Guan Yu, known as Guan Erye in the Jianghu people. Whether in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms or in folklore, he is a well-known figure. In his lifetime, Guan Yu split Yan Liang, cursed Wen Ugly, captured in the forbidden, and beheaded Pound; the Flooded Seventh Army, threatening Huaxia, beat Cao Cao and almost moved the capital. In addition, he was not only excellent in martial arts, but also loyal and righteous, so Guan Yu was deeply admired by people.
Later, the emperors of various dynasties pushed Guan Yu to the altar for their own rule, and Guan Yu gradually upgraded to the noble status of martial saints. Especially during the Qing Dynasty, almost all people, including the emperor, worshiped Guan Yu as a god, and a wind of building Guandi Temple was blown across the country. In ancient times, land temples would be built all over the country, and the number of Guandi temples in the Qing Dynasty could also be comparable to that of land temples, which shows people's admiration for Guan Yu at that time.
However, it seems that anything is not always so absolute, even the construction of the Guandi Temple has an exception. At that time, almost all parts of the country were related to the imperial temple, except for one unknown place where people were not allowed to build the Guandi Temple. This place is Lucheng. This small city is located 50 miles east of Xuzhou, where only Guo Ziyi Temple and Yan Liang Temple are there. Within a 15-mile radius of Lücheng, the Guandi Temple was not allowed, and at the same time, people were not allowed to sing plays related to Guan Yu. According to locals, during the Qing Dynasty, a county official let people sing Guan Yu's play in front of the Yanliang Temple, and as a result, lightning suddenly appeared in the sky and killed the people who played Guan Yu, and the residents within a 15-mile radius of the Yanliang Temple were also affected by the plague.
Yuan Ming, a great scholar of the Qing Dynasty, also mentioned related things in his "Zi Bu Shu": as long as someone in Lücheng wanted to try to build the Guandi Temple, there would be the sound of weapons colliding during ancient wars at night. So why are the residents of Lücheng so reluctant to see Guan Yu, and what is the reason for this? In fact, the reason is very simple: because the residents of Xuzhou Lücheng are basically all descendants of Yan Liang, a famous general of the Three Kingdoms. When Guan Yu beheaded their ancestor Yan Liang, these descendants of the Yan clan would only worship their ancestor Yan Liang, and it was impossible to treat Guan Yu, who killed his ancestors, as a god.
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Yuan Cao was in the Battle of White Horse, and Guan Yu beheaded Yan Liang. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao launched the famous Battle of Guandu, and the two sides fought each other. At that time, Yuan Shao was powerful, with sufficient soldiers and food, and many famous generals; while Cao Cao was weak and there was a shortage of food; but Cao Cao still won the war. The Battle of the White Horse was a very important battle at that time. At that time, Yuan Shao also sent his ace general Yan Liang. Yan Liang was extremely brave and fierce, and all the generals of the Cao Army were invincible. At the critical moment, Guan Yu stood up and took the lead and stabbed Yan Liang under the horse.
Because of this, the descendants of Yan Liang, who lived in the ancient town of Xuzhou, did not allow local officials to build the Guandi Temple within a radius of 15 miles, and only enshrined the temple of the old ancestor Yan Liang. The legends of thunder, lightning, and plague may be myths made up by locals to prevent others from building the Guandi Temple, or they may be some coincidences, but in a word: the only place in the country that does not have a Guandi Temple is the ancient town of Lucheng.