Guan Yu

Guan Yu
關羽
A portrait of Guan Yu in the Sancai Tuhui
General of the Vanguard (前將軍)
In office 219 (219)–220 (220)
Monarchs	Liu Bei (King of Hanzhong) / Emperor Xian (Han dynasty)
General Who Defeats Bandits (盪寇將軍) (under Liu Bei)
In office c. 211 (c. 211)–219 (219)
Monarch	Emperor Xian of Han
Administrator of Xiangyang (襄陽太守) (under Liu Bei)
In office c. 211 (c. 211)–219 (219)
Monarch	Emperor Xian of Han
Lieutenant-General (偏將軍) (under Cao Cao, then Liu Bei)
In office 200 (200) – c. 211 (c. 211)
Monarch	Emperor Xian of Han
Personal details
Born	Unknown Xie County, Hedong Commandery, Han Empire (present-day Yuncheng, Shanxi)
Died	January or February 220[a] Linju County, Xiangyang Commandery, Han Empire (present-day Nanzhang County, Hubei)
Children	Guan Ping Guan Xing Lady Guan
Occupation	General
Courtesy name	Yúncháng (雲長)
Posthumous name	Marquis Zhuàngmóu (壯繆侯)
Peerage	Marquis of Hànshòu Village (漢壽亭侯)
Deity names	Guān Dì (關帝; "Divus Guan") Guān Gōng (關公; "Lord Guan") Guān Shèng Dì Jūn (關聖帝君; "Holy Ruler Deity Guan") Sangharama Bodhisattva (伽藍菩薩)
Other names	Guān Èr Yé (關二爺; "Lord Guan the Second") Kwan Yee Gor (Cantonese Yale: Gwāan Yih Gō; Pinyin: Guān Èr Gē; 關二哥; "Guan the Second Brother") Měi Rán Gōng (美髯公; "Lord of the Magnificent Beard") Chángshēng (長生) Shòucháng (壽長) See this section for more posthumous titles

Guan Yu
Guan's name in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Traditional Chinese	關羽
Simplified Chinese	关羽
Hanyu Pinyin	Guān Yǔⓘ
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guān Yǔⓘ Bopomofo ㄍㄨㄢ   ㄩˇ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Guan Yeu Wade–Giles Kuan1 Yü3 Yale Romanization Gwān Yǔ IPA [kwán ỳ] Wu Suzhounese Kue Yû Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Gwāan Yúh Jyutping Gwaan1 Jyu5 IPA [kʷaːn˥ jyː˩˧] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Koan Ú Tâi-lô Kuan Ú

Guan Yu ([kwán ỳ] ^ⓘ; d. January or February 220^[a]), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on most of his early exploits. Guan Yu played a significant role in the events leading up to the end of the Han dynasty and the establishment of Liu Bei's state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. While he is remembered for his loyalty towards Liu Bei, he is also known for repaying Cao Cao's kindness by slaying Yan Liang, a general under Cao Cao's rival Yuan Shao, at the Battle of Boma. After Liu Bei gained control of Yi Province in 214, Guan Yu remained in Jing Province to govern and defend the area for about seven years. In 219, while he was away fighting Cao Cao's forces at the Battle of Fancheng, Liu Bei's ally Sun Quan broke the Sun–Liu alliance and sent his general Lü Meng to conquer Liu Bei's territories in Jing Province. By the time Guan Yu found out about the loss of Jing Province after his defeat at Fancheng, it was too late. He was subsequently captured in an ambush by Sun Quan's forces and executed.^[2]

Guan Yu's life was lionised and his achievements were glorified to such an extent after his death that he was deified during the Sui dynasty. Through generations of storytelling, culminating in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, his deeds and moral qualities have been given immense emphasis, making Guan Yu one of East Asia's most popular paradigms of loyalty and righteousness. He is remembered as a culture hero in Chinese culture and is still worshipped by many people of Chinese descent in China, Taiwan, and other countries today. In religious devotion, he is reverentially called the "Emperor Guan" (Guān Dì) or "Lord Guan" (Guān Gōng). He is a deity worshipped in Chinese folk religion, popular Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism, and small shrines to him are almost ubiquitous in traditional Chinese shops and restaurants.

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