Guan Yu, courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.
79 Facts About Guan Yu
2.
Guan Yu played a significant role in the events leading up to the end of the Han dynasty and the establishment of Liu Bei's state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period.
3.
Guan Yu was captured in an ambush by Sun Quan's forces and executed.
4.
Guan Yu's life was lionised and his achievements glorified to such an extent after his death that he was deified during the Sui dynasty.
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Guan Yu is still worshipped by many Chinese people today.
6.
Guan Yu is a deity worshipped in Chinese folk religion, popular Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism, and small shrines to him are almost ubiquitous in traditional Chinese shops and restaurants.
7.
The authoritative historical source on Guan Yu's life is the Records of the Three Kingdoms written by Chen Shou in the third century.
8.
Some alternative texts used in the annotations to Guan Yu's biography include: Shu Ji, by Wang Yin; Wei Shu, by Wang Chen, Xun Yi and Ruan Ji; Jiang Biao Zhuan, by Yu Pu; Fu Zi, by Fu Xuan; Dianlue, by Yu Huan; Wu Li, by Hu Chong; and Chronicles of Huayang, by Chang Qu.
9.
However, the Sanguozhi recorded that Zhuge Liang once referred to Guan Yu as having a "peerless beard".
10.
Traditionally, Guan Yu is portrayed as a red-faced warrior with a long, lush beard.
11.
Guan Yu had a dignified air and looked quite majestic.
12.
In illustrations of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu is traditionally depicted wearing a green robe over his body armour.
13.
Supposedly, Guan Yu's weapon was a guan dao named Green Dragon Crescent Blade, which resembled a podao, glaive, or naginata and was said to weigh 82 catties.
14.
Guan Yu was from Xie County, Hedong Commandery, which is present-day Yuncheng, Shanxi.
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Guan Yu was very studious, and was interested in the ancient history book Zuo zhuan and could fluently recite lines from it.
16.
Zhang Fei and Guan Yu protected Liu Bei whenever there were large crowds of people and stood guard beside him when he sat down at meetings all day long.
17.
Guan Yu moved to Xiaopei and left Guan Yu in charge of the provincial capital Xiapi.
18.
Liu Bei fled to northern China and found refuge under Cao Cao's rival Yuan Shao, while Guan Yu was captured by Cao Cao's forces and brought back to Xu.
19.
Guan Yu sealed up all the gifts he received from Cao Cao, wrote a farewell letter, and headed towards Yuan Shao's territory to find Liu Bei.
20.
Liu Bei and his remaining followers managed to escape from Cao Cao's forces and reach Han Ford, where Guan Yu's group picked them up and they sailed to Xiakou together.
21.
Li Tong engaged Guan Yu, attempting to support Cao Ren's forces, but died from illness during the campaign.
22.
Gan Ning, one of Lu Meng's subordinates, managed to deter Guan Yu from crossing the shallows near Yiyang.
23.
Lu Su later invited Guan Yu to attend a meeting to settle the territorial dispute.
24.
Guan Yu appointed Guan Yu as General of the Vanguard and bestowed upon him a ceremonial axe.
25.
The Shu Ji recorded that before Guan Yu embarked on the Fancheng campaign, he dreamt about a boar biting his foot.
26.
Previously, Sun Quan had sent a messenger to meet Guan Yu and propose a marriage between his son and Guan Yu's daughter.
27.
Guan Yu withdrew his forces after seeing that he could not capture Fancheng.
28.
When Guan Yu was besieging Fancheng, Sun Quan sent a messenger to Guan Yu to offer aid while secretly instructing the messenger to take his time to travel there.
29.
Guan Yu then sent a registrar ahead to meet Guan Yu first.
30.
Guan Yu was unhappy that Sun Quan's offer came late because he had already captured Yu Jin by then.
31.
Guan Yu knew that he had been isolated so he withdrew to Maicheng and headed west to Zhang District, where his remaining men deserted him and surrendered to the enemy.
32.
Cao Cao made a mistake when he refused to kill Guan Yu and landed himself in deep trouble.
33.
Guan Yu even had to consider relocating the imperial capital elsewhere.
34.
When Liu Bei was in the imperial capital Xu, he once attended a hunting expedition together with Cao Cao, during which Guan Yu urged him to kill Cao Cao but he refused.
35.
The hunting expedition event happened in the past, so it was used to justify that Guan Yu had given Liu Bei "valued advice", which the latter ignored.
36.
When Guan Yu received news that Ma Chao had recently joined them, he wrote to Zhuge Liang in Yi Province and asked him who was comparable to Ma Chao.
37.
Zhuge Liang knew that Guan Yu was defending the border.
38.
Guan Yu is fierce and mighty, and a hero of his time.
39.
Guan Yu can compete with Yide, but he is not as good as the peerless beard.
40.
Guan Yu was very pleased when he received Zhuge Liang's reply and he welcomed Ma Chao.
41.
Guan Yu was once injured in the left arm by a stray arrow which pierced through his arm.
42.
Guan Yu then invited his subordinates to dine with him while the surgery was being performed.
43.
Guan Yu Xing inherited his father's title "Marquis of Hanshou Village" and served in the state of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period.
44.
Guan Yu's name was not recorded in history, but she was known as "Guan Yinping" or "Guan Feng" in folktales and Chinese opera, as well as in the Dynasty Warriors video game series.
45.
Guan Yu allegedly had a third son, Guan Suo, who is not mentioned in historical texts and appears only in folklore, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, and in Dynasty Warriors.
46.
Guan Yu Tong had no son when he died, so he was succeeded by his younger half-brother Guan Yu Yi.
47.
In 1719, the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty awarded the hereditary title "Wujing Boshi" to Guan Yu's descendants living in Luoyang.
48.
Guan Yu repaid Cao Cao's kindness while Zhang Fei released Yan Yan out of righteousness.
49.
However, Guan Yu was unrelenting and conceited while Zhang Fei was brutal and heartless.
50.
The 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms glorifies Guan Yu by portraying him as a righteous and loyal warrior.
51.
Guan Yu is one of the most altered and aggrandised characters in the novel, which accounts for his popular image in Chinese society.
52.
Guan Yu was deified as early as the Sui dynasty, and is still worshipped today as a bodhisattva in Buddhist tradition and as a guardian deity in Chinese folk religion and Taoism.
53.
Guan Yu is held in high esteem in Confucianism and in new religious movements such as Yiguandao.
54.
Martial temples and shrines dedicated exclusively to Guan Yu can be found across mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and other places with Chinese influence such as Vietnam, South Korea and Japan.
55.
The apotheosis of Guan Yu occurred in stages, as he was given ever higher posthumous titles.
56.
Guan Yu's messages were received by mediums through spirit writing, later called Fuji, since the late 17th century.
57.
In Hong Kong, a shrine to Guan Yu can be found in every police station.
58.
In Hong Kong, Guan Yu is often referred to as "Yi Gor" for he was second to Liu Bei in their fictional sworn brotherhood.
59.
Guan Yu is worshipped by Chinese businessmen in Shanxi, Hong Kong, Macau and Southeast Asia as an alternative wealth god, since he is perceived to bless the upright and protect them from the wicked.
60.
Guan Yu is worshipped as a door god in Chinese and Taoist temples, with portraits of him being pasted on doors to ward off evil spirits, usually in pairings with Zhang Fei, Guan Ping, Guan Sheng or Zhou Cang.
61.
Apart from general worship, Guan Yu is commemorated in China with colossal statues such as the 1,320-tonne sculpture in Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, standing at 58 metres.
62.
Guan Yu is revered as "Holy Ruler Deity Guan" and a leading subduer of demons in Taoism.
63.
Taoist worship of Guan Yu began during the Song dynasty.
64.
Zhang Jixian then recruited the help of Guan Yu, who battled Chi You over the lake and triumphed, whereupon the lake resumed salt production.
65.
Many temples dedicated to Guan Yu, including the Emperor Guan Temple in Xiezhou County, show heavy Taoist influence.
66.
In Chinese Buddhism, Guan Yu is revered by most Chinese Mahayana Buddhists as Sangharama Bodhisattva a heavenly protector of the Buddhist dharma.
67.
Over time and as an act of syncreticism, Guan Yu was seen as the representative guardian of the temple and the garden in which it stands.
68.
Guan Yu then requested the master to teach him about the dharma.
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Henceforth, it is said that Guan Yu made a vow to become a guardian of temples and the dharma.
70.
Legends claim that Guan Yu assisted Zhiyi in the construction of the Yuquan Temple, which still stands today.
71.
Guan Yu appears in Chinese operas such as Huarong Trail, Red Cliffs, and other excerpts from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
72.
Guan Yu's costume is a green military opera uniform with armour covering his right arm and the knees of his pants.
73.
Guan Yu wears a long three-section black beard made of yak hair and carries the Green Dragon Crescent Blade.
74.
Guan Yu appears as a playable character in many video games based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms which are produced by Koei, including: the strategy game series of the same title as the novel; the action game series Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi.
75.
Guan Yu is referenced in Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom, Titan Quest, and Koihime Muso.
76.
Guan Yu is referenced in the Portal Three Kingdoms of the card game Magic: The Gathering on a playable card.
77.
Guan Yu is introduced in the 2018 DLC Marching Fire Expansion, along with the other characters from the Chinese Wulin faction.
78.
Guan Yu is referenced in the 2020 game Hades by Supergiant Games.
79.
Guan Yu is a popular motif in collector coins series featuring Ancient warriors.