Guan Gong
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Guan Gong Culture
Guan Yu was a historical person who lived in China during the Three Kingdoms period, (CE 220-CE 280). Historical background Towards the end of the Han dynasty, the emperor had been reduced to a nominal ruler. Powerful clans and court officials fought against each other to become the power behind the throne. Meanwhile, disenfranchised peasant began series of uprising. The most severe of these movements was the Yellow Turban Rebellion. As the political disintegration intensified, regional warlords were no longer contented to be the power behind the throne. They aspired to be rulers of their own empire. Nevertheless, others remained loyal to the Han dynasty and sought to restore the power of the Han Emperor. Guan Yu belonged to the group who aspired to restore the Han Dynasty. He had met two other persons with the same ideal; Liu Bei,a distant member of the Han royal family and Zhang Fei. They became sworn brothers at the Peach Garden and vowed to work together towards the revival of the Han Dynasty. Liu Bei was the eldest of the three brothers; Guan Yu was the second brother and Zhang Fei the youngest. When the regional powers Cao Cao and Sun Quan proclaimed themselves Emperors Wei and Wu, Liu Bei declared himself the Emperor of Shu with the aim of restoring the Han dynasty, often referred to as Shu-Han. With this development, Chinese history entered the Three Kingdoms Period, a political scene that lasted for 60 years from CE 220 to 280. As a General, Guan Yu was well known for this integrity, and bravery. As an individual, he was respected for his loyalty and righteousness. During a battle with Wu forces, Guan Yu was captured and beheaded. Guan Gong culture After his death, General Guan Yu became the embodiment of loyalty, righteous, bravery and benevolence. Guan Yu’s brotherhood pact with Liu Bei and Zhang Fei provides strong imagery and symbolism for friends to look after each other in times of hardship. This idea offered motivation and role model for Chinese migrants when they arrive in their host society. His popularity and the respect he commanded are reflected by the list of posthumous honors bestowed on him by subsequent emperors. During the Ming dynasty, Wu Cheng En wrote the novel San Guo Yan Xi, Romance of the three Kingdoms, using the Three Kingdoms period as a backdrop and immortalized Guan Yu and his sworn brothers. The Taoist worshipped Guan Yu as the god of literature、god of war and Martial God of Wealth and is referred to as Guan Gong, Guan Di and as a sign of respect. There are also spirit mediums or Tangkis who can manifest the spirit of Guan Yu. In southern China and overseas Chinese community in Taiwan and South East Asia, Guan Gong is also manifested via spirit mediums. The Chinese Buddhist regarded him as Sangharama Bodhisattva. As Sangharama Bodhisattva, Guan Gong is usually found in the Bell Tower of forest style Chinese Mahayana Buddhist Monastery. In the Hokkien temple Thian Hock Keng in Singapore, Guan Gong can be found both in his Taoist and Buddhist form. Representations of Guan Gong Guan Gong is often depicted in paintings, sculptures and many art forms. When he is depicted with his sworn brothers, Liu Bei as the eldest brother is seated with Guan Gong and Zhang Fei by his side. If Guan Gong is the central figure, his two assistants, Guan Ping and Zhou Cang stand by his side. He is also represented alone either standing with a saber or seated and at times reading. In many temples, a sculpture of his horse can usually be found. Globalization of Guan Yu culture Many overseas Chinese communities worship General Guan Gong and dedicated temples or set up altars in his memory. Such practices reflect the importance these communities placed on social solidarity and the need for mutual support in a foreign land. The notion of brotherhood has also been appropriated by triads to emphasize the group identify and brotherhood of triad membership. The Buddhist worship of Guan Gong as Sangharama Bodhisattva is also practiced in some Theravada Buddhist temples and Guan Gong is also one of the pantheons in Vietnam’s Cao Dao religion. The history and continuous popularity of Guan Gong reflects the collective ideals of the Chinese over time and how these ideals are manifested as they migrate overseas. Among the overseas Chinese community, the temples dedicated to Guan Gong also demonstrated how the traditional social ideals provided a model for migrants as they leave their homeland to seek opportunities. At the same time, Guan Gong’s appearance in Theravada cultures and Cao Dao in Vietnam also reflect the universality in the values he embodies.
Hometown seeks new honor for revered general
He was not the smartest military man of his time, but Guan Yu (AD 160-219) has a legacy of loyalty, integrity, mercy and bravery - as depicted in China's classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms - that has earned him deity status in Chinese traditional culture. Now, experts are seeking UNESCO Cultural Heritage status for an architectural complex of Guan Yu, the much-admired general in the Three Kingdom Period (AD 220-280) also reverently known to Chinese as Guan Gong (Lord Guan). The architectural complex, which includes the remains of Xiezhou Guandi Ancestral Temple, Changping Guandi Temple and Changping Guan Gong Ancestral Grave, are located in Guan's hometown in Yuncheng, Shanxi province. "The worship of Guan reflects people's pursuit of loyalty, righteousness, happiness and wealth," says Jia Dezhang, the deputy director of the Cultural Relics Management Station of the Xiezhou Temple. While Guan lacked the genius of his compatriot military adviser Zhuge Liang, whose name has become a synonym with cleverness, Guan played a significant role serving the warlord Liu Bei in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220). The Kingdom of Shu (AD 221-263) was then established, with Liu Bei as the first emperor. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong centuries later, Guan is portrayed as a red-faced warrior with a long, lush beard. His weapon resembles a halberd and was said to weigh 41 kilograms. Together with Zhang Fei, Guan joined Liu and fought against the rebel forces in northern China. The three of them shared a brotherly relationship. Guan and Zhang followed Liu wherever he went, and protected him from danger. His martial skill in his later years was highly admired and lionized thereafter. Thanks to the long-standing popularity of the novel, which was both read by the literate and presented orally to the general public on the street, he was gradually deified. Temples have been built to have his statues enshrined and worshiped. His followers include the rich and the poor, says Wang Xilan, former deputy director of Shanxi Federation of Literature and Arts Circles. "The ruling class worship Guan to consolidate their dominant positions. The ordinary people worship Guan, hoping he will bless them with a peaceful life. The soldiers worship Guan for making contributions to the nation." In modern time, Guan is also revered by businessmen in Hong Kong, Macao and in Southeast Asia as an alternative god of wealth. He is perceived to bless the upright and protect them from the dishonest, Jia Dezhang adds. There are more than 30,000 Guandi temples in about 30 countries and regions, with the one located in Guan's hometown in Xiezhou township, Yuncheng, being the oldest, the largest and the most famous. The temple, which was designated a national cultural heritage site in 1988, was built between the Southern and Northern Dynasties (AD 420-581) and Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618). Each year, the temple along with two others in the city play host to three important cultural activities in memory of Guan Gong, including the traditional temple fair on the eighth day of the fourth month according to Chinese lunar calendar (May 6 this year) and the celebration of Guandi's birthday on the 24th day of the sixth month (July 20 this year). "We need to do a lot of work, such as improving the surrounding environment of our temple," says Jia from the Xiezhou Guandi Temple. Confirming that the complex is now applying to be named a world culture heritage, he says the process is expected to finish by 2016.
Temple of Emperor Guan attracts worldwide visitors
A Chinese saying says: "Every village has a temple of Guan Gong." Guan Gong is a reverent term of address for Guan Yu, a general in the period of the Three Kingdoms (220-280), known for his exceptional valour and loyalty and deified as Guandi or Emperor Guan. Among the countless temples of Guan Gong across the country, the one in Xiezhou, where Guan Yu was born, is the most typical, largest, best preserved and most skilfully constructed. Situated in Xiezhou County of Yuncheng, the Xiezhou Temple of Emperor Guan was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit in 1988, and rated as a national 4A-class scenic spot in 2005. The Temple of Emperor Guan, or the ancestral temple, is part of a huge scenic resort, which also includes the ancestral hall and the ancestral grave. North to the lofty Zhongtiao Mountain and west to the rippling blue Silver Lake, the ancestral temple, a large-scale ancient building complex of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, covers an area of 22,000 square metres. The large temple has two sections. The southern section is the Garden of Sworn Brothers, including such buildings as the Pavilion of Men of Honour and the Pavilion of Three Friends. It was designed in accordance to the Peach Garden in Zhuozhou where Guan Yu and his two best friends became sworn brothers, according to a household story in China. The northern section is the main temple of two courtyards. The calligraphy by three emperors of the Qing Dynasty has been well preserved as invaluable treasures, while the Tower of Spring and Autumn is regarded by experts as unique to China's ancient architecture history. The ancestral hall, eight kilometres east of the ancestral temple, is the former residence of Guan Yu, with a total floor space of 15,000 square metres through expansions during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Its construction pattern is the same as that of the ancestral temple, with the front part serving as the office, and the rear part, the residence quarter. The ancestral grave, located at the Shipan Ditch of the Zhongtiao Mountain and two kilometres from the ancestral hall, is where the grandfather of Guan Yu was buried. A magnificent base for shooting movies and TV plays, especially those about Guan Gong, has been established in the vicinity of the grave. God in Heaven Despite his military abilities, Guan Gong was killed in battle. He was almost immediately revered as an Immortal, and throughout many centuries people continued to believe Guan Gong was a god in Heaven. Guan Gong is typically depicted as a tall man with a long black beard. As a statue at the temples, he is either standing or seated at a desk. His countenance is always stern and his face is red. Guan Gong is venerated by those concerned with loyalty, military affairs, commerce, giving birth to sons, and exorcizing spirits. One can easily find in a lot of shops and restaurants in China, the statue of Guan Gong placed with candles burning in the front, surrounded with fruit as offerings. Guan Gong is highly respected by business people because of his extraordinary character. First of all, he was true to his promise, cheating neither the old nor the young. Today, such a merit is badly needed in the business community. Furthermore, he was steadfast in the performance of his duty. Even in the contemporary business culture, dedication to duty is cherished as one of the most important ethics. For these reasons, businesspeople from both home and abroad flock to the Xiezhou Temple of Emperor Guan every year to pay tribute, in the hope of securing peace of mind and a flourishing business.
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Examples
1 The combination of Guan Gong Culture with business makes Chinese business ethics culture become richer. integrity, expertise in management, thrifty, hard-working, brave pioneering spirit of Shanxi Merchants all benefit from Guan Gong Culture.
2 Shanxi Merchants disseminating Guan Gong Culture also played a positive role in promoting.
3 The Qingdao area has the rich religious cultural tradition since the ancient times, for example Sea god/ goddess Worship, Confucius Worship, Guan gong Worship, which have the profound influence on natives 'daily life and the spiritual mold.