From a turbulent, to a generation of famous generals, to a god and a saint to become an emperor for all eternity, Guan Yu has created a unique wonder in the history of Chinese culture. Walking through the land of China, and even in foreign lands, you can see Guandi Temple everywhere. Guan Gong’s beliefs are very widespread among the people. How did Guan Yu go from being a person to a god?
Xixia woodcut print "The Legend of the Condor Heroes"
Guan Yu's deeds in history are mainly seen in "The Three Kingdoms·Volume 36·Biography of Guan Zhang Ma Huang Zhao", but the records are very brief, with only 953 characters, plus Pei Songzhi notes, there are only more than a thousand words. The biography briefly describes Guan Yu's life: Guan Yu's name is Yunchang , whose original name is Changsheng, was born in Jie County, Hedong (now Yuncheng, Shanxi), and fled to Zhuo County, , followed Liu Bei to fight south and north, and led his troops. During this period, Guan Yu was defeated in the fifth year of Jian'an (200), and temporarily returned to Cao Cao. He killed Cao Cao and then returned to Liu Bei. After Liu Bei entered Yizhou , Guan Yu was the prefect of Xiangyang and the general of the bandits in Jingzhou. In the 24th year of Jian'an (219), Liu Bei called him the King of Hanzhong , and appointed Guan Yu as the former general, and was appointed as the lord and axe. In the same year, Guan Yu launched the battle of Xiangfan, captured Yu Jin, and killed Pang De, which shocked China, but was soon attacked by Lu Meng, Jiangling and the police, and the army was then dispersed and retreated to Maicheng. In December, Guan Yu was killed in Linju for Sun Quan, and Shu Han posthumously named Zhuang Miao Hou.
Guan Yu is famous for his bravery in official history. Many people at that time praised him for being "the bravest of the three armies", "the enemy of ten thousand people", and "the general of the bear and tiger", but Chen Shou also bluntly criticized Guan Yu for "treating the soldiers well and being arrogant than the scholars and officials", believing that these character flaws led to his defeat. Pei's note also quotes the story of Guan Yu begging for marriage to the wife of Qin Yilu in "The Record of Shu". It can be seen that Guan Yu's image was not perfect during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
When Emperor Dezong of Tang was ordered to select 64 famous generals to enjoy the Wucheng King Temple, among which eight generals of the Three Kingdoms were. In addition to Guan Yu, Shu Zhang Fei , Wei Zhang Liao , Wu Zhou Yu , and Lu Meng were all among them. At this time, Guan Yu's image has not yet broken through to the category of famous generals. However, among the people, Guan Yuquan Temple has begun to form its beliefs. Dangyang Yuquan Temple worships Guan Yu as the god of the god of the Kalan. This is the beginning of Guan Yu's image deification and integration with Buddhism, but its influence is relatively limited. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, Guan Yu was once withdrawn from the Martial Temple by Song Taizu for his experience of "capturing by hatred".
Guan Yu's status was truly improved during the years of Song Huizong. At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the country was weaker and border troubles became increasingly severe. Song Huizong needed to use the people's respect for heroes to promote loyalty, boost morale, and maintain his rule. Therefore, during the 25th year of Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty, Guan Yu was successively granted the title of "Duke Zhonghui", "King Zhaolie Wu'an" and "King of righteousness and bravery Wu'an". Because Song Huizong believed in Taoist , he also named Guan Yu the "Zhongning Zhidao Zhenjun", allowing Guan Yu to join the Taoist Immortal Class. As of Southern Song , because the court was relatively stable in the south of the Yangtze River and lost its hometown in the north, it was in a similar situation to the Shu Han Dynasty in the Three Kingdoms, and the orthodox theory of Shu Han became the mainstream. Zhu Xi "Zizhi Tongjian Outline" narrated The history of the Three Kingdoms changed to the Shu Han Dynasty to record the year. As a military general of Shu Han, Guan Yu was naturally treated particularly well. During the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of Song Dynasty, Guan Yu had become the "Zhuang Miao Yi and brave King An Yingji".
The earliest existing portrait of Guan Yu is a woodcut print of the Western Xia Dynasty, "The Map of the Throne of the Brave and the Warring States". It was robbed and plundered by the Russians from the ruins of Heishui City in my country by . It is now in the Hermitage Museum (Winter Palace Museum) in Russia. In the portrait, Guan Yu , phoenix eyes, lying silkworm eyebrows, and beautiful beard are no different from the image of Guan Yu that is circulating today. As early as the late Northern Song Dynasty, Guan Yu's classic shape had already been formed.
By the Yuan Dynasty, Mongolian rulers expressed respect for the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and the combination of Guan Yu worship and the three religions was further deepened. The Yuan Dynasty ancestor Kublai officially appointed Guan Yu as Jialan, and the statue of Guan Yu must be carried out when doing Buddhist rituals in the palace. Zhang Rou, a minister of the Yuan Dynasty, founded the palace in Shuntian , and deliberately independent Guan Yu's Wu'an King Temple from the Sanyi Temple, built a separate temple, and engraved a monument to show respect.There are also a large number of plays praising Guan Yu in , such as "Honor Guan Goes to the Single Sword Meeting" and "Guan Yun Travels a Thousand Miles to the Alone", which became the source of material for later "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
Guan Yu's image is increasingly perfectly in line with the common expectations of the government and the people. Guan Yu's "loyalty and righteousness" character is greatly appreciated by the rulers. The emperors all hope that their ministers will take Guan Yu as a model, "in Cao's camp, in Han", and kill themselves to achieve loyalty with all their loyalty. At the same time, the people at the bottom hope that a brave man like Guan Yu will resurrect, exorcise evil spirits and avoid evil spirits, and protect the peace of the country. So in the Northern Song Dynasty, Guan Yu's hometown Jiezhou was absurd story of the chaos of time and space such as Guan Yu's battle with Chiyou.
The joint efforts of the official and the people made Guan Yu push him to the altar in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang dismissed the Wu Temple, but built a temple on Jiming Mountain, and included Guan Yu in the national sacrificial ceremony. Every year, the four men sent officials to sacrifice. After Emperor Chengzu of Ming Dynasty moved the capital to Beijing, he built a Guan Temple in Beijing. When Jiajing was about to be upgraded from "King Guan" to "Guan Emperor", and Wanli also added Guan Yu to "The Emperor of the Three Realms of Demon Subduing Demons". From then on, the statue of Guan Yu began to wear the imperial crown and enjoy royal sacrifices, and his status was no less than that of the "saint" Confucius . Luo Guanzhong The widespread circulation of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has made the concept of "respecting Liu and suppressing Cao" deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The book greatly beautified Guan Yu, and also promoted the spread of Guan Yu worship among the people.
Qing The rulers' praise of Guan Yu has increased and increased compared to the Han people. Nurhaci used the plot of "The Romance of Taoyuan" in "The Three Kingdoms" to win over the Mongolian tribes. Huang Taiji At that time, many generals even used "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" as a military book to guide the battle with the Ming army, and admired Guan Yu very much. Many people in the Guarjia family, one of the eight major surnames of Manchu , respect Guan Yu, took the homonym of "gua" and "guan", and changed the Han surname to "guan". After entering the pass, eight generations of emperors of the Qing Dynasty granted Guan Yu layer by layer, and the final title was as long as twenty-six words: "Loyalty, righteousness, martial arts, spirit, benevolence, courage, power, protection, protection of the country, and sincerely applauding Guan Sheng Emperor." Guandi Temple became a martial temple, which corresponds to Confucius' Confucian Temple. Guan Yu buried his head and became Guan Lin, which was comparable to Kong Lin. According to scholars' statistics, in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, there were about 300,000 imperial temples in the country, and there were 116 in Beijing alone, ranking first among various temples.
The rise of Shanxi merchants has added another fire to Guan Yu's worship. Guan Yu’s hometown, Yuncheng, Shanxi, is one of the largest salt-producing areas in China. It has been monopolized and monopolized by the government since ancient times. During the 2nd year of Qingli, the Northern Song Dynasty, Fan Xiang launched the " Salt Banknote Method ", allowing merchants to trade salt, and Shanxi merchants who gained the advantage of the land benefited greatly. The Shanxi merchants reached their peak during the Ming and Qing dynasties and were rich in the world. When Shanxi merchants were selling goods, they often faced the risks of natural disasters and bandits on the way. They often worshiped Guan Yu, "membersman" and prayed for his gods to protect them thoroughly. Guan Yu's loyalty and righteous spirit is in line with the concept of keeping trust and respecting righteousness in doing business and doing things. Over time, Guan Yu has become the image of the God of Wealth among the people. So much so that today, many merchants still stand Guan Gong’s statue at the entrance, thinking that it is a sign of a prosperous business.
As Chinese migrated overseas to overseas since the Ming and Qing dynasties, Guandi Temple and Guan Yu worship were brought to all parts of the world, and Guan Yu has also become the most well-known Chinese historical figure overseas. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming army sent troops to aid North Korea in fighting against Japanese pirates. The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty believed that the victory of the anti-Japanese war was caused by Guan Yu's "appearance". Therefore, the Nanguandi Temple and the Dongguandi Temple (now the East Temple in Seoul) were successively built in Seoul. Emperor Wanli wrote a plaque for the Dong Temple, and the King of Korea came to worship. In the late Wanli period, merchants, ship owners, literati and others on the southeastern coast of China lived in Nagasaki, Japan and other places, and introduced Guan Yu worship to Japan. To this day, the imperial temples are still relevant in Kobe, Yokohama, , Nagasaki, Hakodate and other places in Japan. In New York, USA, , San Francisco, , Penang, Malaysia, Bangkok, Thailand, Sydney, Australia, etc., Guandi Temple has become an important place for overseas Chinese to rely on their hometown complex.
In October 2019, the author went to Fukuoka , Japan, to visit the " Three Kingdoms " exhibition. The cultural relics that "welcome" at the entrance of the exhibition hall are a bronze seated statue of Guan Yu from Xinxiang Museum , with a strong visual impact. The next day, I took the plane back to China and saw another statue of Guan Yu wearing golden armor in the rest hall of Fukuoka Airport. To a certain extent, Guan Yu has become the spokesperson for Chinese culture and the spirit of the Chinese people.
(Original title: Guan Yu’s way to become a “god” )
Source: Beijing Evening News Author: Chengchang
Process Editor: TF021
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