Guo Li

Biography & Historical Record

Guo Li was a Cao Wei military officer and logistical commander during the Three Kingdoms period. Serving under the imperial administration of the Cao Wei state and the Sima clan, Guo Li was assigned to handle regional security, garrison administration, and logistical supply networks in the northern provinces. Documented in secondary historical records, local gazetteers, and military chronicles of Cao Wei’s northern campaigns, Guo Li played a supportive role in coordinating transport, weapon procurement, and rear-guard defense during the campaigns led by Grand Tutor Sima Yi against regional rebellions and the Liaodong campaign against Gongsun Yuan.

During the 230s AD, as Cao Wei faced multi-front military pressure from Shu Han’s Northern Expeditions in the west and Eastern Wu’s offensives in the south, maintaining absolute domestic stability and efficient supply lines across the northern hinterlands was vital for the central government at Luoyang. Guo Li operated as a trustworthy subordinate officer responsible for securing transport routes, organizing local garrisons, and managing armament manufacturing. When Sima Yi launched his lightning expedition to suppress Gongsun Yuan’s rebellion in Liaodong in 238 AD, Guo Li assisted in coordinating rear-guard logistics, securing grain shipments, and maintaining public order across the northern commanderies. His diligent administrative and logistical service ensured that frontline imperial armies remained well-supplied throughout the northeastern campaigns.

Role in Romance of the Three Kingdoms

In Luo Guanzhong’s classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Guo Li is referenced as a subordinate military officer and logistical official of Cao Wei operating during the later chapters of the saga. Assigned to administrative and garrison duties under Sima Yi’s northern command, Guo Li manages rear-guard security, weapon supply, and transport logistics. During Sima Yi’s grand campaign to pacify Gongsun Yuan in Liaodong in Chapter 106, Guo Li helps oversee supply convoys and maintaining stability across northern garrisons, ensuring that Sima Yi’s expeditionary force receives uninterrupted grain and armaments to complete the siege of Xiangping.

Guo Li (郭理) — Historical & Literary Timeline

For detailed historical records, archives, and official chronicles, explore Guo Li on Wikipedia.

Key Relationships

Family

• No information

Friends

• Sima Yi (司马懿, Tư Mã Ý): Grand Commander and Grand Tutor of Cao Wei whom Guo Li served under, managing rear-guard logistics, grain convoys, and garrison security during the expedition against Liaodong (238 AD).
• Guanqiu Jian (毌丘俭, Quán Khâu Kiệm): Inspector of You Province and fellow Cao Wei military officer who operated along the northeastern frontier during the campaigns to secure the northern territories.

Enemies

• Gongsun Yuan (公孙渊, Công Tôn Uyên): Warlord of Liaodong who rebelled and proclaimed himself King of Yan; Guo Li helped coordinate the supply routes and armament logistics for the Cao Wei expeditionary forces that suppressed his uprising in 238 AD.

Other

• Cao Rui (曹叡, Tào Duệ): Emperor Ming of Wei, the reigning monarch of Cao Wei whom Guo Li served as a regional garrison and logistical officer during the northern campaigns of the 230s AD.