What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
Just as the so-called times create heroes, in the history of China's five thousand years, there are countless large and small wars, before and after the dynasty has also changed more than twenty times, so in this "history of war" there are many heroes born, but throughout the ancient and modern times, can be called "martial saints" is probably only three, the most widely known of which is undoubtedly guan er ye Guan Yu in the Three Kingdoms period, there are still many people who worship Guan Yu's image, but he can only rank third in this three people, when you know the identity of the first two, You know that his third place is not unjust, because the first place is one level higher than God.
Although the ranking is in order, but the person who can be respected as a "martial saint", this starting point is already very high, because the title of "martial saint" does not mean that you have a worldly divine skill to be worthy, he includes loyalty, filial piety, righteousness, soldiers, martial arts, morality, benevolence, wisdom, sex and other requirements, and the most critical point is that you have the approval of the people to count, so so far the official recognition of the martial saints are only these three.
NO.3 Guan Yu
Guan Erye should be the most familiar of the three people in this list, after all, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" made the Heroic Era of the Three Kingdoms have a lot of fame in the world, and all kinds of film and television drama works and game works are also emerging. But back to Guan Yu, why could he be revered as a martial saint? First, he followed Liu Bei on his expedition to the west, and was later captured by Cao Cao, who helped Cao Cao cut off Yan Liangwen in order to repay his favor, and released Cao Cao at Huarong Road after the Battle of Chibi.
Later, he was imprisoned and beheaded by Pound, and at this point, his life was almost unblemished, not only martial arts, but also righteous and thin clouds and heavenly knowledge of grace. Therefore, he was later enshrined as a martial saint by the people, especially in the Qing Dynasty, Guan Yu's image of "loyalty" was magnified, thus influencing future generations for hundreds of years. However, Guan Yu was too arrogant and arrogant, and in the end he was defeated due to arrogance, so he ranked third.
NO.2 Yue Fei
The famous general Yue Fei of the Southern Song Dynasty is probably unknown to everyone, right? After all, his image of "serving the country faithfully" has become a template for heroes in the hearts of countless people. In addition to his martial arts, he was an excellent strategist and national hero. Yue Fei joined the army during the Northern Song Dynasty and fought against the Jin Kingdom countless times, which can be said to be invincible. In 1140, Yue Fei regained Zhengzhou, Luoyang, and other places that had been visited by Yan Wushu.
However, the civil officials of the Southern Song Dynasty all advocated peace, and Yue Fei, who was the main warrior, would naturally offend many people, and later he was framed and killed by the traitor Qin Ju. If Yue Fei did not die, would the Song Dynasty perish? Maybe it will still be extinguished, but the Song Dynasty will not bear so many insults. During the period from the Southern Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, Yue Fei's fame was greater than Guan Yu's, and more people respected Yue Fei as a martial saint, but who let the Qing Dynasty be a descendant of Hou Jin? As an anti-Jin hero, Yue Fei naturally can no longer be respected, and it can be said that the Qing Dynasty helped Guan Erye.
NO.1 Jiang Shang
Many people may be unfamiliar with this name, but another of his titles you must have heard, that is, Jiang Ziya, Jiang Shang can be said to be the first martial saint in Chinese history, and with his assistance, the Western Zhou Dynasty replaced the Shang. He was also known as "Taigong Wang", or Taigong, and even King Wen of Zhou had to honor him as "Master Shang's Father", which showed his high status. He was the founding father of the Western Zhou Dynasty and a statesman and military figure. After the defeat of King Huan at the Battle of Makino, King Wu of Zhou also named him the first meritorious man, and the State of Qi he established also has a history of eight hundred years, and it can be said that he is the ancestor of the warrior family.
If you have read the "List of Conferred Gods", you must know how miraculous he is, at the end of the story, Yuan Shi Tianzun asked the gods on the list of gods to temporarily give way wherever Jiang Taigong went, the original text is "Taigong is here, the gods avoid", that is to say, his status is even higher than that of gods. In fact, many people do not know that he was revered as a martial saint for more than 2200 years, and it was not until after the Southern Song Dynasty that people began to honor Yue Fei as a martial saint. Therefore, Jiang Ziya's first should be well-deserved.