Guan Yu can be summed up in one sentence, whether from the main history or the interpretation: Guan Yu is a hero of the world. Liu Guanzhang Taoyuan married, Liu Bei showed his talent as a leader, and Guan Yu had the talent of being a military general, and he was also a loyal and courageous person, which can be seen from his future deeds. The "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" once wrote: "The Beautiful Hairdresser walks a thousand miles to ride a single horse, and the Marquis of Hanshou kills six generals at five levels", which is a manifestation of his bravery.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In the Biography of the State of Shu, it is recorded: "Yu killed Yan Liang, Cao Gong knew that he would go, and repaid the reward, Guan Yu sealed what he gave, prayed to the book and bid farewell, and Ben was the lord of Yuan Jun." Left and right want to chase it, Cao Gong said: 'He is his master, do not chase him'." Cao Cao had spent a lot of money to keep Guan Yu, but Guan Yu was unmoved, and Cao Cao's men wanted to take the opportunity to kill Guan Yu, but Cao Cao released Guan Yu on a horse. At the time of Huarong Dao, in the face of the choice of loyalty and righteousness, Guan Yu or Yizi first released Cao Cao, which was guan Yuyi's performance.
Loyalty and righteousness are certainly worthy of admiration, but there is still a gap between this and God, and the span between this person and God is not small, so how did Guan Yu change from a warrior to a modern god after a thousand years of ups and downs in the sea of history?
In the ancient gods of our country, the number of gods of wealth is not much, of which Bigan, Guan Zhong, Fan Li, and Zigong are all big men who make a fortune in business, they are the grandfathers of merchants, specially to bless the fairness of trading, as the god of wealth is logical. However, Guan Yu was a thorough warrior before he died, and he had nothing to do with business, so why did he become the god of wealth?
In fact, Guan Yu's transformation from a warrior to a god of wealth is an extremely long process, and he first needs to become a god before he can talk about the "god of wealth". After Guan Yu's death, it was a symbol of loyalty for a long time, and it was not until the Song Dynasty that Guan Yu's status as a god was recognized by the state. It is said that during the time of Emperor Shenzong of Song, the Song army fell into a desperate situation during the expedition, and in the middle of a thousand guns, Guan Yu appeared to the saint and helped the Song army get out of the predicament, the Song government funded the construction of the Xianlie Temple, and later Song Zhezong personally gave the name. Since then, Guan Yu has become a "military god" who blesses the Song Dynasty, which is the first step for Guan Yu to become the god of wealth.
Then again, although Guan Yu became the god of the Song Dynasty, how was he linked to wealth? In fact, Guan Yu's transformation into the god of wealth is related to the Jin Shang and the reconciliation of the state. Historically, the income of Xiezhou Salt Pond accounted for more than half of the Song Dynasty's fiscal revenue, which directly affected the song dynasty's national events. Guan Yu and Xie Zhou have a close relationship with Guan Yu's place of origin in Xie Prefecture in the east of The River. It is said that one year, the salt pond production in Xiezhou was reduced, which seriously affected the country's tax revenue. At that time, the saying was that the evil god Xuan you was doing the work, and the Song Dynasty government asked Zhang Tianshi of Longhu Mountain to rescue him, and Zhang Tianshi summoned Guan Gong to fight Xuan You, so that the salt pond could be repaired and enshrined by everyone.
Guan Yu was able to achieve this leap and became famous, in fact, he should be most grateful to his compatriot Jin Shang. Why? Because the most important thing in doing business is to operate in good faith, and Guan Yu's heavy righteousness is also in stark contrast to many mercenary businessmen. In the late Qing Dynasty, when the small peasant economy was in decline and the commodity economy was developing, commercial exchanges were very frequent, but at that time there was no complete and scientific credit system like modern times as evidence. Whether a person or a caravan can do a good job in their business is closely related to their own credit and reputation with the team. At that time, the merchants respected Guan Yu's loyalty and faith, and even many people and many industries regarded him as a benchmark in their hearts. He also borrowed his loyalty to flaunt and package himself. The deeper meaning is to hope that Guan Yu will exist as their patron saint. Coupled with the feudal superstitions of the common people in that period, the idea of praying to God and worshiping Buddha made the name of Guan Yu's god of wealth more and more loud. The reason why Jinshang can promote the position of Guan Yu's god of wealth in the industry is first of all that they have established a series of complete business system systems. It has created a precedent for the world of righteousness and honesty. And Guan Yu is a well-deserved spokesperson. Therefore, with the footprints of Jin merchants all over the world, Guan Yu Temple also blossomed everywhere, and Guan Yu thus established his status as the god of martial wealth.
In this way, under the spread and influence of Jin Shang, the martial general Guan Yu turned around gorgeously and became the god of wealth in ancient China.