Read more about Guan Yu at: Wikipedia Official Site: Koei Guan Yu ( ) (162–219) was a general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of China. He played a significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the establishment of Shu Han, of which Liu Bei was the first emperor. As one of the best known Chinese historical figures throughout East Asia, Guan's true life stories have largely given way to fictionalized ones, mostly found in the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms or passed down the generations, in which his deeds and moral qualities have been lionized. Guan is respected as the epitome of loyalty and righteousness. Guan was deified as early as the Sui Dynasty and is still worshipped by many Chinese people today, especially in southern China and Hong Kong and their descendants overseas. He is a figure in Chinese folk religion, popular Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism, and small shrines to Guan are almost ubiquitous in traditional Chinese shops and restaurants. Guan is traditionally portrayed as a red-faced warrior with a long lush beard. While his beard was indeed mentioned in the Records of Three Kingdoms, the idea of his red face may have derived from a later description of him in Chapter One of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, where the following passage appears: |
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Guan Yu