Lead: In the novel, our image of Guan Yu is always associated with several deeds, such as: Wenjiu chopping Huaxiong, riding alone for a thousand miles, chopping the face of good and ugly, etc., but in fact, many times our cognition of Guan Yu is not a fact, but only the creation of later generations of literati. However, with the popularity of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the development of Guan Gong's faith, historical facts were replaced by novels and beliefs. The purpose of this article is to discuss the historical achievements of Guan Yu and to compare his faith with the image of Guan Yu in fiction.
Battle the Yellow Turban, Slash Cheng Yuanzhi
In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Guan Yu's first big drama on the stage of history is the war with the Yellow Turban, however, the Yellow Turban Canal Marshal Cheng Yuanzhi, who was tragically killed by Guan Yu in the novel, does not exist in history. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, we don't even know how Guan Yu behaved during the crusade against the Yellow Turban. The following is a brief quotation from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Book of Shu, and the Biography of Guan Yu:
"The first lord joined the disciples in the township, and Yu and Zhang Fei were insulted by him."
Compared with the more detailed narrative of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Shu Shu, Biography of the Ancestors":
"At the end of the Ling Emperor, the Yellow Turban began, and the prefectures and counties raised volunteer soldiers, and the first lord led his subordinate lieutenant Zou Jing to ask for the merits of the Yellow Turban, except for Lieutenant An Xi."
From the previous two quotations, we can summarize and know that Guan Yu was initially from Liu Bei in Zhuo County, and when he asked for the Yellow Turban, Liu Bei's department belonged to Zou Jing, so the battle merits made by Guan Yu should be subordinate to Zou Jing. So what was the result of Zou Jing's battle with the Yellow Turban? However, it is regrettable that we cannot know in the historical records what merit Zou Jing has made, but only from the "Later Han Shu Yang Li Zhai Ying Huo Ye Xu Lie Biography" that in the second year of Zhongping, Zou Jing had already been transferred to the Northern Army Zhonghou (the lieutenant was the military attaché of the Middle Two Thousand Stones, and the Northern Army was only six hundred stones, if only the rank of the northern army, it can be said that Zou Jing was demoted, but the Northern Army was the supervisor of the Northern Army in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and could supervise the five schools, and its status is indescribable), but we cannot know for sure. Whether Zou Jing's transfer is related to the crusade against the Yellow Turban. However, considering that Liu Bei was only a county lieutenant in Anxi County, his military feats may not be very dazzling.
Shui Shui Guan, Warm Wine And Hua Xiong
In fact, there are already many discussions of Huaxiong, and we can easily find from the historical data that Huaxiong's death has nothing to do with Guan Yu, and the person who beheaded Huaxiong was Sun Wentaiye. This can be proved in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, WuShu, and the Biography of Sun Jian: "Jianfu collected his troops, fought together with the Yang people, destroyed the Zhuo army, and took over Huaxiong, the capital of Qi, and so on."
Of course, some people may doubt the correctness of the account of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but we must think that it is not strange if we do not believe that the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was written in the contemporary "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and believe that it was written in the early Ming Dynasty. Moreover, when Pei Songzhi wrote annotated the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he quoted a large number of now-lost history books (Pei Songzhi even introduced a large number of heretics), but if he did not add any notes to this, can it show that Sun Jianzhi's chopping of Huaxiong is correct? Moreover, from the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Shu Shu, and Biography of the Ancestors, we can also know that Liu Bei, who was subordinate to Gongsun Zhan at that time, did not participate in this battle, so could Guan Yu still accompany Liu Bei to the Shuishui Pass? Of course, in other words, Fenshui Pass and Tiger Prison Pass are actually different names for one pass. Therefore, whether Guan Yu killed Huaxiong or not is self-evident.
Pass five levels, slash six generals, and ride alone for thousands of miles
For Guan Yu fans, riding alone for a thousand miles is not only the performance of Guan Yu's loyalty, but also his heroic performance. However, in fact, it is very regrettable, and there are only a few numbers in the history books: "Guan Yu died and returned to Liu Bei".
However, we can still deduce from his escape route whether this happened or not. According to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu's path is: Dongling Pass, Luoyang, Shuishui Pass, Xingyang, and The Yellow River Ferry. Judging from Liu Bei, who had already arrived in Runan, when Guan Yu wanted to run, Guan Yu set out from Xu, and there was really no need to first detour west to Luoyang, then out of Xingyang in the east, and then cross the Yellow River in the north. Judging by the route, it is impossible to reach Runan, on the south bank of the Yellow River, so in terms of the marching route, unless Guan Yu is a super invincible road fool, it is impossible to get out of such a strange route.
Some people may say that such a strange route is because they are afraid of Cao Cao's pursuit, but with such a route all in the enemy territory, wouldn't such a detour increase the risk, and Guan Yu would have to escort his brother and sister-in-law, could he take the risk so easily? What's more, the "Biography of Guan Yu" also clearly states: "Left and right want to chase after it, Cao Gong said: 'Each of them is his master, don't chase after him.'" This also shows that Cao Cao did not send troops to pursue. Therefore, the matter of riding alone for a thousand miles does not exist.
Conclusion We do not deny the absolute position of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms in the treasure house of Chinese historical literature. But after all, it is a novel, a literary work that has been artistically processed, not a real history. Today, when we discuss real history, we must restore the original face of history with an attitude of rigor and pursuit of historical facts, so as to be objective and fair, and not to over-mythologize a certain historical figure.