Guan Yu (? - 219), born around the reign of Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, was born in Jie County, Hedong (today's Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province). A famous general of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. After his death, he was highly praised by the people and praised by successive imperial courts. He was regarded as the Guan Sheng Emperor, and in Buddhism he was called Jialan Bodhisattva. A famous general of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period. He was revered as the "Martial Saint" by later rulers, as famous as Confucius, who was also known as the "Literary Saint".
When Guan Yu was young, he was brave and powerful, and hated evil as much as he hated evil. According to local folklore, Guan Yu was a blacksmith, and some said he was a tofu seller. Anyway, he was from the lower class. There is also a legend that Guan Yu was not named Guan at first. He changed his name only after he killed someone. Guan Yu was just 19 years old that year. He came to Jiezhou City from Xiafeng Village and wanted to see the county governor and state his ambition to serve the country. However, the county governor refused to meet him because he was an unknown person. That night, while staying in the county hotel, he heard someone crying next door. When he asked, he found out that the crying person was named Han Shouyi, and that his daughter had been raped and ravaged by the city bully Lu Xiong. Lu Xiong is an outsider who colludes with officials and bullies men and dominates women. At that time, because Jiezhou City was close to the salt pool, the groundwater was salty and inedible. There were only a few sweet water wells scattered throughout the city. Lu Xiong asked his men to fill up all the sweet water wells in the city, leaving only one sweet water well in his yard. There is also a rule that only young and beautiful women are allowed to come to carry water, otherwise they are not allowed to enter. The young women who came in were either molested by him or raped by him. Everyone was angry and angry, but because Lu Xiong was rich and powerful, no one could do anything about it. After Han Shouyi's daughter was taken over by Lu Xiong, the old man was so angry that he cried out to the heavens and the earth for help, so he had to cry alone. After Guan Yu heard this, he was furious. He broke into Lu's house with his sword, killed Lu Xiong and his family, and rescued the girl named Han and other women from good families. Afterwards, he fled to his hometown overnight. When passing Tongguan on the way, he was interrogated by the officer guarding the pass. In desperation, he pointed at the pass and said his last name was "Guan", and he never changed it again.
After Guan Yu was exiled to Zhuo County (now Zhuo County, Hebei Province), he encountered the Eastern Han Dynasty government mobilizing powerful landlords from all over the country to organize armed forces to suppress the Yellow Turban Uprising. Here he met Liu Bei (Liu Bei is a descendant of Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of Zhongshan, the son of Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty) and Zhang Fei, who were gathering people to raise troops in the area. The three of them had the same goals and fell in love at first sight. They were so friendly that they were as close as brothers. It is said in later generations that Liu, Guan and Zhang once became sworn brothers in Taoyuan. "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" describes their oath: "Although they have different surnames, as brothers, we will work together to rescue the poor and help the people in danger; we will report to the country and live in peace and prosperity. We do not wish to be born in the same year, the same month and the same day, but only wish to be born in the same year, the same month and the same day." Die." Although this is a novelist's words, it has a huge impact because it conforms to the mentality of the middle and lower classes in an era of frequent turmoil. Many peasant uprisings in later generations imitated the form of sworn friendship to consolidate the ranks and strengthen unity. The three organized an armed force and participated in the attack on the peasant uprising army. Guan Yu began his military career from then on. From the first year of Zhongping (184) until his death, Guan Yu followed Liu Bei loyally, "following Liu Bei and not avoiding hardships and dangers" ("Three Kingdoms·Book of Shu·Biography of Guan Yu").
Guan Yu is loyal to Liu Bei and his group's interests. He and Liu Bei shared the joys and sorrows for many years, adhering to their faith and unswervingly. Even though Baima was captured and was in Cao's camp, he still did not forget his old kindness and finally returned to Liu Bei. His loyalty was unwavering.
Guan Yu was extremely brave and was the best in the entire army. Later novels include stories about him beheading Hua Xiong while warming wine, three heroes fighting Lu Bu, beheading chariots and armors, beheading Yanliang, punishing Wen Chou, sealing gold with seals, riding alone for thousands of miles, beheading six generals through five passes, Huarong Road, attending meetings alone, and floods. The Seventh Army, etc., although there are some deviations from historical facts, they also highlight his bravery and charm. As for bone scraping to cure poison, everyone knows it.
Guan Yu was shot by random arrows, which penetrated the other left arm. Although the wound was healed, the bones often ache in rainy weather. The doctor said: "The arrowhead is poisonous, and the poison has penetrated into the bone. It is necessary to break the arm and scrape the bone to remove the poison. Then the ear will be removed." Guan Yu stretched out his arm and asked the doctor to open the wound. At that time, Guan Yu was hosting a banquet for the generals. "The blood flowed from his arms and filled the dishes, while the feathers were cut and burned to drink wine, and he talked and laughed freely" ("Three Kingdoms·Shu·Guan Yu").
The description of this period in the novel "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is even more exciting: "Tuo then cut open the skin and flesh with the knife until it reached the bone, which was already green; Tuo used the knife to scrape the bone, and there was a sound. , all the people we saw above and below the tent were drinking wine and eating meat, talking, laughing and playing chess, with no sign of pain at all.
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In order to consolidate their dominance, the feudal ruling classes of past dynasties regarded Guan Yu as the embodiment of “loyalty”. Emperor", and was finally revered as the "Martial Saint". During the Chen and Sui Dynasties, Buddhist disciples relied on Guan Yu to appear and built the Guan Temple in Dangyang for the first time. In the third year of Jianzhong of the Tang Dynasty (782), Guan Yu was listed as one of the sixty-four famous generals in ancient and modern times. After the Song Dynasty, Guan Yu was crowned "Martial Saint". After being unknown for 800 years, he was promoted to three levels by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty: first, he was named "Zhonghui Gong", and then "Zhonghui Gong". Chongning Zhenjun", he was also named "King Zhaolie Wu'an" and "Yiyong Wu'an King". Emperor Wenzong of the Yuan Dynasty named Guan Yu "King Zhuang Miao Yiyong Wu'an Xianling Yingji", and Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty named him "The Great Emperor of Demon-Suppressing in the Three Realms". "Tianzun Guan Shengdijun", and the temple of Guan Yu was named "Martial Temple", juxtaposed with the Confucian Temple and the Confucius Temple. The emperor of the Qing Dynasty flaunted Guan Yu as "the most popular person in the world" and named him "the god of loyalty, righteousness, martial arts, benevolence, bravery, showing the country, protecting the people, sincerity and appeasement" "Yi Zan Xuande Guansheng the Great" ("Qing History Manuscript·Rites and Music") built the Guandi Temple in Beijing, and also ordered the whole country to build Guan Gong temples and offer incense on time. The number of Wu Sheng Guan Gong temples far exceeds In the Qing Dynasty, there were 116 Guan temples in Beijing alone. Moreover, the scale of some Guan temples far exceeded those of Confucius. Some people say that Guan Gong is a kind of culture; It is said that Guan Gong is a spirit. Otherwise, why are there so many Guan Gong temples in China and even overseas?
Among all the Guan Gong temple buildings in China, there are five or six that are best preserved so far: Luoyang, Henan. Guanlin, Dangyang Guanling in Hubei, Guandi Temple in Jingzhou, Guandi Temple at Balingqiao in Xuchang, Henan, Guandi Temple in Changping, Guan Yu’s hometown in Shanxi, etc. The largest and most magnificent ones are located in Guan Yu’s hometown - Shanxi. The Guandi Temple in the west of Jiezhou City, Yuncheng City, is still the largest Guandi Temple in the country. It has more than 300 towers and pavilions and is one of the tourist attractions in Shanxi. The first is the Guan Temple.
In the history of the development of Chinese drama, there was a craze for "Three Kingdoms Opera", and many famous dramas have a considerable number of "Three Kingdoms Opera" and "Guan Gong Opera". Take Peking Opera as an example, there are 148 "Three Kingdoms Operas", and there are 20 plays about Guan Gong alone. Taking Puzhou Opera, Guan Yu's hometown, as an example, there are 88 "Three Kingdoms Operas" recorded, of which 18 are "Guan Gong Operas". . On the stage, Guan Gong appears as a perfect hero, with a jujube-like face, a flowing beard, and a majestic appearance. Even in "Zou Maicheng", his heroic character continues unabated.
For thousands of years, through the posthumous titles of rulers and descriptions in operas and literature, a person who is "loyal to the country, treats others with kindness, handles things with wisdom, makes friends with justice, and fights with courage" represents China. The perfect image of Guan Gong with the traditional virtues of the nation appeared in front of the world. He rose from "the great man of all times" to the "god among gods" and became the god of war, the god of wealth, the god of literature and the god of agriculture. The rulers and the common people, China, China and Japan overseas, are worshiped by both China and foreign countries, and admired by people from top to bottom.
It goes without saying that the feudal rulers of all dynasties respected Guan Yu. Even the peasant uprising leaders such as Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and Hong Xiuquan also regarded Guan Yu as a hero.
Not only that, not only in China, but also in Japan, Southeast Asia and overseas Chinese, the worship of Guan Yu is also everlasting.
In Taiwan, which has a population of more than 20 million, there are as many as 8 million followers of Guan Gong. Almost every household has an incense burner, a memorial tablet, and a holy image for Guan Gong. The annual sales volume of Guan Gong portraits in Taiwan far exceeds that of Mazu, their most worshiped deity.
The "Longgang General Association" in the United States is a non-governmental organization with Guan Gong as its ancestor. It has more than 140 branches all over the world where Chinese people live.
Countries in South Asia competed to build temples to worship Guan Gong, and the most prosperous one was Thailand.
In Japan, there was a Guan Temple as early as the Qing Dynasty; a few years ago, a new Guan Temple was built, which is said to be the largest overseas construction.
Mr. Davidk Jordan (Chinese name: David Jiao), a professor at the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, San Diego, and a Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Chicago, once said a very interesting thing; "I respect this great god of yours, he deserves Respected by all. His benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, and courage are still meaningful to this day. Benevolence is love, righteousness is credibility, wisdom is culture, and courage is not afraid of difficulties. If God’s people are like your Guan Gong, we will be respected. The world will become a better place.
"The words of this American scholar are quite insightful.
The loyalty, righteousness, trustworthiness, wisdom, benevolence and courage condensed in Guan Yu and suppressed by all generations contain the ethics of traditional Chinese culture , morality, and ideals, permeated with the essence of the Spring and Autumn Period of Confucianism, and the values ??of life that are consistent with the teachings of Buddhism and Taoism, are essentially the shining soul of China.