During the Three Kingdoms period, Guan Yu was an unforgettable figure. His bravery and devotion were unmatched at the time. However, when he was tragically killed during the attack on Eastern Wu, the three leaders of Shu Han had different evaluations of him. Liu Chan is outspoken, Zhuge Liang is reserved, but Liu Bei seems contradictory and complicated. Their different evaluations of this hero reflect their respective philosophies and wisdom of life. What impression did Guan Yu leave on Shu Han? Has he lived up to his expectations in life? In the face of the death of this founding hero, how do the three giants of Shu and Han view it?
Liu Bei's ambivalence
Liu Bei and Guan Yu have formed a friendship of life and death, and the two can be described as heart-to-heart and brotherhood. Since the beginning of the Zhuoxian Uprising, Guan Yu has been following Liu Bei to conquer the east and west, and it can be said that he has laid down the heroes of Hanzhong and Yizhou, which are important bases. Guan Yu blocked Cao Jun's 10,000-strong army on the Changban Bridge alone, and he was brave; He made great achievements in the Battle of Chibi and reversed the decline of the Shu Han Dynasty. Liu Bei sincerely admired and loved Guan Yu for his bravery, loyalty, and loyalty. Guan Yu also took Liu Bei as his brother and swore to follow him.
However, Guan Yu was finally captured and killed due to the unfavorable attack on Eastern Wu, which made Liu Bei heartbroken and grieved. His evaluation of Guan Yu is also ambivalent. On the one hand, Liu Bei knew that Guan Yu had laid the foundation of Shu Han for his outstanding exploits, and he should be fully affirmed. But on the other hand, Guan Yu's loss of Jingzhou directly led to Liu Bei's subsequent defeat in the Battle of Yiling, which made the future of Shu Han almost yellow. As the founding monarch, Liu Bei hated this and could not help but admit Guan Yu's defeat in military command.
After all, the two have fought side by side for many years since Zhuoxian County, and have formed a friendship of life and death. Liu Bei's loyalty and courage to Guan Yu are extremely admired and loved. At that time, Guan Yu rode the savior alone and showed immortal bravery, which is unforgettable. Even if Guan Yu lost Jingzhou later, Liu Bei did not say a word and criticized him, which shows his deep affection for his old friend.
However, as a monarch, Liu Bei was also unavoidable of Guan Yu's defeat in the Battle of Jingzhou. After all, Guan Yu's loss of Jingzhou, a key base area, directly led to Liu Bei's subsequent defeat in the Battle of Yiling, and the future of Shu Han was almost sorghum. As the leader of the country, he should clearly criticize and correct the merits and demerits of his subordinates. Liu Bei's evaluation of Guan Yu inevitably became ambivalent.
In view of this, Liu Bei also thought about it again and again when he gave Guan Yu the title of posthumous title, and finally made up his mind to give his old friend the greatest courtesy. He not only posthumously called Guan Yu "strong" to show his martial bravery, but also kept the position of "general" vacant, intending to pay tribute to Guan Yu. It can be seen that Liu Bei is still doing his best to maintain the name of his old friend in his ambivalence. Although Shu Han eventually died in the Western Liang Army, Guan Yu's position in Liu Bei's heart was unquestionable.
Zhuge Liang's trade-offs
Faced with Guan Yu's death in arms, Zhuge Liang's evaluation was extremely cautious. As a military advisor of the Shu Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang was well aware of Guan Yu's prestige and status in the military, and his judgment of him was by no means hasty.
Although Zhuge Liang is only eight years old, he has not shown his outstanding skills in dealing with Guan Yu. has worked with Guan Yu for more than ten years, Zhuge Liang is brave and good at fighting, and there is no doubt about his birth and death. But in the face of Guan Yu's serious mistake of losing Jingzhou, a strategic place, which led to the desperate future of Shu Han, Zhuge Liang could only remain silent. After all, the war was lost, and the responsibility was at stake.
Not only that, Zhuge Liang only mentioned a few incidents about Guan Yu's death in his famous "Later Teacher's Table", and did not comment much. It can be seen that he treats this old comrade-in-arms extremely carefully. After all, Shu Han was in a crisis at that time, and Zhuge Liang, as a military advisor, had to be careful to maintain internal unity and avoid adding fuel to the fire.
In addition to avoiding the important and trivializing Guan Yu's evaluation, Zhuge Liang was also relatively conservative in military decision-making. For example, in the Battle of Yong'an, Zhuge Liang failed to break through and attack as boldly as Guan Yu, but instead sat still. This is Mingzhe's plan to protect his life, and he does not want to repeat the mistake of Guan Yu's death. However, this overly cautious style also led to Shu Han's inability to turn the tide at a critical moment.
Zhuge Liang's cautious evaluation of Guan Yu is more out of weighing the situation. At that time, Liu Bei was about to die, Cao Wei was pressing forward step by step, and Shu Han was in a difficult situation. If Zhuge Liang publicly commented on Guan Yu's gains and losses, it was likely to cause a greater internal split. Therefore, he chose to avoid the important and prioritize maintaining the stability of the army's morale. This philosophy of "wise and self-preservation" may also be an important reason why Zhuge Liang was able to sit firmly in the position of military advisor in turbulent times.
Liu Chan's objective judgment
As the monarch of Shu Han, Liu Chan's evaluation of Guan Yu was pertinent and objective. He and Guan Yu do not have too many personal grievances, so they can fairly evaluate the merits and demerits of this former pillar of Shu Han.
There is no doubt that Liu Chan first affirmed Guan Yu's outstanding military exploits in the cause of the Shu Han Dynasty. Back then, Guan Yu turned the tide on the Changban Bridge, and he was extremely brave and brave; Later, he captured the flag in the Battle of Chibi and established the miraculous feats of Hanchen and Cao. As the heir, Liu Chan naturally remembered Guan Yu's martial arts and bravery.
At the same time, Liu Chan did not turn a blind eye to Guan Yu's previous merits and his subsequent mistakes. He bluntly pointed out that Guan Yu was negligent during the defense of Jingzhou, which eventually led to the loss of Jingzhou and the heavy damage to the national strength of Shu Han. For this reason, Liu Chan used the nickname of "Zhuang Miaohou" when chasing Guan Yu, not only praising his "bravery" but also belittling his "unsuccessful martial arts and ignorance of fame". It can be said that in one sentence, Guan Yu's gains and losses were comprehensively judged.
Not only that, Liu Chan's judgment of Guan Yu was also reflected in the military layout of Shu Han. After Guan Yu's death, Liu Chan clearly rejected the general's practice of acting alone, and instead adopted military decisions that were mutually reinforcing. This echoes the lesson of Guan Yu's failure to listen to dissuasion and the in-depth penetration of the lone army. It can be seen from this that Liu Chan not only judged Guan Yu in language, but also learned the lessons of Guan Yu in his actual military decisions.
In general, Liu Chan's evaluation of Guan Yu is relatively objective and to the point. He neither opened his eyes because of Guan Yu's previous exploits, nor did he overly harsh or belittle him because of personal grievances. This kind of fair judgment between monarchs and ministers demonstrates Liu Chan's height and rationality as the king of a country.
Guan Yu's self-expression
Judging a general, of course, it is necessary to look down from the top, but it is also necessary to look back on his life experience and performance. Although Guan Yu finally died in the Eastern Wu army, his feat has long been brilliant through the ages and is worthy of being remembered by future generations.
Since the beginning of Liu Bei's army in Yuyang, Guan Yu has served in Zhuo County, and since then he has been called "Hindsight" with Zhang Fei. Born in cloth, Guan Yu is not a military family, but his martial arts and courage are unmatched. In the battle of Changbanqiao that year, Guan Yu alone blocked the Cao army camp, and more than 10,000 enemies could not advance; Hundreds of beasts lurk, alone through the sun and clouds. As the so-called "waving heroic spirit to curb clouds and thunder", Fang shows Guan Yu's brazen and flamboyant force.
After the Battle of Chibi, Guan Yu established a great feat. In that year, the Eastern Wu joined Cao to cut down Shu, and Liu Bei's three-way march fell into a desperate situation. It was Guan Yu's personal conquest of the battle, beheading Huang Zu, the general of the Cao army, and then capturing the flag and rushing into battle, alert and brave, which is breathtaking. It was this unexpected counterattack that reversed the decline for Liu Bei and finally defeated the main force of Cao's army.
In addition to being unparalleled in force, Guan Yu can also take on heavy responsibilities as a general. Later, during the period of guarding Jingzhou, Guan Yu led the generals to perform many miraculous feats. At that time, the two powerful forces of Cao Wei and Sun Quan were advancing step by step, but Guan Yu held on alone and did not give the enemy a gap. It wasn't until he was finally trapped under the tricks of Eastern Wu that he was captured and humiliated. However, looking back at Guan Yu's courage back then, it is really admirable.
Throughout Guan Yu's life, it is not difficult to find that his fate was bumpy. In his early years, he was appreciated by Liu Bei, and he was highly regarded for his many achievements. However, since the defense of Jingzhou, Guan Yu's luck has been going downhill. After the loss of Jingzhou, although he once tried his best to reorganize Yiling, he was finally captured and humiliated by Eastern Wu, which added the greatest disaster to Shu Han. Until he was ruthlessly killed in the end, Guan Yu's life is almost a portrayal of ups and downs.
As the so-called "Three Armies of the Brave Champions" finally died on the battlefield, Guan Yu's life experience is really tortuous and bizarre, which makes people deeply understand. However, even so, Guan Yu's heroic spirit of loyalty, bravery, and fearlessness of life and death is still deeply engraved in the history of Shu Han and even the entire Three Kingdoms, and will never be erased.
The final verdict of the Big Three
Looking at the evaluation of Guan Yu by the three major leaders of Shu Han, it is not difficult to find that although they have differences, their overall judgments are based on facts and rationality. According to their own positions and opinions, everyone made different degrees of praise and disapproval of this old comrade-in-arms.
For Guan Yu, a close friend, Liu Bei is undoubtedly the most difficult to let go. The two have fought side by side since Zhuoxian and formed a friendship of life and death. Therefore, in the face of Guan Yu's final death, Liu Bei was naturally extremely sad in his heart. He not only defended Guan Yu's name in many ways in language, but also gave him a very high courtesy in posthumous treatment. It can be seen that he has a deep affection for his old friend, and Liu Bei is using all his strength to save Guan Yu's reputation.
As a military advisor, Zhuge Liang's evaluation was extremely cautious. He only mentioned Guan Yu's death in battle, and did not comment much to prevent intensifying internal contradictions. In addition, in terms of military decision-making, Zhuge Liang also adopted a relatively conservative approach to avoid repeating the mistakes of Guan Yu. It can be seen that although Zhuge Liang has reverence for Guan Yu, it is more out of trade-offs about the situation at that time.
As the heir, Liu Chan's judgment of Guan Yu is objective and to the point. He not only affirmed Guan Yu's outstanding military exploits in the establishment of Shu Han, but also bluntly said that he later lost Jingzhou's major mistakes. Liu Chan used the nickname of "Zhuang Miaohou" to judge Guan Yu with both praise and disapproval, which can be described as a sentence. Not only that, Liu Chan also learned the lessons of Guan Yu in military decision-making, demonstrating his impartial and selfless style.
end
In general, although the three leaders judged Guan Yu from different angles, none of them completely denied or affirmed it. Liu Bei was supportive because of his personal relationship, Zhuge Liang was reserved because of prudence, and Liu Chan was criticized because of his fairness. Their evaluation of Guan Yu is either positive or negative, precisely because of their different positions in the world. But it is undeniable that Guan Yu is after all a meritorious founder of Shu Han in their minds, and it is worth remembering forever.