Gongsun Yuan

Gongsun Yuan (onyomi: Kōson En) is the son of Gongsun Kang. He ruled semi-autonomously over the Liaodong area as a vassal of Wei and declared himself King of Yan, for which he and his clan were eventually executed.

Role in Games
He plays a role in Dynasty Warriors 7 where he rebels against the Sima Clan. His son, Gongsun Xiu and two others are attacked at Xiangping, provoking Gongsun Yuan into acting. Gongsun Yuan eventually tries to surrender, but is taken away and executed. He reprises his role in Dynasty Warriors 8, although this time, he is slain in battle after being ambushed at the end of stage.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Gongsun Yuan is given mediocore stats. In most scenarios, he serves either his father or his uncle in Xiangping. Few games also have him lead the force in his uncle's place in scenarios set during Zhuge Liang's northern campaigns.

Quotes

 * "I have survived until now through this chaos! You shall not defeat me so easily!"
 * "Pl-please, have mercy. I surrender!"
 * "Curse you!"
 * "Huh?! How did you get in here?"
 * "Curse the Sima clan... Yan in my kingdom..."

Historical Information
Gongsun Yuan was born to Gongsun Kang, Governor of Liaodong, Xuantu, Lelang and Daifang commanderies. After Kang's death, his brother Gong took over the position in 221, but revealed his inability to rule. In 228, Yuan wrested the position. Although Gongsun Yuan was nominally subject to Wei, Sun Quan aggressively pursued him. Yuan considered switching sides to Wu until he yielded under the pressure of Cao Rui. Yuan killed Wu delegates, but some of them fled to Goguryeo, who suffered from constant pressure from the Gongsun family. Then Wu allied with Goguryeo to launch a pincer attack against Yuan.

Feeling a sense of crisis, Cao Rui decided to overthrow the Gongsun family. In 237, he dispatched Guanqiu Jian with Chinese, Wuhuan and Xianbei troops, but the campaign was aborted due to floods. Gongsun Yuan proclaimed himself as the King of Yan and concluded an alliance with Wu. In the next year, Sima Yi and Guanqui Jian attacked Liaodong again. As a result of the campaign, Gongsun Yuan was killed and the Gongsun family was exterminated. The Kingdom of Wei conquered Liaodong and northwestern Korea.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Gongsun Yuan makes his first appearance in chapter 105 of the novel, where he is mentioned to have risen in rebellion by Guanqiu Jian. In chapter 106, he called his subjects to a council and wanted to style himself Prince of Yan. His advisers Jia Fan and Lun Zhi opposed the decision, stating that Sima Yi would surely attack and let the rebellion fail in the end. The opposition to his plan enraged Gongsun Yuan and he had both advisors executed in public. He then raised an army of 150,000 troops and had them advance towards Wei. Cao Rui sent Sima Yi to deal with the rebellion. When Sima Yi's officer Hu Zun met Gongsun Yuan's army, he returned to Sima Yi and told him about it. The latter then decided to attack Xiangping. His forces engaged Gongsun Yuan at Shoushang mountains and defeated them, killing his leader Bei Yan and forcing Gongsun Yuan to return to the city.

Sima Yi said after a star fall that in five days, Gongsun Yuan would die and then flooded the city. Gongsun Yuan, desperate and frightened, sent his officers Wang Jian and Liu Fei five days later to negotiate surrender. Sima Yi had both of them executed and sent their heads back to the city. Gongsun Yuan then sent Wei Yin to offer his son Gongsun Xiu as a hostage, but Sima Yi refused, saying his famous quote about five options in war. When Gongsun Yuan heard of it, he attempted to flee with his son at night through the southern gate. After three miles, they were ambushed by Sima Shi and Sima Zhao, but ignored the two and continued their escape. Finally, they were ambushed again by Xiahou Ba, Xiahou Wei, Hu Zun, Zhang Hu, and Yue Chen and decided to surrender. Sima Yi, after saying that the omen came true, ordered Gongsun Yuan and Gongsun Xiu to be killed at once. Father and son were then slain where they stood.