Dou Gui (竇軌) | 24 Histories

Overview

Dou Gui was a general and Official.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Courtesy name	Shize	士則	Shize

Life and dates

Attested activity

AD 605 to AD 618 大業中
Dated from the passage context · New Book of Tang 95, passage 97
AD 626 隱太子誅
Dated from the passage context · New Book of Tang 95, passages 121, 123
AD 617 高祖起兵
Dated from the passage context · New Book of Tang 95, passage 98

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Kin of Dou Wei (竇威)
brother's son 兄子 · paternal line · Through Dou Gong (竇恭)
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passages 94-95
Kin of Nephew of Dou Gui
nephew 甥
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 115
Child of Dou Gong (竇恭)
father 父 · paternal line
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 96

Career and standing

Military Governor of Yizhou 益州都督
AD 626 是歲 · Appointed
Dated from the passage context · New Book of Tang 95, passage 123
Consulting Staff Officer to the Grand Chancellor 大丞相諮議參軍
Appointed
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 100
Military Governor of Qin Prefecture 秦州總管
Appointed
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 106
Eastern Bureau Clerk of Ziyang Commandery 資陽郡東曹掾
AD 605 to AD 618 大業中 · Held
Dated from the passage context · New Book of Tang 95, passage 97
Supervisor of the Household of the Crown Prince 太子詹事
Promoted
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 105
Left Vice Director of the Yizhou Circuit Executive 益州道行台左僕射
Transferred
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 107

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six hundred additional fief households 食邑戶六百
AD 626 是歲 · Added
Dated from the passage context · New Book of Tang 95, passage 123
Duke of Zanhuang County 贊皇縣公
Enfeoffed
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 100
Duke of Zan 酂國
Restored
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 107
Beheaded a slave sent for gruel and the hesitating overseer
Execution
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passages 116-117
Beheaded his nephew for late arrival
Execution · With Nephew of Dou Gui
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 115
Hid the edict and killed Wei Yunqi
AD 626 隱太子誅 · Execution · With Wei Yunqi (韋雲起)
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 121
Imprisoned in the edict prison
Imprisonment
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 119
Soon released and returned to garrison Yizhou
Release
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 120

Places and affiliations

AD 621 to AD 622 明年
At Shu 蜀 · Relation Returned to
Dated from the passage context · New Book of Tang 95, passage 113
At Yizhou 益州 · Relation Posted to
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passages 107, 120, 123

Works and attributed material

Order · Speaker · Direct quotation
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 103
Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 116

Events and relationships

Advanced to Lintao, struck Zuofeng, drove off their forces
Military · Commander
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 110
Began garrison farming at Song Prefecture
Military · Commander
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 111
Checked at Huangqin Mountain, executed fourteen commanders, then routed the enemy
Military · Commander
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passages 102-104
Defeated Chipai Qiang and Zhong Juqiu in Hanzhong; remnants surrendered
Military · Commander · With Zhong Juqiu (鐘俱仇)
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 106
Led troops following the Prince of Qin against Wang Shichong
Military · Subordinate commander · With Prince of Qin (秦王)
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 112
Left office and returned home
AD 605 to AD 618 大業中 · Career · Office holder
Dated from the passage context · New Book of Tang 95, passage 97

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Ordered to suppress fifty thousand Ji hu raiding Yichun
Military · Commander
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 101
Ordered with Jiang Shanhe to relieve Song Prefecture
Military · Commander · With Jiang Shanhe (蔣善合)
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 108
Pacified bandits of Shu by discipline and terror
Military · Pacifier
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 114
Recruited more than a thousand men and paid homage at Changchun Palace
Military · Commander · With Gaozu (高祖)
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 98
Seated in the imperial tower without proper decorum
Court · Subject
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 118
Seized Weinan, took Yongfeng Granary, gathered five thousand troops, helped pacify the capital
Military · Commander
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 99
Relation Estranged from · Person Wei Yunqi (韋雲起)
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 121
Relation Estranged from · Person Guo Xingfang (郭行方)
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 121

Assessments and attributes

Assessment firm, resolute, and commanding · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 97
Assessment harsher once eminent, self-driving, executing disobedience and flogging minor faults · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 114

References in the histories

Search passages

History

14 passages

New Book of Tang, Chapter 95Volume 95 Biographies 20: Gao Jian and Fifth Generation Descendents: Gao Zhong, Dou Weizhi, Douzhi, Dou Gui, Dou Cong, Dou Kang, Dou Jing, Dou Dan, Dou Zhi, Dou Congsun: Dou Dexuan · 14 passages

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侄軌 Nephew — Gui

兄子軌，字士則。 His brother's son Gui, courtesy name Shize.

軌性剛果有威，大業中，為資陽郡東曹掾，去官歸。 Gui was bold and formidable. Under Daye he served as eastern bureau clerk of Ziyang, then resigned and went home.

高祖起兵，軌募眾千餘人迎謁長春宮。 When Gaozu rebelled, Gui raised over a thousand men and went to Changchun Palace to join him.

稽胡賊五萬掠宜春，詔軌討之。 Fifty thousand Ji-hu bandits raided Yichun; the court ordered Gui to campaign against them.

軌斬部將十四人，更拔其次代之，身擁數百騎殿，令曰：「聞鼓不進者斬。」 Gui executed fourteen commanders, promoted their seconds to replace them, took personal command of several hundred horsemen in the rear, and proclaimed: "Any man who hears the drum and does not advance will be executed."

既鼓，士爭赴賊，賊射不勝，大破之，斬首千級，獲男女二萬。 At the drumbeat the men rushed the enemy; their volleys could not stop the charge. Gui crushed them, took a thousand heads, and captured twenty thousand people.

赤排羌與薛舉叛將鐘俱仇寇漢中，拜秦州總管，討賊連戰有功，餘黨悉降。 When the Chipai Qiang and Xue Ju's turncoat general Zhong Juqiu raided Hanzhong, Gui was made military governor of Qin. He fought a series of victorious engagements and the remnants all submitted.

党項引吐谷渾寇松州，詔軌與扶州刺史蔣善合援之。 Tangut allies brought Tuyuhun raiders against Songzhou; the court ordered Gui and Fuzhou prefect Jiang Shanhe to the rescue.

軌進軍臨洮，擊左封，走其眾。 Gui marched on Lintao, attacked Zuofeng, and put the enemy to flight.

軌既貴，益嚴酷，然能自勤苦，每出師臨敵，身未嘗解甲，其下有不用命即誅，至小過亦鞭棰流血，人見者皆重足股慄，由是蜀盜悉平。 Once elevated, Gui grew even more brutal, yet he drove himself as hard as any man under him: on campaign he never took off his armor; disobedience meant death, and minor infractions brought flogging until the blood ran. Everyone who encountered him walked on tiptoe, trembling on their feet — and by that means banditry in Shu was extinguished.

初，以其甥為腹心，嘗夜出，呼不時至，斬之。 Early on he relied on a nephew as his right hand. One night he went out and summoned him; when the man failed to arrive promptly, Gui had him beheaded.

命斬奴，奴稱冤，監刑者疑不時決，軌並斬之。 He ordered the slave executed. The slave protested his innocence, and the overseer hesitated — so Gui had them both killed.

軌與行台尚書韋雲起、郭行方素不協，及隱太子誅，詔至，軌內詔懷中，雲起問詔安在，軌不肯示，因執殺之。 Gui had long been estranged from executive directors Wei Yunqi and Guo Xingfang. When news came of the Hidden Crown Prince's death, the edict reached Gui — he hid it in his robe. Yunqi asked to see it; Gui refused and had him seized and killed.