Guan Yu

In the Romance of Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu (關羽), with the courtesy names Changyun (雲長) and Changsheng (長生), was probably one of the most respected men in the ancient Three Kingdoms of China. He was affiliated with the Kingdom of Shu as the leader of the Five Tiger Generals. His is posthumously called Guan Gong (關公 lit. Lord Guan) or Guan Di (關帝 lit. Emperor Guan though he never ruled).

He was sworn blood brothers with Zhang Fei and Lord Liu Bei. They each took this vow very seriously and stood by it til death.

Guan Yu was referred to as "the lord with the magnificent beard" (美髯公) because of his long, flowing beard and it was said that he was a match for 10,000 men.

Guan Yu was separated from Liu Bei when Cao Cao captured him and made him a subordinate. Guan Yu made it clear though that when he found the whereabouts of his brother Liu Bei he would leave the Kingdom of Wei immediately. Cao Cao tried to win Guan Yu over with gold and other valuable prizes but Guan Yu would have nothing to do with it as the second he found out Liu Bei's whereabouts he left Wei to meet his blood bother. One prize Guan Yu did accept and keep was Lu Bu's horse "Red Hare" given to him by Lord Cao Cao of the Wei Kingdom as a prize for his amazing fighting skills.

Guan Yu gained fame for his attack on Fan. Thanks to flooding on the campaign he was able to defeat Yue Jin's seven armies and start a strong siege on Fan castle against Cao Ren.

Guan Yu was also very arrogant and lost his life to it. He personally insulted Wu and raided Wu supply depots. It was due to his rash actions, by attacking a Wu camp leaving Jing Zhou (荊州) unguarded, that Wu attacked Jing Zhou from behind and captured Guan Yu. Guan Yu was then told that he must swear to be loyal and fight for the Wu Dynasty. At at that Guan Yu scoffed, so because of his refusal he was executed. His head was sent to Cao Cao who gave him a heroes burial.

Memories

There are numerous temples dedicated to Guan Yu, depicted with a red face and long beard, holding the Guan Dao, a sword with long handle which was named after him. He is also red-faced in Chinese operas.

In Hong Kong, a shrine for Guan Gong is located in each police station. Most Chinese policemen pay respect to him if not worship him. Members of the Triad worship him too.

People in jiang hu respects him because he symbolizes the Chinese concept of "Yi Qi" (義氣), which is a virtue these people seek among themselves. He is often referred to as "Yi Gor" (二哥 second big brother) for he was second to Liu Bei in their blood brotherhood.