As a general in the late Han Dynasty, Guan Yu received no particularly illustrious acclaim in life. Yet a thousand years later, he stands above all others, revered as a divine protector of the nation and its people. “Every county has a Confucius Temple, every village has a Guan Temple.” This saying shows just how deeply worship of Lord Guan has taken root among ordinary people. A couplet from a Qing-era Guan Temple neatly sums up Guan Yu’s place in traditional Chinese society and his enormous influence. The worship of Lord Guan offers valuable insight into the cultural psyche of the Chinese people. In this process of “deifying” Guan Yu, literary forms such as legends, anecdotal writings, vernacular tales, drama, and novels interacted with folk customs, religion, ethics, philosophy, and institutions. Guan Yu’s image continued to evolve over the course of more than eighteen hundred years, becoming something of an enduring mystery in Chinese history and culture.
