Guan Gong is a cultural symbol and spiritual symbol of loyalty and righteousness, righteousness and justice in traditional Chinese culture. Thousands of years of historical precipitation and cultural inheritance, so that Guan Gong from the history of the historical heroes clearly recorded, sublimated into the Chinese nation commonly respected moral model, spiritual totem, and guan gong worship related sacrifice activities, folk activities, in the global Chinese community has been thriving, continues to this day, has a strong and extensive influence, cohesion and appeal.
The reason why the guan gong cult has been able to flourish for a long time and spread all over the world can be summarized in the following six aspects.
The first is the real personality charm of Guan Gong in the history books. In the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" of the Zhengshi, Guan Gong was loyal and loyal, followed Liu Bei, unswerving, and poor and untouchable; righteous and thin, scrupulously abided by the oath of common death, hung up the seal and sealed gold, rich and noble could not be adulterous; attached importance to promises, a promise of a thousand gold, assassinated Yan Liang in the army, mighty and unyielding; diligent and studious, liked to read the "Spring and Autumn Biography of the Zuo Clan", rich in learning; treated soldiers well, benevolent and faithful, courageous and knowledgeable, single-handed to the meeting, Eastern Wu zhenjiao; heroic spirit, divine might, scraping bones to cure poison, smiling freely; Wen Tao wu strategy, wisdom and courage, heroic and good fighting, Courageous and righteous, the Northern Expedition to Xiangfan, captured in the forbidden, beheaded Pound, Wei Zhen Huaxia, Cao Cao discussed moving to the capital; the deeds and character of Guan Gong clearly recorded in these history books promoted Guan Gong's moral personality to shine into people's hearts, and found the best combination point for crossing time and space and interrogating the soul.
The second is the sublimation of the image of Guan Gong by literary and artistic works. Guan Gong's spiritual character was used as a synonym for brave generals after the Han Dynasty, and during the Song Dynasty, it was used as a synonym for loyalty and righteousness. Tang poems and Song poems, Tang and Song legends, Song Shi "say three points", the Yuanqu "Guan Dawang Alone Went to the Single Knife Society", especially the wide dissemination of the "Popular Interpretation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties, played a huge role in the image of Guan Gongzhongyi deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Paintings from various historical periods, prints, New Year paintings, door paintings, murals, sculptures, etc. make the image of Guan Gong more rich and full. In Peking Opera, Kunqu Opera, Qin Opera, Jin Opera, Yu Opera and other dramas, the traditional repertoire with Guan Gong as the protagonist has been performed for a long time, so that the story of Guan Gong is well known to women and children in civil society. In addition, Guan Gong was also active in the stage of folk beliefs as the image of the god of the gods.
The third is the admiration and praise of Guan Gong by successive rulers. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there were already instances in the zhengshi of the famous generals at that time comparing themselves with "Guan Gong". In the third year of Tang Jianzhong, Yan Zhenqing asked King Wucheng to add Guan Gong and others. Guan Gong was officially included in the Confucian rituals. Emperor Chongning of the Song Dynasty made guan the Duke of Zhonghui in the first year; In the second year of Daguan, he was enfeoffed as the King of Wu'an, and in the fifth year of Xuanhe, he was enfeoffed as the "King of Wu'an". The Yuan Dynasty was given the title of "King of Wu'an Yingji". During the Ming Hongwu period, it was listed as one of the ten national temples. In the eighteenth year of the Wanli Calendar, he was named "Emperor Zhongyi of the Xietian Protectorate", and in the forty-second year, he was named "Emperor of the Three Realms Voldemort Emperor Shenweiyuan Town Tianzun Guansheng Emperor". In the ninth year of Qing Shunzhi, he was enthroned as the zhongyi god Wuguan Sheng, and was called "Wu Sheng" together with Confucius, and the emperors of the Qing Dynasty all had the title of Guan Gong, and reached 26 characters during the Guangxu period: "The loyal god Wu Ling You Ren Yong Wei Xian Protecting the Country and Protecting the People Sincerely Appeasement Yi Praise Xuande Guan Sheng Emperor".
The fourth is the common respect of the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism to Guan Gong. Confucians honor guan gong as "Guan Fuzi", "Martial Sage", and "Wenheng Shengdi", "one of the five Wenchang". Taoism enshrined Guan Gong as "Emperor Xietian", "Yihan Tianzun", and "Three Realms Voldemort Emperor Shenweiyuan Zhen Tianzun Guan Shengjun". Buddhism enshrines Guan Gong as "Garan Bodhisattva", "Protector of the Ming King Buddha", and "Gaitian Ancient Buddha". The folk revere Guan Gong as a "god of god" who is a god of war, a god of business, a god of wealth and other gods. It shows the transcendent position of Guan Gong in Chinese culture.
Fifth, various industries in civil society worship Guan Gong's god of wealth and grandfather. Chinese civil society has long had the saying that Emperor Guan Neng "si ming lu, you keju, cure diseases and eliminate disasters, drive away evil and avoid evil, patrol the meditation division, recruit wealth and treasure, and protect shang jia". Traditional merchants admire the loyalty and faithfulness of Guan Gong, and regard Guan Gong as the protector and god of wealth to worship and enshrine, and the traditional merchant gang regards the spirit of Guan Gong as the cultural concept of commercial operation, and adheres to the principle of taking profit from righteousness and operating in good faith, so as to maintain the moral order of traditional business. Soldiers, martial artists, finance, pawn industry, transportation industry, beauty industry, education industry, kitchen industry, fate industry and other industries also worship Guan Gong as an industry god and grandfather, making Guan Gong a diversified and all-round god.
Sixth, the Guan Di Temple and the Guangong Temple will spread the worship of Guan Gong. A Guandi Temple and a Guangong Temple Fair are a concentrated display of customs and folk culture; a statue of Guandi is the moral pursuit and personality encouragement of thousands of people; a sentence of Guandi blessing is the psychological hint and spiritual sustenance of the people to pray for peace and pursue happiness and beauty. In the land of China, from large cities to villages, and even overseas Chinese settlements, places and temples for the mighty and sacred statues of Guan Gong can be seen everywhere, and people regard the construction of Guan Temple and respect for Guan Gong as a conventional way to unite the national forces and carry forward Chinese culture.
-This article was published in Hong Kong Commercial Daily