In the twenty-eighth episode of the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, such a plot appears. After Guan Yu and Zhang Fei reunited in the ancient city, they came to Guandingzhuang with Sun Qian, and then reunited with Liu Bei. During this period, Guan Yu adopted Guan Ding's second son, the eighteen-year-old Guan Ping, as his righteous son. After that, Guan Ping accompanied his father in the southern expedition to the north, made many military achievements, and finally was killed in Jingzhou with Guan Yu. Judging from the description of the novel, Guan Ping is not Guan Yu's own son, but a righteous son.
So, is it really about ping this person in history? The answer is yes, there are at least five references to the character of Guan Ping in the historical data. For example, the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Guan Yu says: "Quan Shu will counterattack Yu, and chop Yu and Zi Ping in Linfeng." The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Wu Lords says: "In December, Sima Mazhong of Zhang, yu, his son Ping, and the governor Zhao Lei were equal to Zhangxiang, and Jingzhou was established. It can be seen from this that in history, it is true that Ping Qiren was concerned, and he and Guan Yu were father and son.
So, is Guan Ping the son of Guan Yu or the son of a righteous son? For more than a thousand years, the parent-child theory has dominated, but there are some records in the historical records that make this statement doubtful. For example, in the "Huayang Guozhi", it is mentioned: "Shi Qin Yilu asked For (Lü) Bu for help from Zhang Yang. Guan Yu Qigong (Cao Cao), wife and childless, went down to the city to beg Na Yilu's wife. Agreed. and to the gates of the city, to the white. Doubt its color, self-acceptance. ”
From this record, when Cao Cao besieged Xia Pi, Guan Yu asked Cao Cao's Na Lübubu to take Qin Yilu's wife Du Shi as a concubine after the destruction of the city, on the grounds that he did not yet have children, which shows that Guan Yu did not have sons during the third year of the siege of Xia Pi's Emperor Jian'an (198 AD).
In the years that followed, Guan Yu experienced the Battle of Xuzhou and the Battle of Guandu. During the Battle of Xuzhou, Guan Yu was forced to surrender to Cao Cao, and then joined Cao Cao in the Battle of Guandu and beheaded Yan Liang, before leaving Cao's camp to reunite with Liu Bei. Judging from the time, during this period, even if Guan Yu's wife gave birth to a man and a half woman, it was only possible to stay in Xuchang, Cao Cao's old lair, and it was impossible to follow Guan Yu to the front line of Guandu. When Guan Yu left Cao Cao, he went alone, and it was impossible to take his wife and children with him. Therefore, until the reunion of Guan Yu and Liu Bei in the fifth year of Emperor Jian'an (200 AD), Guan Ping was not yet born.
In the years that followed, Guan Yu followed Liu Bei from Runan to Jingzhou, most likely taking wives or concubines again and giving birth to children during this time. According to time calculations, if Guan Ping was Guan Yu's biological son, his birth time should also be the sixth year of Emperor Jian'an (201 AD), which means that Guan Ping was only nineteen years old when he was killed with Guan Yu.
Judging from the historical records, Guan Ping participated with Guan Yu in the Battle of Jingxiang and the subsequent Battle of Jingzhou, which seemed to be a battle-hardened man, and it could not be ruled out that he was Guan Yu's righteous son rather than his own son. From this point of view, there is still some truth to the statement that Guan Ping is Guan Yu's son, designed by Luo Guanzhong, the author of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
Reference books: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chronicle of the State of Huayang, Romance of the Three Kingdoms