsha
in Hunan province (湖南長沙第十中學).
蝶戀花 (答李淑一)
我失驕楊君失柳,----------Wo3 shi jiao Yang jun shi Liu,
楊柳輕颺直上重霄九.---Yang Liu qing yang2 zhi2 shang4 chong2 xiao jiu3.
問訊吳剛何所有,----------Wen4 xun4 Wu Gang he2 suo3 you3,
吳剛捧出桂花酒.----------Wu Gang peng3 chu Gui Hua Jiu.
寂寞嫦娥舒廣袖,----------Ji4 mo4 Chang E shu guang xiu4,
萬里長空且為忠魂舞,---Wan4 li3 chang2 kong qie3 wei2 zhong hun2 wu3,
忽報人間曾伏虎,----------Hu bao4 ren2 jian zeng fu2 hu3,
淚飛頓作傾盆雨.----------Lei4 fei dun4 zuo4 qing pen yu3.
I lost my proud Poplar [A*] and you your Willow [B*],
Poplar and Willow soar to the Ninth Heaven.
Wu Gang [C*],asked what he can give,
Serves them a laurel brew[D*]
The lonely Moon Goddess[E*], spreads her ample sleeves
To dance for these loyal souls in the infinite space.
Earth suddenly reports the tiger[F*] subdued,
Tears of joy pour forth falling as mighty rain.
Source:
Mao Tsetung poems,
Foreign Language Press, Peking, 1976
The Explanation
[A*] Yang (楊 Poplar refers to Yang Kaihui (楊開慧), the wife of Mao Zedong.
In 1930 when the Red Army pulled out of Changsha (長沙) the Kuomintang
(國民黨) General He Jian (何健) arrested Yang Kaihui and Mao Zehong (毛澤
紅), the younger sister of Mao Zedong. Without hesitation they were promptly
executed.
In order to extirpate the breed of Mao's family, the Kuomintang soldiers
also wanted to kill the three sons of Mao Zedong, Anying (岸英 1922 to 1951),
Anjing (岸菁 1923 to ?) and Anlong (岸龍 1927 to 1931), but the peasants
hid them.
[B*] Liu (柳 Willow refers Liu Zhenxun (柳直荀), the husband of Li Shiyi
(李淑一).
Liu joined the CCP in 1923 and was a committee member in the provincial
government of Hunan. He took part in the Nanchang uprising 南昌起義). Liu
died in the battle field against the Kuomintang at Hong Hu (洪湖) in 1932
in Hubei province (湖北省). Yang Kaihui and Li Shiyi were good friends and
Mao Zedong and Liu Zhenxun were comrade in arms.
[C*] Wu Gang (吳剛).
Wu Gang was from Xihe Prefecture (西河郡 the present day region north of
the Huanghe 黃河 in Shanxi province 山西省 ) during the Han Dynasty (漢
朝 202BC to 220AD). According to the book 酋陽雜俎 (Qiu Yang Za Zu), Wu
Gang was learning to be a immortal but he failed and was condemned to cut
down an ever-lasting cassia tree growing in the palace on the moon. He worked
very hard trying to hew down the cassia tree. Every time he took a rest
the part that he chopped off grew back.
[D*] Gui Hua Jiu (桂花酒) wine fermented with osmanthus flowers.
[E*] the Moon Goddess refers to Chang E (嫦娥), the Moon Lady. Chang E is
often depicted in a picture of a beautiful maiden against the background
of a full moon, on the packaging of the moon cakes. The next time you visit
a Chinese grocery or cake shop, buying moon cakes, see if you can spot a
picture of Chang E.
[F] 虎 or the tiger refers to Our Great Generalissimo, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣
介石), who was defeated in the civil by the Chairman, Mao Zedong. The Generalissimo
fled to Taiwan.
--------------------------------------------------------------
郭沫若 Guo Moruo, rewrites this poem into the style of modern poetry, but
Mao Zedong did not like it. However, in 1990, the rewrote poem found its
way to Hong Kong and was published by the Kunlun (崑崙) Publishing Company
in Hong Kong and later the Washington University in USA in 1990.
我喪失了陽,----------------------Wo3 sang4 shi le Yang,
你喪失了柳,----------------------Ni3 sang4 shi le Liu,
楊柳的忠魂,----------------------Yang Liu di2 zhong hun2,
向月夜高空飄飄走.-----------Xiang4 yue4 ye4 gao kong piao piao zou3.
吳剛啊,-----------------------------Wu Gang a,
你有什麼來款待他們呢?---Ni3 you3 shi2 me lai2 kuan3 dai4 ta men ni2?
吳剛捧出了他的桂花酒.----Wu Gang peng3 chu le ta di2 Gui Hua Jiu.
寂寞的嫦娥展開長袖,--------Ji4 mo4 di2 Chang E zhan3 kai chang2 xiu4,
為了安慰忠魂,-------------------Wei2 le an wei4 zhong hun2,
在萬里長空翩翩起舞.--------Zai4 wan4 li3 chang2 kong pian pian qi3 wu3.
他們忽聽到人間降龍伏虎的消息,
Ta men hu ting dao4 ren2 jian jiang4 long2 fu2 hu3 di2 xiao xi.
那激動的淚水啊,--------------Na4 ji2 dong4 di2 lei4 shui3 a,
剎時間化為一天大雨.-------Cha4 shi2 jian hua4 wei2 yi tian da4 yu3.
----------------------------------------------
(2) Guo Ziyi (郭子儀 697AD to 781AD)
Guo Ziyi was born in the county of Huazhouzheng (華州鄭縣 present day Hua
county 華縣 in Shaanxi province 陜西省). He was a military officer. In 755AD
An Lushan (安祿山), a military governor in the present day of Hebei province
(河北省), rebelled against the Tang Court which was forced evacuate its
capital of Changan (長安 the present day city of Xian 西安市 in Shaanxi
province) and took refuge in Chengdu (成都 in the present day province of
Sichuan 四川省). At that time Guo Ziyi was the Ambassador to Shou Fang (朔
方 present day Mongolia). Guo Ziyi led the armed forces of Tang to wage
war against An Lushan. In 757AD An Qingxu (安慶緒) murdered his father An
Lushan. Guo Zi Yi recaptured all the territories that had previously lost
to An Lushan. Guo Ziyi welcomed the new Emperor Su Zong (肅宗皇帝理亨) back
to the capital. The Emperor Su Zong bestowed upon Guo Ziyi the title of
Fenyang Wang (汾陽王) or the Prince of Fenyang and told him that:
"國家在造, 卿之力也. It is the effort of the officers that has rebuilt the
country".
There were several uprisings in Tufan (吐蕃 the present day province of
Xizang 西藏省) during the reign of Emperor Dai Zong (代宗皇帝李豫 763AD
to 779AD). The uprisings were crushed by Guo Ziyi. The new Emperor De Zong
(德宗皇帝李适) rewarded Guo Ziyi the title of Shang Fu (尚父) or the God
Father.
------------------------------------------------
(3) Guo Zixing (郭子興 ? to 1355AD)
During the Yuan Dynasty (元朝 1206AD to 1368AD) in the years between 1348AD
to 1353AD, there were many groups of people throughout the country organized
themselves and took up arms to fight against the Mongols. There was an armed
band called the Red Turban (紅巾軍), so called from the head-dress adopted
by its members. The Red Turban was controlled by Guo Zixing (郭子興). Zhu
Yuanzhang (朱元璋) joined the Red Turban.
As Zhu Yuanzhang was tall, brave, smart and intelligence Guo Zixing appointed
him a leader of a squad. As he excelled in battles Guo Zixing adored him
and wanted Zhu Yuanzhang to be near him at all times and to give him advice.
The Red Turban snowballed and grew into a large army. Eventually, Zhu Yuanzhang
married Guo Zixing's adopted daughter Ma Shi (馬士).
In the third month of 1355AD Guo Zixing died of illness. Zhu Yuanzhang became
the leader of the Red Turban Army. Zhu Yuanzhang destroyed the Yuan Dynasty
and in 1368AD founded the Ming Dynasty (明朝 1368AD to 1644AD). He became
the Emperor and was crowned Emperor Tai Zu (太祖皇帝 1368AD to 1398AD) and
established his capital in Yingtianfu (應天府 the present day city of Nanjing
南京市 in Zhejiang province 浙江省).
-----------------------------------------
Posted to asiawind.com
By CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
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