Geshu Han
Geshu Han (Chinese: 哥舒翰; pinyin: Gēshū Hàn) (died December 1, 757[1]), formally Prince Wumin of Xiping (西平武愍王), was a general of Tang China who was of Turgesh extraction.
[2] A veteran of many battles, he became a powerful general late in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and in 756 became responsible for defending Tong Pass against the rebel forces of An Lushan.
His paternal ancestors were tribal chiefs of Western Turkic extraction, bearing the Nushibi Geshu surname and belonging to the Duolu Tuqishi tribe.
Geshu Han first served under Wang Chui (王倕), the military governor (jiedushi) of Hexi Circuit (河西, headquartered in modern Wuwei, Gansu).
In 747, Geshu was promoted to be a general, as well as deputy military governor of Longyou Circuit (隴右, headquartered in modern Haidong Prefecture, Qinghai), which Wang Zhongsi governed at the time as well.
Later that year, Wang Zhongsi was accused of hindering an attack against Tufan by the general Dong Yanguang (董延光), summoned to Chang'an, and put under interrogation.
Later that year, when Emperor Xuanzong, seeing that Geshu had poor relations with An Lushan, then the military governor of Fanyang Circuit (范陽, headquartered in modern Beijing) and An Sishun (whose uncle was An Lushan's stepfather), then the military governor of Shuofang Circuit (朔方, headquartered in modern Yinchuan, Ningxia), and wanted to improve relations between these three key commanders of troops at the border, he summoned all three to the capital and had the powerful eunuch Gao Lishi host a feast for the three of them, trying to get them to resolve their unpleasantries.
In 753, Geshu attacked Tufan again, capturing Hongji (洪濟) and Damomen (大漠門) (both in modern Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture) and seizing back the nine bends of the Yellow River.
In 755, An Lushan, after Yang Guozhong repeatedly provoked him, rebelled, and the generals Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing after failing to defeat An were executed.
In 756, Emperor Xuanzong also gave Geshu the honorary title of Zuo Pushe (左僕射), one of the heads of the executive bureau of government (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng) and chancellor de facto (同中書門下平章事, Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi).
Soon thereafter, intelligence reports indicated that An's forward commander Cui Qianyou (崔乾祐) had weak forces outside the Tong Pass, and Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guozhong became convinced that it was the time to counterattack in order to recapture the eastern capital Luoyang—despite repeated petitions by Geshu that it was inadvisable, agreed with by Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, who were then attacking An's holdings north of the Yellow River and believed that the proper strategy was for Geshu to hold Tong Pass and for them to destroy An's power base first.
He prepared to defend it anyway, but his subordinate Huoba Guiren, believing the situation to be hopeless, tried to convince him to surrender to Cui, pointing out that he was putting himself in the same position as Gao Xianzhi.
Cui Qianyou delivered Geshu Han and Huoba Guiren to Luoyang, which An Lushan had made the capital of his new state of Yan after claiming imperial title.
Geshu responded that he simply did not see An's greatness at that time, and offered to write letters to Li Guangbi, Lai Tian, and Lu Gui, to ask them to surrender to An.
