Guan Yu (160-220), originally named Changsheng, later changed to Yunchang, was a native of Jie County, Hedong County (now Yuncheng, Shanxi). He was a famous general in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He traveled around with Liu Bei in the early days and was once captured alive by Cao Cao. , killed Yuan Shao's general Yan Liang in Baimapo, and together with Zhang Fei were called enemies of ten thousand people. After the Battle of Chibi, Guan Yu was appointed governor of Xiangyang by Liu Bei. Liu Bei entered Yizhou, and Guan Yu stayed in Jingzhou. In the 24th year of Jian'an, Guan Yu besieged Xiangfan, captured him, and beheaded Pound, which shocked China. Cao Cao once wanted to move the capital to avoid his power. Later, Cao Cao sent Xu Huang to reinforce, and Lu Meng of the Eastern Wu Dynasty made a surprise attack on Jingzhou. Guan Yu was attacked from both sides, and was defeated and killed.
Modern people worship Guan Yu, firstly because of the influence of historical tradition, culture and romance, and secondly because of the influence of past dynasties on Guan Yu’s “god-making” out of the need to rule.
The first influence of historical romance is "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". In "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Guan Yu "warmed wine and killed Hua Xiong", "was in Cao's camp and his heart was in Han", "passed five passes and killed Hua Xiong" The six generals ""Battle of Xiangfan, flooded seven armies"" were portrayed as heroes of "loyalty, courage, righteousness, and trustworthiness", so they influenced many people at the time after "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" came out.
Since the portrayal of Guan Yu in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" conformed to the needs of the ruling class, emperors of all dynasties used Guan Yu as the embodiment of loyalty and became the material to educate loyal and patriotic beliefs. "A lord is a king, a king is an emperor, and an emperor is a saint. Please refer to the following for the process of "holy and heavenly":
As can be seen from the table, from the Northern Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, Guan Yu's titles were from Zhonghui Gong to Loyalty God, Wuling Youren, bravery and might, protecting the country, protecting the people, sincerity and appeasement. Yi praised Xuande Guan Sheng, and his title became bigger and bigger, and more and more people were affected. Gradually, Guan Yu became the patron saint in the eyes of the people.
The police worshiped Guan Gong in green robes. The green robe represents peace in the world.
The underworld worships the red robe Guan Gong. The green robe changes to the red robe, which represents bloody battles and great rewards.
The police worship morality. The underworld worships loyalty.
And it is said that Guan Yu hung the "Han Shouting Marquis Seal" awarded by Cao Cao in the lobby, followed by the gold, silver, jewelry, cloth and other property awarded by Cao Cao. , a lot of them were all counted and left behind. In order not to record the facts, he attached an account book that clearly recorded the "original" items according to the four items of "original, receipt, export, and deposit". "" means how many gifts Cao Cao originally gave to Guan Yu; "receive" means how many gifts Guan Yu received from Cao Cao; "out" means how many gifts Guan Yu paid out during this period; "deposit" means how many gifts Guan Yu received before leaving. How many gifts have been saved? Guan Yu's simple accounting method was copied and used by later generations of traditional businessmen, and he was called the inventor of the "commercial bookkeeping method"?
So later. , more and more people worship Guan Yu, because Guan Yu is the embodiment of "loyalty, righteousness, trust and courage"