Guan Yu, also known as Yunchang, was the first general of the Shu Han regime. Later generations even honored him as the Martial Saint.
As Liu Bei’s direct lineal generals, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are the first two people to follow Liu Bei. Although in official historical records, Guan Yu and Liu Bei are not sworn brothers, the comment that "righteousness is for the emperor and his ministers, and kindness is especially for father and son" is enough to show the close relationship between the two.
So where did the relationship between Liu Bei and Guan Yu come from? In fact, this is a very clichéd story.
Guan Yu's life experience is not mentioned at all in the official history. I only know that he was from Hedong Jie, and he had to come to Zhuojun to seek refuge. At that time, "the former master gathered his disciples in the village, while Yu and Zhang Fei defended him from insults." It can be seen that when Liu Bei started his army, Guan Yu had already joined him.
According to the "Three Kingdoms: Biography of the First Lord": "(Liu Bei) is a man of few words, a good servant, and can express his emotions and anger. He is good at making friends with heroes and fights for them when he is young." When Liu Bei was a teenager, he would He has great ambitions and once said, "I will ride on this Yu Bao covered chariot". Therefore, although Liu Bei was from a poor family, he also knew how to win people's hearts.
He liked to make friends with heroes, and Zhang Fei from the same county joined at this time. This shows that Liu Bei already has the demeanor of a "big brother who takes the lead" in his hometown of Zhuojun. Therefore, when Guan Yu fled to Zhuo County, Liu Bei would accept him without hesitation. The reason why Guan Yu joined Liu Bei's army was also very practical. He wanted to seek the asylum of the "big brother who takes the lead".
Guan Yu wanted to defect, and Liu Bei also wanted to win over him. Take Zhang Fei as an example. He is valued by Liu Bei, so naturally he will not be a brainless butcher. On the contrary, judging from the evaluation of Zhang Fei by some later scholars, he was not only good at writing and martial arts, but also good at calligraphy and painting. He was obviously a child of a wealthy family from a scholarly family.
Liu Bei himself came from a poor background, so he often tried to win over the children of these wealthy families. In the same way, Zhao Yun also had such a background. On the other hand, Guan Yu, although he came out of desperation and was not from a wealthy family, he had literary, Taoist and military strategies that ordinary people could not match.
How to see it? Let’s take a look at Guan Yu’s family background and his earlier experiences. The "Inscription on the Tomb of the Former Han General Zhuang Miaohou Guan Sheng Emperor Junzu" from the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty combines some folklore and scattered historical materials to clarify the origin of Guan Yu. It turns out that Guan Yu's grandfather and father both made a living by teaching their disciples the Book of Changes and the Spring and Autumn Annals. Obviously, Guan Yu came from a Confucian family.
Is the Guan Yu family background mentioned here credible? In the author's opinion, it is entirely possible. All of what was said above can be seen from Guan Yu's life, resume and values: Guan Yu was indeed influenced by traditional Confucianism.
First, Guan Yu was fond of reading "Zuo Shi Chun Qiu" and often kept reading the scroll. This was a well-known fact at the time. From Guan Yu's conversation, we can also find that his way of speaking is consistent with the logic of traditional literati.
Second, Guan Yu’s concept of loyalty. "You treat me as a nobleman of your country, and I will repay you as a nobleman of your country." This is Guan Yu's attitude towards Liu Bei. When Liu Bei started his army as a young man, Liu Bei's kindness to Guan Yu greatly moved the latter, so Liu, Guan, and Zhang became inseparable and fearless of dangers.
Guan Yu was captured by Cao Cao, but he still missed Liu Bei and risked his life to leave Cao Cao's command. This shows that he is devoted to Liu Bei. After Ma Chao entered Shu, he called Liu Bei by his first name. Regarding this, Guan Yu was furious and asked for orders to kill him. This shows that in his mind, Liu Bei did not allow anyone to offend him.
Third, Guan Yu’s shortcomings of being aloof and arrogant. History books say that Guan Yu was "strong yet conceited" and that he was "good at raising soldiers but proud of the scholar-bureaucrats". Obviously, this is the same as the nobleness of traditional literati. What's more, "literati look down on each other", and Guan Yu doesn't want to see scholar-bureaucrats, which also shows that he regards himself as a nobleman.
Fourth, Guan Yu’s grandfather and father made a living by teaching his disciples the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Book of Changes, which is very consistent with the social changes since the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty. In the early Eastern Han Dynasty, due to the emperor's strong praise of Confucian classics, private study among the people became popular.
Private schools among the people are responsible for the upbringing and education of a large number of people. Its audience is not high, usually children.
At that time, most of the children of other families who wanted to enter the court and become officials would receive relatively simple upbringing and education in primary schools in their hometowns, and then go to Taixue to study and further their studies.
Due to this demand, a large number of private schools have emerged. In order to support their families, many Confucian scholars also opened schools to teach their disciples. Therefore, it is only normal for Guan Yu's grandfather and father to enter this industry.
But in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the Chao Gang collapsed, causing the stability of the social structure to be destroyed. As a result, the traditional private school style will inevitably be affected. Just imagine, when the world is in chaos, who can study safely?
As a result, Guan Yu's family was naturally greatly affected. Some data show that Guan Yu once worked as a blacksmith in order to support his family. Perhaps it was during this period that Guan Yu's physique was also tempered, which also laid a certain foundation for his later superb martial arts.