In 1915, Hu Shi, Chen Duxiu and others launched the New Culture Movement, advocating the elimination of the feudal ideas that the Chinese nation has been inheriting for more than two thousand years; after the founding of New China, they have also been advocating the elimination of feudal ideas in the hearts of the people. By now, the feudal remnants have been basically swept away, and although the people still worship bodhisattvas, gods of wealth, martial saints and other similar acts on weekdays, the state believes that this is only an emotional sustenance, similar to a religious activity that has not been stopped.
China's history is very long, in the long river of history there have been a lot of excellent figures, after people will make these people's images into paintings or statues to worship, to ask for a colorful head. Depending on the profession, there are also different objects of worship, such as those who are teachers worship Confucius, Taoists worship Lao tzu, and so on.
Guan Yu should be the most admired historical figure in the country, according to statistics, the Guandi Temple in the whole country has approached 30,000, which does not include the statue of Guan Yu erected by the people. Guan Yu was one of the elders of Liu Shu's clique during the Three Kingdoms period, and was the first to follow Liu Bei to fight the world.
Cao Cao appreciated Guan Yu's martial arts and promised guan Yu a golden robe, but Guan Yu was unmoved and remained loyal to his eldest brother Liu Bei. After Guan Yu returned to Liu Bei's side, he made great contributions, and was also named the first of the Five Tiger Generals of the Shu Kingdom. Because of Guan Yu's various deeds, people believe that Guan Yu is a warrior who is "loyal, righteous, courageous, and wise", and guan Yu has been an idol in the hearts of many people since the Wei and Jin dynasties.
Later, Guan Yu was also posthumously awarded the title by many emperors, and Emperor Huizong of Song posthumously made Guan Yu the Duke of Zhonghui and later the Prince of Wu'an. By the time the Ming Dynasty Ming Shen Sect made Guan Yu the Emperor of Guan Sheng, Guan Yu's image had already been deified. In the third year after Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, he ordered the construction of Guandi Temples nationwide for the people to worship Guan Yu, and from this time on Guan Yu became a martial saint, equivalent to Confucius.
Because of the influence of film and television works, many people think that the people who worship Guan Gong are basically people who are mixed in the Tao or who practice martial arts, but in fact, Guan Yu is still one of the three major gods of martial wealth (Guan Yu, Chai Rong, and Zhao Gongming are the gods of martial wealth). Because of Guan Yu's loyalty and bravery, many merchants believed that Guan Yu could bless them with wealth and treasure, and could also suppress evil spirits. If there are people in the family who are not physically fit and often get sick, they will also buy a statue of Guan Yu and put it in the home to ward off evil spirits.
Although there are many Guandi temples in China, there is a place called Lücheng in Danyang, Jiangsu, and the local people strictly prohibit anyone from building guandi temples within a 15-mile radius of Lücheng.
Lücheng is a city with a very long history, according to the "Reading history of the Fang Public Opinion Minutes spring and autumn", Lücheng has appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. In 217, after the famous Eastern Wu general Lü Meng succeeded him as the Taishou of Hanchang, Lü Meng transferred all his family and relatives to Lücheng, and the people of Lücheng thereafter considered themselves to be descendants of Lü Meng.
In 219, Lü Meng let his soldiers pretend to be merchants to sneak into Jingzhou, cutting off Guan Yu's retreat route, forcing Guan Yu to lose Maicheng, and finally Guan Yu was also killed by Lü Meng's subordinates, and this battle was also known as "Crossing the River in White Clothes". As Guan Yu's popularity in the people grew, the people of Lücheng were also bullied. When the Guandi Temple was built throughout the Country in the Qing Dynasty, the people of Lücheng drove away all the craftsmen who built the temple.
Up to now, the people of Lücheng still worship the ancestor Lü Meng, as well as the Lü Meng Street Lü Meng Shop and so on, but there is still no Guandi Temple.