The Intelligence of Guo Xiaotian
Guo Xiaotian 郭啸天, the father of Guo Jing 郭靖, was killed in the early chapters of Eagle-Shooting Hero. Since Guo Jing was slow to speak as a child and took time to respond to situations as a young adult, a question arose as to whether Guo Jing had inherited some form of slow-wittedness from his father, Guo Xiaotian.
This article, first published by HYS on the Internet on 3 April 2005, provides evidence to the contrary.
A. Novel Excerpts
Part I: The appearance of Qiu Chuji:
"When Guo Xiaotian saw his brother's face turning totally red, he knew that the latter was suffering [under the grip of the Taoist Qiu Chuji]. He had initially approached [Qiu Chuji] in good faith, so he felt that a fight at that point in time would only serve to offend a good man of the jianghu. Thus, he hurried over and said, "Master Taoist, please sit over here!" The Taoist laughed coldly and released his grip on Yang Tiexin's wrist, before walking into the hall and sitting down in a proud manner. "You are both clearly men from Shandong," he said, "yet you are hiding here in Lin'an and pretending to be a couple of farmers. It is a pity, though, that your Shandong accent could not be changed. Furthermore, how could farming men be skilled in martial arts?"
Feeling both ill-at-ease and upset by the remark, Yang Tiexin went into the inner hall and took a dagger from a drawer. After putting the dagger into his shirt, he returned to the outer hall ... Guo Xiaotian saw that the Taoist had animosity written all over his face, and realised that the latter was certain that the wine had been adulterated. Hence, he took the cup before the Taoist and gulped its contents down. "The wine has become cold," he said. "Let me pour you a hot cup in return." When he was done, the Taoist picked the cup up and drank the wine in a single gulp.
... ... Yang Tiexin reached into his shirt and touched the dagger inside ... "What an evil Taoist!" he shouted as he sent the dagger towards the Taoist's chest. ... Guo Xiaotian was shocked at the sight of the exchange: My brother is a descendant of a renowned military general. The pugilistic skills that he has inherited from his ancestors are slightly better than mine, yet this Taoist considers him nothing. The move that the Taoist just made is obviously the formidable skill of seizing a blade with one's bare hands. It is well-known in the realm of the rivers and lakes, but I have only heard about and not seen it until a moment ago. Thus concerned about his brother's safety, he bent down and picked up a wooden bench: If the Taoist tries to stab us, I will raise the bench in defence.
"
Part II: The visit of Duan Tiande and his soldiers:
"Guo Xiaotian stuck half his body out of the window, aimed his bow and arrow at the military officer, and said, "Here is Guo Xiaotian." The officer became frightened. As a chill ran down his spine, he said, "Put down your arrow. I will read the warrant out to you." "Read it quickly!" said Guo Xiaotian in a stern voice as he pulled the arrow-laden string of his bow even more tightly.
Left without any alternatives, the officer opened the warrant and read it out in a loud voice: "The twin criminals, residents Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin of Cow Family Village in the Prefecture of Lin'an, colluded with great enemies. Although their schemes did not materialise, they must be immediately taken for interrogation and strictly dealt with according to the law." "Which government office did the warrant come from?" asked Guo Xiaotian.
"It came personally from Minister Han," answered the officer.
Guo and Yang were shocked: What great matter is there, that Minister Han should issue the warrant personally? Could it be caused by the Taoist Qiu's killing of a government officer?
"Who is the complainant?" asked Guo Xiaotian again. "What evidence do you have?"
"We are only responsible for taking you into arrest," answered the officer. "You can go and explain yourselves at the Office of the Prefect."
"Minister Han specialises in harming good and innocent people," shouted Yang Tiexin. "Is there anyone who does not know this? We will not fall for this trap."
"Disobeying orders and resisting arrest will add to your offences," declared the officer.
Yang Tiexin turned to his wife and said, "Hurry, put on a few additional pieces of clothing. I will seize his horse for you. When I shoot the officer down, his subordinates will naturally be lost for direction." Almost at once, the sound of the bowstring was heard. An arrow flew through the air like a meteor and stuck the officer on the right shoulder. ... Guo and Yang released their arrows in rapid succession ... ...
... ... After stabbing a soldier with his lance, Yang Tiexin picked Bao Xiruo up and placed her on the back of the horse. "Big Brother, come with me!" he shouted. Protecting Li Ping with his pair of halberds, Guo Xiaotian began fighting his way out ...
"
Part III: After Yang, Guo, and their wives, failed in their first attempt to escape on horses:
"Noting the sheer strength of the soldiers, Guo Xiaotian thought: It is not difficult for my brother and me to escape on our own, but since we are hemmed in by the enemy, there is no way that we can rescue our wives too. We have not broken any laws, so instead of dying for nothing, we may as well go and explain ourselves at the Office of the Lin'an Prefect. When the Taoist Qiu killed those soldiers from the government and the Jin forces, he did not let any of them go. Since the dead cannot bear witness, the Prefect will not be able to prosecute us for any crimes. Furthermore, those soldiers were not killed by my brother and me. Thus, he raised his voice and said, "Brother, stop the killing! Let us go with them!"
Stunned, Yang Tiexin withdrew his lance. The military officer who was in charge of the proceedings gave an order to halt the shooting of arrows, and commanded his men to surround their targets. "Put down your weapons, bows and arrows, and have your lives spared," he said.
"Brother, do not fall for their ploy!" said Yang Tiexin.
However, Guo Xiaotian shook his head and threw his pair of halberds to the ground. Yang Tiexin looked at his wife and saw that she had become pale with fear. Unwilling to frighten his beloved further, he sighed and threw his iron lance, bow and arrows to the ground. ... Eight soldiers went up to them ... and tied their hands behind their backs. Yang Tiexin laughed sarcastiscally and turned his head away.
The military officer who was in charge of the proceedings raised his whip and struck Yang Tiexin across the face. "How dare you!" he shouted. "Are you really not afraid of death?"
...
Seeing that his brother's life was in danger, Guo Xiaotian got to his feet and sent a foot towards Duan Tiande's chest. ... Guo Xiaotian managed to strike another two soldiers down with his kicks, yet the effectiveness his movements were affected by the fact that his hands were still tied behind his back. ... Guo Xiaotian gritted his teeth and said, "Brother, do not bother about me ... hurry, leave now!" ... Yang Tiexin took his shirt off and tried to bandage Guo Xiaotian's wounds with it, but the sabre-slash from Duan Tiande had cut him from the shoulder all the way across the chest. There was no way to bandage a wound of that size. Guo Xiaotian regained consciousness and said, "Brother, go and rescue your wife and your sister-in-law, I ... I will ... not be able to make it ..."
"
B. Guo Xiaotian's ways
- The appearance of Qiu Chuji was unexpected. Guo Xiaotian saw from his movements that Qiu Chuji was skilled in martial arts and concluded somewhat that he was a good man whom he and Yang Tiexin could seek advice from.
- When Yang Tiexin's invitation was snubbed by Qiu Chuji, Guo Xiaotian persevered and rephrased the invitation in a more polite and explanatory manner.
- When Qiu Chuji gripped Yang Tiexin's wrist, Guo Xiaotian managed to find a solution that gained Yang Tiexin's release without offending Qiu Chuji. Reading the expressions on Qiu Chuji's face, he tried to understand the man's perceptions and relieve the feelings of animosity that Qiu Chuji had towards him and his brother.
- When Yang Tiexin attacked Qiu Chuji with a dagger, Guo Xiaotian did not jump on to the bandwagon and join the fight. Instead, he spent a moment in thought, weighing the skills of Qiu Chuji against those of himself and his brother, before deciding to place the safety of his brother as a priority. Only then did he pick the bench up as a tool of defence. Even then, he did not use it immediately, preferring to wait until Qiu Chuji attacked them in return.
- Guo Xiaotian did not respond to the appearance of Duan Tiande and his soldiers until Yang Tiexin got into trouble. Even then, he did not leave his house (unlike Yang). Instead, he stuck himself out of the window, together with an arrow on his bow. This act was enough to scare the officer and enable Guo Xiaotian to find out more about their impending arrest.
- Guo Xiaotian questioned the officer about the details of their impending arrest, e.g. the office that processed the warrant, the complainant and the evidence. But before anything else could happen, Yang Tiexin shot the officer with an arrow.
- Guo Xiaotian considered the combined strength of the soldiers, the fighting abilities of himself and his brother, the physical condition of their wives, as well as the facts as he and his brother knew them (that it was Qiu Chuji who killed the soldiers, not them), before making the decision to surrender.
C. Thinking abilities as an indicator of intelligence
If intelligence can be defined as a combination of:
- the processes involved in processing sensory stimuli (the things we see, hear, feel, etc), storing and retrieving information in short- and long-term memory, solving problems as well as acquiring new skills;
- the interaction between mental processes and experience, centering on the fact that while a new experience requires complex mental responses, as it becomes increasingly familiar, the required response gradually becomes routine and automatic; and
- the way that people use their intelligence to survive in the real world by either adapting to their environments, modifying them, or abandoning them in favour of new ones ...
... then Guo Xiaotian's responses -- especially in processing sensory stimuli, storing/retrieving information, solving problems, using his experience in his mental processes, as well as using the resulting knowledge to survive in the situations that he faced -- does seem to indicate a certain level of cognitive ability.
In addition, Guo Xiaotian seemed to have a certain degree of emotional intelligence, i.e. the ability to understand the emotions of others, perceive subtle social cues, "read" complex social situations, as well as demonstrate insight about the motivations and goals of other people. The clearest indications are found in the way he handled the hostile Qiu Chuji in the initial part of their meeting, and the way he took the opportunity presented by the officer's fear of his arrow to question the man about the warrant of arrest, the complainant and the evidence of their alleged crimes.
D. Conclusion
While I cannot say that Guo Xiaotian is in the same league as Huang Rong, Huang Yaoshi and other characters of known intelligence, I can safely say that he was a thinking man during the situations that were described in the excerpts above. At the very least, he seemed to be putting more thought into his actions than Yang Tiexin did. Guo Xiaotian's thoughts and his subsequent actions may not be sufficient for us to determine the level of his intelligence, but I would like to suggest that he does have a commendable degree of both cognitive and emotional intelligence.
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* Note: The exact wordings of the novel excerpts in this article may differ from the full-text translation due to the fact that the two works were done by two different individuals on separate occasions.
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A note about Yang Tiexin
The text below was first published along with the main text (above) as an addendum, mostly to provide a comparison between the meta-cognitive capabilities of Guo Xiaotian and his closest friend, Yang Tiexin 杨铁心.
In the events and situations described in the post and novel excerpts above, Yang Tiexin appeared to be a rather impulsive, impatient and easily-irritated man.
- When Qiu Chuji snubbed his invitation for a drink, Yang Tiexin became upset by the Taoist's rudeness and turned his head away.
- When Qiu Chuji accepted Guo Xiaotian's invitation in a sceptical and arrogant manner, Yang Tiexin became angrier and grabbed the Taoist's wrist.
- After Guo Xiaotian secured his release from Qiu Chuji's grasp, Yang Tiexin remained upset, went inside and hid a dagger in his shirt. (OK, perhaps we can attribute this to a preparatory move in self-defence).
- When Qiu Chuji drank the wine and commented that he would not be harmed by any knockout drugs (menghan yao 蒙汗药) that might have been added to it, Yang Tiexin told him off: "We invited you for a drink in good faith, so would we want to harm you? Since you are uttering nonsense, please go away. Our wine will not turn sour and our food will not turn bad for the lack of consumers."
- When Qiu Chuji threw the severed head on the table, Yang Tiexin reached for the dagger in his shirt. When Qiu added a heart and a liver to the display, Yang immediately called him an "Evil Taoist" and attacked him with the dagger.
- When Duan Tiande's soldiers threatened to burn his home (and village) down, Yang Tiexin became angry, stepped out of his house and declared his presence. Then, he fought off the soldiers who were ordered to seize him before asking why he was being arrested.
- Hearing that Minister Han was personally involved, Yang Tiexin concluded immediately that the arrest was a trap. We, the readers, know that this was true, of course, but Yang Tiexin's problem was not in his conclusion. Rather, it was the provocative (or accusatory) way in which it was made and communicated, i.e. "Minister Han specialises in harming good and innocent people. Is there anyone who does not know this?" Then, he shot the officer with an arrow.
- After the arrest of the two men and their wives, Yang Tiexin, who remained sceptical, provoked Duan Tiande with a sarcastic laugh. This led eventually to the death of Guo Xiaotian who could not bear to have his brother beaten and struck.