The authoritative historical source on Guan Yu's life is the Records of the Three Kingdoms ( Sanguozhi) written by Chen Shou in the third century. He is a deity worshipped in Chinese folk religion, popular Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism, and small shrines to him are almost ubiquitous in traditional Chinese shops and restaurants. In religious devotion he is reverentially called the "Emperor Guan" ( Guān Dì) or "Lord Guan" ( Guān Gōng). He is still worshipped by many Chinese people today. Through generations of storytelling, culminating in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, his deeds and moral qualities have been given immense emphasis, making Guan Yu one of East Asia's most popular paradigms of loyalty and righteousness. Guan Yu's life was lionised and his achievements glorified to such an extent after his death that he was deified during the Sui dynasty. He was subsequently captured in an ambush by Sun Quan's forces and executed. By the time Guan Yu found out about the loss of Jing Province after his defeat at Fancheng, it was too late. In 219, while he was away fighting Cao Cao's forces at the Battle of Fancheng, Liu Bei's ally Sun Quan broke the Sun–Liu alliance and sent his general Lü Meng to conquer Liu Bei's territories in Jing Province. After Liu Bei gained control of Yi Province in 214, Guan Yu remained in Jing Province to govern and defend the area for about seven years. While he is remembered for his loyalty towards Liu Bei, he is also known for repaying Cao Cao's kindness by slaying Yan Liang, a general under Cao Cao's rival Yuan Shao, at the Battle of Boma. Guan Yu played a significant role in the events leading up to the end of the Han dynasty and the establishment of Liu Bei's state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on most of his early exploits. Guan Yu ( ( listen) d. January or February 220 ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. “Just think how much good they could have done if they’d spent that amount of money on solving real problems faced by ordinary people.Guan's name in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters “This is all taxpayers’ money,” one incensed Jingzhou resident told Radio Free Asia of the funds spent on constructing, relocating, and reconstructing the mammoth tourist magnet, which was reportedly only brought in $2 million since first opening. “We thought there should be a limit on the height of buildings, but there was no specific rule on statues,” the Post reported Qin Jun, deputy head of the Jingzhou Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning, as telling state broadcaster CCTV. However, construction was allowed to proceed back in 2013 during a period of confusion as to whether or not statues perched atop height-compliant buildings were subject to the rules. Per the Post, the statue, which was constructed for Guinness World Records inclusion in mind as the world’s tallest bronze likeness of Guan Yu, might be technically illegal as local regulations forbid the construction of buildings over 24 meters (just shy of 79 feet). It’s unclear what will become of the pedestal-museum/shrine at the site and if a new, similar base will be constructed at the new site in Dianjiangtai. (“Demolition Gang Beheads Giant War Deity in China’s Hubei,” declared Radio Free Asia.)Īs detailed by the South China Morning Post, the demolition and reconstruction effort, which is being led by the state-owned Jingzhou Tourism Investment and Development Group, will ultimately cost almost as much-just under $24 million- as it did to erect the offending statue. And so, as demanded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the 1,200-metric-ton “waste of money” is now being carefully dismantled-the warrior-god’s ginormous head was the first to go-and relocated to a less conspicuous, more tourist-friendly location several miles away in the suburban city of Dianjiangtai. Neither was the central Chinese government, which declared that the monolithic Lord Yu had “ruined Jingzhou’s historical appearance and culture” after complaints from residents continued to roll in. Locals in Jingzhou, an ancient city in the south of the Hubei province, however, were apparently never taken with the majestic epic-ness of the skyline-dominating monument within Guanyi Park. “Incredibly Epic Statue of Ancient Chinese Warrior God Unveiled,” read a Popular Mechanics headline published at the time. Costing an estimated $26 million and taking three years to construct, Jingzhou’s colossal Guan Yu statue, which until very recently, stood atop a 30-foot-tall base that doubled as a museum and shrine, rendered many (Western) internet users completely smitten when it was completed in 2016.
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