On Guan Yu's worship
Author Wang Qizhou
Kong Qiu and Guan Yu are historical figures in China who are admired all over the world. Kong Qiu is the founder of Confucianism. Confucianism has been in a dominant position for a long time since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "ousted a hundred schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone". It is natural that Kong Qiu is honored as "the most sacred teacher" and "the king of propaganda". Guan Yu is a famous soldier in the Three Kingdoms, but there are many heroes in the Three Kingdoms, especially the famous military generals in ancient China. Why is Guan Yu the only one who has surpassed the famous soldiers of past dynasties and is widely worshipped by people? He was honored as "Emperor Wu", keeping pace with "Wen Sheng" and "Kong Qiu". In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the "Wu Temple" dedicated to Guandi even surpassed the "Confucius Temple" dedicated to Confucius. The reason is worth exploring.
one
Guan Yu was born in Hedong (now southwest of Linyi, Shanxi). Together with Zhang Fei and Liu Bei, he rose up and helped Liu Bei build a foundation, and then defended Jingzhou, where he was killed by Soochow. Chen Shou, a historian in the Western Jin Dynasty, wrote The History of the Three Kingdoms, which recorded his loyalty and courage. As far as loyalty and righteousness are concerned, he and Liu Bei "share the same bed and pillow. If they are brothers, they will sit and stand wide all day and deal with their ancestors without avoiding difficulties." Jian 'an was captured by Cao Cao in five years, and Cao Cao was very polite. I worshipped the general. After Yuan Shao's general Yan Liang was assassinated, he was named the Tinghou of Hanshou. However, Guan Yu was unmoved. After "repaying a debt of gratitude for meritorious service", he "thanked him, resigned and returned to his former master". As far as Yong Lie is concerned, Yan Liang was beheaded in the crowd in his early years; After the arrow was injured, it scraped the bone and treated the poison, and the blood flowed like a note, so it was possible to "cut and roast Qin wine and talk and laugh"; In his later years, he was flooded by the seven forbidden armies, fell to the Forbidden City, and beheaded Pound. "Wei Zhen is Chinese, and Cao Gong talks about moving to avoid his sharp edge." But he also has the shortcomings of high spirits and unbearable. Insulting the envoy of Wu who proposed marriage, despising Mi Fang, the satrap of Nanjun County, and the appointment of the general as a doctor were the important reasons for his failure. Therefore, Chen Shou commented that he "called the enemy of ten thousand people the tiger minister of the world" and "had the style of a national scholar", and also pointed out that he was "upright and upright" and "defeated by short skills".
Chen Shou's understanding and evaluation of Guan Yu represents the basic tendency of Jin people to know and evaluate Guan Yu. As a historical figure, Guan Yu has not been deified at this time. Pei Songzhi's annotation of the Three Kingdoms in the Southern Song Dynasty only enriched some details of Chen Shouzhi's biography, supplemented materials such as "Zuo Zhuan is well written and satirically recited", and did not deify Guan Yu's words. From the Jin Dynasty to the Liang Dynasty, there were many stories and legends about the characters of the Three Kingdoms, which were also recorded by many people at that time, such as Yu Lin by Pei Qi in the Jin Dynasty, Searching for the Gods by Gan Bao, Collection of Memories by Wang Jia in the former Qin Dynasty, Different Garden by Liu in the Southern Song Dynasty, Shi Shuo Xin Yu and Novels by Liang Yinyun. , all contain the stories of the characters of the Three Kingdoms, but none of them. During this period, although some military commanders expected Guan Yu's bravery, it only showed that they recognized Guan Yu as an "enemy of ten thousand people", which did not mean that they worshipped Guan Yu's personality.
After the Liang Dynasty, the legend of Guan Yu's immortal began to spread from Jingzhou and other places to the whole country. At the end of the Liang Dynasty, there was a legend that "Lu Fa and false gods made a pact with Lu, and Emperor Liang asked God to refuse Wang Lin". During the period of Chen Feidi Everbright (567-568), Master Zhiyou went to Yuquan Mountain in Dangyang (now dangyang city, Hubei Province), and he couldn't put it down. He wanted to build a temple, but he was repeatedly frustrated and had no foundation. At that time, he was living under a tree, and Jin said to him, "I will wait for Han Shou in the pavilion, and I would like to use this place as a place to hang tin." Please meditate for seven days and see the effect. " At the end of the period, the valley shook, the wind sounded like thunder, and the pool turned into the base address (see Autumn Talk). This is naturally a lie made up by Buddhists in order to teach with God, but it can be seen that Guan Yu was deified by people in Jingzhou and other places during the Chen Dynasty. Otherwise, Xu Zhi would not use Guan Yu to teach God. In 592 AD, in the twelfth year of Sui Huangkai, Yang Guangwei, King of Jin, invited him to build a temple in Yuquan Mountain with the inscription "The Dojo of the Wise Man". Three hundred steps northwest of the temple, there is a temple left by Guan Yu. From the 13th to 14th year of Emperor Kai (593-594), Zhiyou taught Beijing Xuanyi and Maha Wisdom in yuquan temple, during which a grand ceremony was held to confer the "Bodhisattva Ring" on Guan Yu's undead, and Guan Yu became a Buddhist disciple. Xu Zhi is the founder of Tiantai Sect. Thanks to the promotion of Xu Zhi, Guan Yu's influence is increasing day by day.
The Tang and Five Dynasties is an important period to complete the apotheosis of Guan Yu. Before the middle Tang Dynasty, Guan Yu, as a god, was still worshipped by Jingzhou people. Lang Shiyuan, then the secretariat of history, said in the poem "Don't be friends with Zhuang Temple": "The general holds a natural posture and respects the ancient and modern. Ever victorious, ten thousand enemies with one sword. Whoever is grateful is a homesick guest. Wandering between wizards and witches, wandering between hometown. Leave a banquet for the temple and sprinkle sunset clouds all over the sky. Go without saying anything, and mourn it. " In the Tang Dynasty, Changshou ruled Yingzhou (now Zhongxiang County, Hubei Province, Jingzhou area). The original boundary of Jingzhou, as the poem says, "wandered between Jing and Wu, drifting in the hometown", shows that although the sacrifice of Guan Yu Temple Fair is popular in Jingchu, it has not yet formed a national scale. The author admires Guan Yu's bravery and laments that he is in a foreign land. Tang Dezong Zhenyuan years, Dong Xian said in "Rebuilding yuquan temple": "But when the general was in the Three Kingdoms, ten thousand people were enemies, and Meng De avoided the front, which was called peerless by Kong Ming. It is grateful for justice, consistent with life and death, and effective in killing good and escaping prohibition. Oh! Those who are born wise are not entrusted by the gods and spirits. At the foot of this mountain, Guoxing is abandoned, and the year is rich and barren, so it is a knot. " Guan Yu mentioned here is obviously based on the historical prototype, and his historical facts are not divorced from the records in the History of the Three Kingdoms. Because the reconstruction of Guandi Temple was carried out by Jason, the city magistrate, on the orders of Yin, the secretariat of Jingnan, and Dong Jie's records were also written on the orders, he was cautious about the folklore of Guan Yu's immortal spirit, except for Liang's last two mentions, but it was not difficult to find that the local people's worship of Guan Yu had reached a deep level. People think that Guan Yu is dead, the immortal is still there, and "the rise and fall of the country, the prosperity and decline of the year" depends on him. Local governments use folk beliefs to promote civilized education, which shows that rulers have begun to pay attention to Guan Yu as a cultural phenomenon politically.
But the main force that pushed Guan Yu worship to the whole country in Tang Dynasty was still religion. Shen Xiu, the founder of the Northern School of Zen, once built Datong Temple at the southern foot of Lengga Peak in Yuquan, Dangyang, and took Guan Yu as the protector of the Galaxy, spreading the law for more than 20 years. Shen Xiu was called to Chang 'an by Wu Zetian in his later years, and he was very respectful to the emperor in the inner Dojo. He is called "two masters of Beijing law and teachers of three empires". Guan Yu deserves his attention, which is natural and has strong appeal and influence. By the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, Guan Yu's influence had been involved in many fields of social life, and the worship of Guan Yu had also developed from conscious belief to compulsory obedience, and the sense of distance between Guan Yu's god and ordinary people had increased, which was the inevitable result of Guan Yu's religious deification, and also showed that Guan Yu had completed the evolution from a historical figure to a religious god, and Guan Yu had become a god universally admired and worshipped by the Chinese nation. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Friends of Yunxi wrote: "yuquan temple, Jingzhou, is called Temple, which means Guan Ye. Admirers seem to see this. If you live alone, you won't shut it outside and dare not steal it. Those who eat in the kitchen or taste food for the first time, palm prints come out of their faces in an instant, and the more obvious these ten days. Insult, and then a long snake venom beast followed. Therefore, fearing the spirit of God is like walking in an ice valley. " This reverence and awe is no longer confined to Jingzhou, but spread all over the country, becoming a common folk belief. According to "The Tale of the North Dream", after Xian Tong deserted, Guan's ghost soldiers entered the city in Chang 'an Square Lane, the capital, which made every household tremble with fear. In the Five Dynasties, the King of Shu ordered Zhao to paint a portrait of Guan Gong in yuquan temple, which shows that the statue of Guan Gong has prevailed in Sichuan.
Although Guan Yu became a widely influential god in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, his beliefs were mainly confined to the people, so his social status was not very high. After entering the Song Dynasty, due to the gift of feudal rulers, Guan Yu's social status improved rapidly. Believing in Taoism, in the second year of Baining (1 103), Zhang Jiyuan, a Taoist in Longhushan, Xinzhou, said that Guan Yu had been asked to kill dumplings in Yanchi, Yanzhou, and called them to the left of the temple. Frightened, he threw the money to Baining and said, "This is for you." Because the world worships Ning Zhenjun (Volume 15 of Tea Fragrant Room Congchao), Guan Yu became a Taoist immortal. Zhang Jiyuan's tricks undoubtedly improved Guan Yu's position in the eyes of the feudal supreme ruler, but it was not a formal gift after all. In the second year of Daguan (1 108), Huizong officially added Guan Yu as the king of Wu 'an and set up a shrine to offer sacrifices. This was the first time that Guan Yu was crowned king by a feudal ruler after his death. In the fifth year of Xuanhe (1 123), Wang An was appointed to Wu. Later dynasties were constantly blocked on this basis, and Guan Yu's status was also constantly improving. Wu Yangxian in Qing Dynasty quoted Zhang Xian, a poet in Yuan Dynasty, as saying: "Zhang Hou was born in the north of Hebei, and Guan Di went out of the east." It seems that Guan Yu had been an emperor in the Yuan Dynasty, and there is no textual research recorded in historical books. It is well documented that in the 18th year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty (1590), the court made Guan Yu a loyal monarch to help heaven and protect the country. In the forty-second year of Wanli (16 14), it was added in Weiyuan Town as the Buddha Guan Shengjun, the Three Realms God, and Guan Yu became the God of Heaven and the Emperor of the World in King's Landing.
Due to the admiration of the imperial court, the folk worship of Guan Yu reached a climax in the Ming Dynasty. Guandi Temple is spread all over the country, where men, women and children worship, and incense keeps burning all year round. Xu Wei, a writer in the Ming Dynasty, said in the Story of Guan Hou Temple in Shu Han: "The God of Guan Hou, the former general of Shu Han, and the way of Confucius are in parallel with the world. However, Confucius in the Confucius Temple stopped at the county level, while Hou lived in Kyushu, from the capital to the market. Although there are several fireworks, there are many golden halls, and the portraits are near, and the chariots and horses are machetes. Although they are women and children, they are still very happy and enthusiastic, afraid of being late or late. Comparing Confucius with others is almost excessive. Hey, it's full! " Li Zhi, a famous thinker, said: "As far as today is concerned, although men and women, old and young, have knowledge and ignorance, they all worship the image and fear the spirit of the public, but knowing the public is like being in the universe." ("Wang Guan Gawain") Sun Chengzong also said: "Today, all elite people don't learn from Confucius, while adults don't love Buddhism, but they are fearless and love the masses. If he worships Buddha like Confucius, it will be almost like a day, and the world will enjoy it according to its own wishes. Since the people's livelihood, it has not been popular! " (Rebuilding the Temple of General Guanzhuang in the Pre-Han Dynasty) This can be seen.
After the Qing rulers entered the customs, they did great harm to the politics of the Ming dynasty, but they inherited and developed the practice of respecting Guan Yu by the Ming rulers. Since the Qing ancestors canonized Guan Yu as the loyal minister emperor, there have been titles in all previous dynasties, so that Wei, a friend of Ling, showed loyalty, protected the country and the people, and sincerely appeased Yi Zanyi, Guan Sheng the Great. In the folk, the worship of Guan Yu is more and more fierce than in the Ming Dynasty, and the activities of offering sacrifices to Guan Yu are going on regardless of region, age and season. The so-called "all the land in the Central Plains is worshipped, and no one in the native land does not recommend incense" ("Random Thoughts on Qiao Tinggui's Compilation"). Even the hometown of Confucius, praised by Li Dongyang in the Ming Dynasty as "one side has no temple view, and three generations of string songs have descendants", was also sacrificed to Guan Yu's temple in the Qing Dynasty. A couplet in the Wu Temple said it well: "Confucianism is sacred, Buddhism is Buddha, Taoism is Buddha, and all three religions are converted. Zhan Temple has taken on a new look, and everyone is in awe. Han, Wang, Da, all previous dynasties added honorifics. It's really hard to be famous for your outstanding skills. " The worship of Guan Yu has indeed transcended the restrictions of religion, history and class and has become the spiritual sustenance of the whole society and the whole nation.
two
Guan Yu has attracted the attention of the world since the Liang and Chen dynasties, which is closely related to the social and political development of China.
From Wei and Jin Dynasties to Sui and Tang Dynasties, China's politics developed from door politics to secular politics. The "Nine-grade Zheng Zhi System" promoted by Wei Wendi Cao Pi actually ensured the monopoly of the gentry on state power in the form of system. Throughout the Western Jin Dynasty, the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Song Dynasty, the Qi Dynasty and the Liang Dynasty, the situation of aristocratic men manipulating politics has never changed. As the saying goes, "Noble people, Hua Tuo, won the glory of the world, Shu Ren, entered without a way." People's social status is often not determined by their talent and virtue, but the world often worships their surnames and surnames. The prevalence of genealogy in this period fully illustrates this point. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the affairs of Yan He, Xia Houxuan, Ruan Ji, Ji Kang and other celebrities. It certainly reflects the internal contradictions of the ruling class and the different attitudes of celebrities towards life, but it is actually still the cultural expression of the door-door politics and represents the spirit of the times at that time. At that time, people who received social attention and respect, including these romantic celebrities, were all children of gentry. Naturally, a historical figure of humble origin like Guan Yu will not attract the attention of the upper class who control public opinion.
In the late Southern Dynasty, the politics of the gentry began to change. During the Qi and Liang Dynasties, the middle class participated in the political power, revealing new information about the rise and fall of various social and political forces. From the end of the Liang Dynasty, the control of the gentry on the national politics gradually weakened. In the Chen Dynasty, the influence of the gentry was hit, and the poor people played an increasingly important role in the country's political life. Chen Yinque, a master historian, once pointed out brilliantly: "The history of the Southern Dynasties can be divided into three stages, one is the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the other is the Song and Qi Dynasties, and the third is the Chen Dynasty. The Eastern Jin Dynasty was jointly established by northern gentry and eastern gentry. The Song and Qi Dynasties were maintained by Zi Chu, a middle-class scholar in the north, and the gentry in the north and south. Chen is a lower class in the north (also listed as a southerner after breaking ground), and the southern indigenous people held political power. " (Chen's Lecture Notes on the History of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties) With the development and progress of society, it is the general trend that door politics gives way to secular politics. Since Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty began to try to select scholars by subjects, it was not until the Tang Dynasty that secular politics was established in the system. Secular politics pays more attention to fame than family status, and personal talents and achievements become the main criteria for evaluating characters. Under such a political background, Guan Yu, a desperate man who could help Liu Bei achieve the imperial career with courage, was praised by Zhuge Liang and revered by Cao Cao, and naturally respected by people at that time.
Politics is the concentrated expression of economy. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the gentry landlord economy dominated, but from the late Southern Dynasty, the civilian landlord economy developed rapidly, and in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the civilian landlord economy began to become the dominant social economy. In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the official land decreased sharply and the land equalization system was destroyed. The private ownership of land by civilian landlords completely replaced the private ownership of land by gentry, and secular politics finally replaced the private ownership of land by civilian landlords. The implementation of the contract tenancy system in the Song Dynasty changed the previous practice that status landlords mainly imposed personal restraint on farmers, and turned to economic exploitation as the main method, supplemented by super-economic personal coercion, which not only further expanded the social foundation of secular politics, but also further stimulated people's political enthusiasm for personal development through their own efforts rather than relying on family background.
The development and change of social economy will inevitably bring about the development and change of social politics, which is clearly illustrated by the relationship between the Nine-product Zhengzhi system and the gentry landlord economy, and the imperial examination system and the common people landlord economy. The development and change of social politics and economy will inevitably bring about the development and change of social ideology, which is clearly illustrated by family concept, celebrity worship in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, pursuit of fame and profit after Sui and Tang Dynasties, and dinosaur worship. Guan Yu's ups and downs are a very convincing example.
However, Guan Yu is concerned by the society and is not necessarily deified by the society. The deification of Guan Yu has its special social soil and conditions.
The apotheosis of Guan Yu first occurred in Jingzhou, which is related to the custom that Jingzhou people always believe in witches and ghosts and pay attention to prostitution, but more importantly, Jingzhou people have special feelings for Guan Yu. Guan Yu has been guarding Jingzhou in his later period. The general from a civilian background was "kind to the soldiers and arrogant to the scholar-officials". He ruled the army, loved the people, protected the soil and resisted the enemy, and brought peace to one side. The people are deeply indebted and admired by him. Naturally, he was particularly shocked and saddened by his sudden heroic sacrifice, and even more missed Guan Yu's loyalty and courage. He imagined that his death was strong and heroic, and he hoped that his spirit would continue to protect the side of life. As a result, there have been many legends, temples built spontaneously and conscious sacrificial activities. However, this kind of folk custom confined to one place will not be valued by feudal rulers in the era of gate politics, and its social influence is limited. In the secular political era, this custom can arouse ordinary people's pursuit of fame and fortune, and the legend of Guan Yu's appearance spread like wildfire.
An important force to promote the deification of Guan Yu comes from religion, especially Buddhism. Buddhism was introduced to China from the eastern Han Ming Emperor, which was popular in the upper class and then spread to the whole society. From the late Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Buddhists actively translated and introduced Buddhist classics, and at the same time devoted themselves to the localization of Buddhism in China. However, during this period, although many Buddhist masters translated classics and sorted out many doctrines and regulations, they never formed a localized Buddhist Sect. Tiantai Sect was born in Sui Chen era, and it is the first localized Buddhist Sect in China. With his religious sensitivity as a Buddhist, Xu Zhi, the founder of Tiantai Sect, fully realized the significance of the legend of Guan Yu's immortal to the localization of Buddhism. Born and raised in Huarong, Jingzhou (southwest of Qianjiang City, Hubei Province), this monk invited Guan Yu, who is highly respected by Jingzhou people and can reflect the spirit of the social and political transition period, to become a Buddhist disciple, which not only highlighted the China characteristics of Tiantai Sect, but also maintained its strong religious color and made creative contributions to the localization of Buddhism. Xu Zhi is a key figure in the deification and religionization of Guan Yu. After Tiantai Sect, Zen played a positive role in promoting the popularization of Guan Yu's deification, with Shen Xiu as its core figure. Shen Xiu, the founder of the Northern School of Zen, followed the five ancestors for many years in Fengmu Mountain, Shuangfeng Mountain, Huangmei County, qi zhou, and then gave lectures at Datong Temple in Dangyang, Jingzhou for more than 20 years. He not only personally felt the admiration and worship of Jingzhou people for Guan Yu, but also realized the ways and methods of popularizing Buddhism from their cultural expectation of worshipping Guan Yu. His courtesy and respect for Guan Yu not only expanded the mass base of his sect, but also skillfully popularized religious teachings, which was a brilliant move. However, Zen Buddhism is the most popular and popular Buddhist sect in China since the mid-Tang Dynasty, and Guan Yu was admired and worshipped by the northern people after the mid-Tang Dynasty. The connection here is obvious. Guan Yu gained people's religious worship by relying on Buddhist forces, and Buddhism also used Guan Yu to complete localization and popularization.
If in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Guan Yu mainly relied on religious power to expand his influence in people's spiritual life, then in the Song Dynasty, Guan Yu mainly relied on the gift of the feudal supreme ruler to improve his political status, thus strengthening his influence on social and political life. The Song Dynasty was poor and weak, and was invaded by the neighboring minority regimes for a long time. Failure again and again brought humiliation again and again, and the highest feudal ruler could not do his best to govern. When their regime was threatened and it was difficult to protect themselves, Guan Yu was invited to call on the masses. Of course, they will not carry out propaganda such as Guan Yu's immortal protecting the people, but ask the people to follow Guan Yu's example, be loyal and brave, and maintain his shaky rule. Song Huizong named Guan Yu the brave king, which is proof. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Zheng Xian said in "Rebuilding the Temple in Yuan You": "Fang will die, with the help of treacherous officials, relying on Tianzi for the Central Plains and looking to neighboring countries. It is said that the beginning is not enough, but the situation is even worse. " The only leader tried to compete with him, but he resisted and lost several battles. At this time, people with plans can choose their own masters and do things. If you don't know the big festival of loyalty and righteousness, who is willing to resist the strong and help the weak, to be safe and to be in danger? Nan Tao of the Southern Song Dynasty also said in the story of the Restoration of the Temple in Shaoxing: "At the end of the Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos, and because of the encounter with the ancient masters of Shu, he was the minister of the left and right. Zhong Wang was born brave and fearless. Every time we break the enemy's front, it's all the way. Although all future generations are upright Fu Tian, they all know that he is good at fighting: this end is the ear. Cao Gongchu worshipped Wang Ye as a partial general and treated him with courtesy. And stabbed Yan Liang to death in Dongjun. Tsao Gong was the representative of Wang Hanshou's pavilion, and he was rewarded. Thanks to tso's kindness, the king didn't stay long. This is also the way to go, sealing treasures, hanging ribbons and saying goodbye. This festival of loyalty and righteousness is not brave. "These comments, linked to the surrounding environment of the Song Dynasty and the domestic political situation, it is not difficult to understand the intention of the court to praise Guan Yu. Of course, these thoughts of loyalty to the monarch and resistance to aggression also partly reflect the broad masses of people's good wishes for national rejuvenation, stability of life and reunification of the world. As for the praise of Guan Yu's loyalty by Jin and Yuan writers, most of them show the author's political ideal of reviving the Central Plains and the Han Dynasty. For example, Xiu De in Jintian's "Jiatai Rebuild the Temple" praised Guan Yu as "loyal, forward-looking, a wise man, resistant to major festivals, receiving meritorious deeds, enjoying a good reputation and being aboveboard", and Yuan Haojing emphasized in "Rebuild the Temple" that "Emperor Zhaolie always abides by one benevolence, always abides by one righteousness, is committed to restoring the Han Dynasty, and is not interested in the generation of the Han Dynasty, Han.
three
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the worship of Guan Yu reached its peak, which was closely related to the successful shaping and wide spread of Guan Yu's image in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms begins with the "taoyuan sworn" and shows the value orientation of the creator. The author's admiration for "righteousness" is mainly achieved by successfully shaping Guan Yu, a typical image called "Yi Jue" by Mao Zonggang in Qing Dynasty. Guan Yu embodies all the richness and vividness of "righteousness" and shows the personality strength of an ancient famous soldier who not only condensed the essence of traditional morality but also was recognized by the Ming and Qing dynasties, which will inevitably attract the eager attention of the whole society. When evaluating the image of Guan Yu, Mao Zonggang said, "A great man is like a cloud, and a great man is like a cloud. Qing history is extremely elegant for Deng Qing; If you are flushed, you are extremely brave. Raise the candle to reach Dan, and people preach its big festival; When a person goes to a meeting, the world serves its big country. Walk a thousand miles alone and report your determination; Only worship Huarong Road, and the friendship of repaying kindness is heavy. Do things like the sky and treat people like the moon. Heart is Zhao Bian burning incense to tell the emperor's heart and aboveboard, which means Ruan Ji's supercilious look, pride and solemnity. It is the first strange man in ancient and modern times. " It should be said that Mao Zonggang's evaluation is comprehensive and profound. Guan Yu's "unique skill" is the fundamental reason why he is worshipped by people from all walks of life.
"Righteousness" is the most extensive and uncertain concept in China's ancient ethics. According to the traditional understanding, "making things suitable" means "righteousness". Zhu interpreted "righteousness" as "what should be done" or "what should be done", which also means this. However, people's knowledge and understanding of a certain thing are not completely consistent. Monarch and minister should suit him, friends should suit him, Confucianism should suit him, and chivalrous men should suit him. People of different classes have different requirements for "righteousness". Guan Yu's "righteousness" has successfully met the different requirements of different people in society, and Guan Yu has become the embodiment of "righteousness", that is, a model of people's behavior.
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms has an oath when describing the loyalty of Taoyuan. It reads between the lines: "I miss Liu Bei, I miss Guan Yu and I miss Zhang Fei. Although the surnames are different, since they are brothers, Qi Xin should work together to help the poor; Serve the country and feel at ease; I don't want to be born on the same day in the same year, I just want to die on the same day in the same year After heaven and earth, you can learn this heart. Infidelity, heaven and man * * * slaughter! " There are both loyalty and righteousness to "serve the country" and benevolence and righteousness to "settle down"; There are both the chivalry of "helping the poor and helping the dangerous" and the friendship of * * *. Guan Yu's life, it is to fulfill this oath, so that the performance of "righteousness" is extremely rich and vivid. For example, Xu Tian tried to get rid of Cao Cao during filming, showing his loyalty to the Han Dynasty; Hanging seals and sealing gold, riding thousands of miles alone, showing loyalty to the old master; He refused to hurt Huang Zhong because Huang Ma Zhong lost his front hoof, showing the chivalrous spirit of helping the needy. When Huarong Road let Cao Cao go, it not only showed the benevolence and kindness of gratitude, but also showed the chivalry of taking advantage of people's danger and not doing it. Standing outside with a candle is a courtesy to his wife, a loyalty to Liu Bei and a friendship to his brother. As for his friendship with Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, it can be said that "money bribe does not move his heart, reward does not move his will." A good beginning and a good ending are the same, adversity and * * *, life and death depend on each other, which is the truest, best and most beautiful example of friendship between friends and brothers since ancient times. These righteous acts of Guan Yu reflect the interests of different social classes and strata, involving all aspects of social ethics. Some things that are not easy to unify are miraculously unified in Guan Yu, which may make Guan Yu transcend some restrictions of class, stratum and group and become a figure worshipped by the whole society.
It is precisely because Guan Yu has the interests of different classes and strata that people worship Guan Yu for different purposes. According to the examples of Guan Yu's manifestation in the Ming Dynasty in the Biography of the Sages of Guandi in Past Dynasties published in the Ming Dynasty, there are contents such as persuading loyalty and filial piety, killing the enemy to resist aggression, punishing evil and promoting good, and helping merchants. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the commodity economy was very active, the market competition was increasingly fierce, the traditional hierarchical concept and ethics were impacted, the idea of strengthening social communication and expanding social ties was developed, and the friendship between friends was widely welcomed by the lower classes. The image of Guan Yu in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms can "make the monarch and ministers persuade loyalty and friends persuade righteousness" (Wang Guan Gao Wen by Li Zhi), and "friends persuade righteousness" is undoubtedly the place where Guan Yu's image can impress ordinary people most. People appreciate the loyalty of Taoyuan, mainly not Guan Yu's loyalty to Liu Bei, but the loyalty of Liu, Guan and Zhang who "don't want to be born on the same day in the same year, but just want to die on the same day in the same year", affirming their brotherhood, brotherhood and life and death. The so-called "public and brave, friendship and brothers, swear to life and death, benefit the country, let alone others?" (Sun Chengzong's Rebuilding the Temple of Guan Zhuang, a General before the Han Dynasty) "If you are kind, smoke can break the clouds" (Li Zhi's Waiguan Temple). People appreciate Guan Yu's loyalty in this way, which reflects the general social psychology that people seek to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, hope to help each other in the same boat, and cope with fierce social competition and various emergencies in the process of the disintegration of feudal personal attachment, the germination of capitalist production relations and the rapid development of commodity economy in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. Liu, Guan and Zhang's loyalty to Taoyuan has no copper stink, and it is also a satire on the behavior of valuing righteousness over profit in secular life, which is naturally valued by the world. Li Zhi hit the nail on the head and pointed out: "Making friends all over the world requires gold, which is neither too much nor too deep. Who knows that Taoyuan has three meanings, and gold cannot be combined? " (Visiting Sanyi Temple in Taoyuan) shows people's good wishes to get rid of secular prejudice and pursue true friendship.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, folk religions and party associations also took advantage of Guan Yu's influence. They took Taoyuan Jieyi as an example and became the spiritual bond of their internal unity and cooperation. The widely spread Bailian religion believes in Guan Yu; Sanhe "Guan Yu is worshipped in various houses, with June 24th as the anniversary of his death and May 13th as his birthday to celebrate" (Tsui Hark's Clear Banknotes, Volume 66); The "pioneering style" of the gerontology society is to hang the statue of Guan Yu in the venue to worship ... Because these religions and social parties have a broad mass base and social influence among the people, the worship of Guan Yu has also spread to every corner of the bottom of society.
The feudal rulers' praise of Guan Yu is obviously different from the purpose of ordinary people. For example, during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court's admiration for Guan Yu was related to the threat of the Nine Frontier Wars, especially Liaodong. The great pressure of Liaodong border defense made the feudal supreme ruler feel the crisis of political power, so he tried to strengthen the loyalty of generals and inspire the brave spirit of foot soldiers by praising Guan Yu, so as to stabilize the border defense and maintain the rule. Miao Tiancheng said in the thirty-ninth year of Wanli (16 1 1) that "public intelligence (referring to Guan Yu) was strictly distinguished before his death, and public intelligence will be clear in the future." I am in the three seas, in the arm of the holy capital, and I am a military commander. I am not loyal and brave, and my country is far and near. I can't shake the power of the masses. Is Kuang Jinyou's border going to be washed away? Therefore, it is the western scenic spot of Bucheng, where there is water on Jinshan, and temples are built to protect the public. "Obviously, the Guandi Temple built in Jinzhou has carried out the political intention of the imperial court. There are also political reasons for the Qing rulers to respect Guan Yu. According to the Records of Missing Names, The History of the Three Kingdoms (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) was actually used by this dynasty to capture Mongolia. When sai-jo didn't enter the customs, he conquered the ministries of Inner Mongolia first. Because Khan and Mongolia are brothers, he cited the Taoyuan sworn event in the history of the Three Kingdoms as an example. Manchukuo thought of Liu Bei and regarded Mongolia as Guan Yu. Later, when he entered the emperor's midsummer, he was afraid that Mongolia would take the second place, so he was given the title of loyalty and righteousness. Show the loyalty to protect the country and the people, sincerely appease Iraq, and praise Yide Guan Sheng the Great to show respect for Mongolia. At that time, Guan Yu was the only person in Mongolia who was most respected outside the faith. For more than 200 years, people who have been preparing for Beifan, either invading or rebelling, are all dying for it. Its significance is just like Guan Yu's to Liu Bei, only serving the heart. "Of course, it seems too narrow to say that the Qing rulers respected Guan Yu just to imprison Mongolia. In fact, they advocated Guan Yu's "righteousness" by using the ambiguity of "righteousness" and Guan Yu's extensive and far-reaching influence among the Han people, and they also meant to imprison the Han people. Advocating Guan Yu undoubtedly played a very important role in Qing politics, which could not be achieved by any other means.
Guan Yu worship is a unique and complex cultural phenomenon. For more than 1000 years, with the development of society, it has continuously enriched or updated its own connotation. Until today, this cultural phenomenon has not completely become history. Although the worship of Guan Yu in the Mainland is far from the momentum and scale of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there are many admirers of Guan Yu, and Guandi Temple has been restored or rebuilt in many places, and Guan Gong's idol is also very popular among the masses. The enthusiasm of overseas Chinese communities for worshipping Guan Yu has not diminished, and the temple is still very common in Southeast Asian countries. All this shows that a comprehensive understanding and scientific evaluation of Guan Yu's worship not only has theoretical value, but also has very realistic cultural significance. Only by understanding the ins and outs of this cultural phenomenon can we correctly evaluate it, make rational use of it and successfully guide it, thus benefiting the ideological and cultural construction and spiritual civilization construction of our nation.