Guan Yu
Guan Yu (關羽) (style name Changsheng 長生, Yunchang 雲長; d. 219) was a leading military commander of Han dynasty China. The leading source on Guan Yu is undoubtedly Sanguo zhi, which contains almost all we know about the historical man. Popular conceptions of Guan Yu have, however, been habitually clouded by the account in the sixteenth century historical fiction Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
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2 Guan Yu in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms 3 Guan Yu as a god |
The following account follows Guan's biography in chapter 36 of Sanguo zhi.
Guan Yu was born in Jie county, Hedong commandery in present day Shaanxi province. He fled to the northern frontier town of Zhuo for unknown reasons, where he joined Liu Bei, a local notable. The first serious military action Guan Yu saw was probably during the Yellow Turban rebellion (184), where he served as a cavalry commander under Liu Bei.
In the chaotic period following the collapse of the Han court in 189, Guan followed Liu Bei across north China, carving out a warlord state for themselves. Along with Zhang Fei, he was Liu Bei's most trusted and able lieutenant. In 199, Liu was defeated by the powerful warlord Cao Cao. Guan Yu surrendered to Cao and fought with distinction during the Battle of Guandu in 200, which allowed Cao to dominate the north China plain.
After this Guan Yu rejoined Liu Bei, following him and his refugee army south to Jingzhou. When Cao Cao caught up with Liu again in 208, Guan Yu was given the important fleet on the Han River and its 10,000 marines. Following the Battle of Red Cliffs, when Cao was decisively defeated, Guan Yu was given high honours and garrisoned north of the Yangzi River to defend Liu Bei's northern border.
After Liu Bei left for Shu (modern Sichuan) in 213, Guan Yu was confirmed as the most important of Liu's commanders by being given governance of Jingzhou province. As governor, he saw Cao Cao in the north as the main enemy and rejected overtures of peace and alliance from the neighbouring warlord Sun Quan. Relations soon deteriorated between the two parties and by 219 commanders of the Sun group were actively hostile.
In that year, Guan Yu launched a major campaign against Cao Cao's positions on the Han River in the north. He besieged general Cao Ren at Fan for a number of months and effectively threatened Cao Cao's defensive arrangements around his capital Xuchang and the rest of the Yellow River valley. At this crucial time, Sun Quan intervened against Guan Yu. His commander Lü Meng captured the strategic centre of Jiangling and broke Guan Yu's supply line. In the winter, Guan withdrew from Fan and attempted to break out from enemy encirclement and establish contact with Liu Bei's forces in the west. In the last months of 219 he and his son Guan Ping were captured near Linju (in west Hubei province) by Pan Zhang and executed.
Liu Bei attempted a campaign to recapture Jingzhou and avenge Guan Yu's death in 223, which culminated in his decisive defeat at Yiling. Guan Yu's sons served as commanders in the state of Shu-Han.
In the Romance of Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu was the most respected man in the ancient Three Kingdoms of China. He was affiliated with the Kingdom of Shu as the leader of the Five Tiger Generals. His is posthumously called Guan Gong (關公 lit. Lord Guan) or Guandi (關帝 lit. Emperor Guan, though he never ruled).
He was sworn blood brothers with Zhang Fei and Lord Liu Bei.
Guan Yu was referred to as "the lord with the magnificent beard" (美髯公) because of his long, flowing beard and it was said that he was a match for 10,000 men
Guan Yu was a farmer and when he heard of Liu Bei's desire to help the Han, and because he was a relative of the Han emperor, Guan Yu, decided to join with Liu Bei and Zhang Fei. they swore the famous oath of brotherhood in a peach garden. Guan Yu and his new brothers recruited a small force and decided to help the Han in their battles with the Yellow Turbans. During the battles Guan Yu made a name for himself and his brothers volunteer forces by quickly killing various Yellow Turban generals in one blow. After the Yellow Turban (or Scarves) rebellion was squashed, and the alliance against Dong Zhuo was formed. Guan Yu and his brothers joined up under Liu Bei's friend Gongsun Zan.
During the allied assault on Si Shui Gate, Sun Jian's attack was repulsed by Hua Xiong and when general after general where sent against him Hua Xiong killed them all. When Yuan Shao enquired if they had no leader whom would fight, Guan Yu spoke up saying that he would kill this Hua Xiong. When Yuan Shao asked who he was, Gongsun Zan replied that he was an archer and at this Yuan Shu spoke out that they should beat him for speaking to them and Cao Cao argued that they should let him try and poured some wine and offered it to Guan who said to pour it and he will return shortly. Guan Yu then rode out and killed Hua Xiong and returned with his head before the wine had cooled.
Later after Cao Caos campaign against Lu Bu where Guan Yu had helped to save Zhang Liao's life. Cao Cao attacked Liu Bei's lands and managed to make Liu Bei flee to Yuan Shao, and Cao Cao captured Guan Yu. Cao sent Guan's friend Zhang Liao out to meet with him and Zhang Liao talked Guan Yu into serving Cao Cao. Cao Cao proceeded to heap gift after gift onto Guan Yu in a bid to get him to be loyal to Cao Cao, although Guan Yu made it clear though that when he found the whereabouts of his brother Liu Bei he would leave the Kingdom of Wei immediately.
When Cao Cao invaded north Yuan Shao's great generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou proved too great for Cao Cao's generals to beat and at this Guan Yu rode forth and cut a path straight to Yan Liang and slayed him, due to this effort Cao Cao rewarded Guan Yu with the Red hare and the title of Marquis of Han Shou. Guan Yu showed great emotion upon receiving Red hare, and when Cao Cao grew angry and asked why he was so pleased with this gift but refused the other gifts, Guan Yu replied that with Red Hare he could reach his Brothers in a few days. After this Cao Cao sent Zhang Liao to enquire about Guan Yu's feelings and Zhang Liao told Cao Cao that Guan Yu would not leave until he had rendered a great service for Cao Cao so Cao Cao decided to take Guan Yu out of his van so that he could not render this service, but upon Cao Cao's army meeting with Yuan Shao's army under Wen Chou, Cao Cao was forced to send Guan Yu out once again and he again Slaughtered Yuan Shao's general and troops. Upon rendering this deed Guan Yu (who have found out his blood-brother Liu Bei's whereabouts) prepared to leave taking with him only Red Hare and his Sister's in-laws and after he had left Guan Yu undertook one of the greatest deeds of his life where he defeated six generals through five passes a deed that lasted unmatched for years.
After this Guan Yu found himself in the presence of his brother Zhang Fei, and Zhang Fei did not trust Guan Yu and told him to go and slay the last of Cao Cao's generals that were pursuing him, which Guan Yu did. After this feat Guan Yu participated in many battles including the battle at Bo wan Po where he and others used Zhuge Liang's plots to destroy the Wei army led by Xiahou Dun.
Guan Yu gained fame for his attack on Fan. Thanks to flooding on the campaign he was able to defeat Yue Jin's seven armies and start a strong siege on Fan castle against Cao Ren.
Following this battle Guan Yu had a leading role in Liu Bei's campaign for Jing, where he stayed as the governor until his death. During his time in Jing, Guan Yu was approached by Wu to have his daughter marry into the Wu family as Liu Bei had done, Guan Yu refused and this lead to great hostilities between the two states of Wu and Shu which culminated in Lu Yi (Xun)'s and Lu Meng's invasion of Jing in which all of the governors of the cities in Jing gave the cities to Wu and left Guan Yu alone with his son and loyal follower to battle Wu, eventually Guan Yu and his son, Guan Ping were captured and taken to Wu, where Sun Quan tried to get Guan Yu to join his kingdom at which Guan Yu responded with insults which lead to Guan Yu being executed. Guan Yu died age fifty eight in the year 219 A.D
The apotheosis of Guan Yu occurred in stages, as he was given ever large posthumous titles. Liu Shan, the son of Liu Bei, awarded Guan Yu the title of "Zhuangmiu Marquis" a few decades after his death. During the Ming dynasty he was credited with aiding Zhu Yuanzhang's fleet at the Battle of Boyang and later with repulsing the Japanese invasion of Korea by the Shogun Hideyoshi. The ruling Manchu house of the Qing dynasty associated with his martial qualities and awarded him ever larger titles, even exceeding that of the emperor himself. During the twentieth century Guan Yu was worshipped by the warlord Yuan Shikai, president and later emperor of China.
Today there are still numerous temples dedicated to Guan Yu, depicted with a red face and long beard, holding the Guan Dao, a sword with long handle which was named after him. He is also red-faced in Chinese operas.
In Hong Kong, a shrine for Guan Gong is located in each police station. Most Chinese policemen pay respect to him, and worship him. Members of the Triad worship him too.
People in jiang hu respect him because he symbolizes the Chinese concept of "Yi Qi" (義氣), which is a virtue these people seek among themselves.
He is often referred to as "Yi Gor" (二哥 second big brother) for he was second to Liu Bei in their blood brotherhood.The historical Guan Yu
Guan Yu in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Guan Yu as a god