Guan Yu

Guan Yu (關羽) (162–219) was a military general under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. He played a significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the establishment of the Kingdom of Shu, of which Liu Bei was the first emperor.

One of the best known Chinese historical figures throughout East Asia, Guan Yu's true life stories have largely given way to semi-fictional ones, mostly found in the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms or passed down the generations as folklore, in which his deeds and moral qualities have been much exaggerated.

Guan Yu had been deified as early as the Sui Dynasty and is still being worshipped by Chinese people today, especially in Hong Kong. While being seen as the epitome of loyalty and righteousness, Guan Yu had been criticized by historians for being arrogant and vain, qualities that eventually led to his downfall in the hands of Sun Quan, lord of the Kingdom of Wu.

Guan Yu is traditionally portrayed as a red-faced warrior with a long lush beard. While his beard was indeed mentioned in the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, the idea of his red face was probably borrowed from opera representation, where red faces depict loyalty and righteousness. Also according to folklore, Guan Yu's weapon was a guandao named Green Dragon Crescent Blade, which resembled a halberd and was said to weigh 82 jin (41 kilograms using today's standards). A wooden replica can be found today in the Emperor Guan Temple in Xiezhou County, China. He traditionally dons a green robe over his body armour, as depicted in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.