Is Guan Yu's reading of Spring and Autumn Annals in Romance of the Three Kingdoms a show?

Romance of the Three Kingdoms describes the history of nearly a hundred years from the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the early years of the Western Jin Dynasty, mainly describing the war, telling the story of the warlord melee in the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the political and military struggle between the Han, Wei and Wu States, and finally Sima Yan unified the three countries and established the Jin Dynasty. It reflects the transformation of various social struggles and contradictions during the Three Kingdoms period, summarizes the historical changes of this era, and shapes a group of heroes of the Three Kingdoms. There is indeed a description of Guan Yu reading the Spring and Autumn Period at night in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Some people praised Guan Yu as a general who loves reading classics and a model among military commanders. Later generations mostly read at night in temples commemorating Guan Yu. For example, Guanlin in Luoyang, Guanling in Dangyang, Hubei, Guandi Temple in Xiezhou, Shanxi, Shanshan Guild Hall in Kaifeng, Spring and Autumn Building in Xuchang and Flower Theater Building in Bozhou all have statues of Guan Yu reading the Spring and Autumn at night. In Xuchang and other places, there is a spring and autumn building for Guan Yu to read Chunqiu at night. In the past, many large families in nave also hung nave paintings of Guan Yu reading Spring and Autumn Annals at night, most of which were accompanied by couplets of "Three Points in Chinese, aiming at Spring and Autumn Annals". For thousands of years, Guan Yu's behavior of loyalty, benevolence, honesty and gentlemanliness in reading Spring and Autumn Annals at night has been the moral pursuit and life standard of China people, and Guan Yu himself has been regarded as the god of justice such as the God of War, the God of Wealth and the God of Literature.

Speaking of Guan Yu reading Spring and Autumn Annals at night, there is an interesting story. According to folklore, in the spring of the fifth year of Jian 'an of Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty (200 years), Cao Caodong recruited Liu Bei, and Liu Bei was defeated by Yuan Shao in the battle of Pi. Guan Yu and Liu Bei's second wives, Gan and Mi, became prisoners of Cao Cao. Under the persuasion of Zhang Liao, Guan Yu had to "swear three times" and refused to surrender to Cao Cao, but Cao Cao agreed to everything and Guan surrendered. When resting in the inn on the road, Cao Cao wanted Guan Yu to mess up the ceremony of the monarch and the minister, and arranged for Guan Yu to share a room with the wives of two emperors. Guan Yu, on the other hand, let the wives of the two emperors rest in the back room, lit candles outside the door, and began to read the Spring and Autumn Annals written by Confucius, and took it with him. In Xuchang, Cao Cao gave Guan Yu a house and asked him to live with his two sisters-in-law. In order to avoid suspicion, Guan Yu divided the house into two parts, and let two sisters-in-law live in the inner court. The inner door was guarded by ten veterans. He lives in the outer court and will meet him in the morning and evening. Cao Cao carefully selected ten beautiful women for Guan Yu, and Guan Yu made them all maids to serve the two emperors. Guan Yu was in Cao Ying, but his heart was in the Han Dynasty. Cao Cao sealed Hanshou's pavilion, gave him a red rabbit with a brocade robe, a three-day small banquet and a five-day big banquet, and did not buy his heart. Guan Yu learned that Liu Bei was backward, hung a golden seal, wrote a letter to resign from Cao Cao, and rode thousands of miles alone, which was a beautiful talk throughout the ages.

It is said that since then, there has been a fixed statue or portrait of Zhou Cang holding a dragon crescent moon blade on the right, as well as the public reading Spring and Autumn Annals at night.

Lao Zheng thinks there are two important problems here. One is which Spring and Autumn Annals did Guan Yu read? The second question is whether Guan Yu is really reading Chunqiu or putting on a show.

The first question: which spring and autumn?

We can see from Chapter 25 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms that "holding a candle" happened in a temporary hotel on the way from Xiapi to Xuchang, not in the spring and autumn building. Moreover, he only said "holding a candle and standing outdoors", and did not say anything about reading all night, let alone reading Spring and Autumn Annals. Chen shou's reflection? Pei Songzhi's annotation on Guan Yu's Biography said: "Yu Shan wrote Zuo Zhuan, which satirized and recited fluently.". Therefore, some people say that even if Guan Yu reads by candlelight at night, he still reads Zuo Zhuan, not Spring and Autumn Annals.

This statement is basically reliable, but not accurate. Because Chunqiu was written by Confucius, the later Zuozhuan was also called Zuoshi Chunqiu. Therefore, reading Zuo Zhuan can also be regarded as reading Spring and Autumn Annals. But apart from Mr. Pei's words, I haven't seen any more historical materials to prove that Guan Yu didn't read Confucius Chunqiu, and neither did the equally famous Lu Chunqiu.

The second question: Is it a show?

Imagine that since Guan Yu was reading Chunqiu at night in the post office on the way from Xiapi to Xuchang, it is inevitable that there is a show. He kept the two emperors alone, so he should be nervous. Although Cao Cao was demoted, the safety of the emperor's wife was the most important. The purpose of reading a few pages at night is not to read, but to be vigilant, not to doze off, and to prevent someone from plotting evil. In other words, General Guan wanted to show people that every major event was silent. At this moment, Guan can still study at ease, so don't mess with me!

One more thing, he was accompanied by two yellow sisters-in-law, and Cao Cao deliberately let him live in the same room with them. Erhuangsao is a beautiful young person. Will she have an emotional spark with her second brother Guan Yu? It's natural for a gun to go off. What's more, the second emperor's sister-in-law shouted "uncle" left and right, and the hero Guan Yu was inevitably stiff and couldn't hold it. So, how do you know that reading Spring and Autumn Annals at night is not a cover for show? On a romantic night, I don't talk about romantic affairs, but I sit there and watch the Spring and Autumn Period. If I prove my innocence, I'm not afraid of being suspected. There's no one here. The book The History of the Three Kingdoms does not record the date of Guan Yu's birth. Later generations have been controversial about Guan Yu's origin. In Guandi Temple, Changping Village, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, there is an inscription on the tombstone of Mu Houzu, a former general of the 19th year of Qing Emperor Kangxi (1680), born on June 24th, 3rd year of Huan (160), and erected on the stone plate in 2nd year of Chongqi (1629).

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