Why is Guan Yu the famous general of the Three Kingdoms who eventually became the national belief?

Why is Guan Yu the famous general of the Three Kingdoms who eventually became the national belief?

This is the success of literature, specifically the success of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

Since the advent of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", no one does not know "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms"; no one does not like "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms"; no one does not know how to tell the story of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

Among the stories in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Guan Yu's story is particularly talked about.

Guan Yu eventually became a famous general of the Three Kingdoms in national belief because Guan Yu was different from other characters.

Guan Yu has three distinctive characteristics, which are loyalty, righteousness, and art.

Three distinctive characteristics such as loyalty, righteousness, and art made Guan Yu a god-like figure in society and a totem worshiped by the entire society.

The following Shanye old man will briefly talk about the reasons why Guan Yu became a famous general of the Three Kingdoms in national belief from three aspects: loyalty, righteousness, and art.

First, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" exaggerates Guan Yu's loyalty and caters to the needs of the ruling class.

Guan Yu's loyalty to Liu Bei is a key focus of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

Liu Bei was driven away from Xuzhou by Cao Cao, and Guan Yu became a prisoner.

Guan Yu took two of Liu Bei's women to surrender to Cao Cao. One of the conditions he proposed was to surrender to the Han Dynasty and not to Cao Cao.

This condition for Guan Yu to surrender to Cao Cao meets the needs of the ruling class.

The ruling class can take advantage of this condition to exaggerate Guan Yu's loyalty and achieve the purpose of cultivating loyal ministers and filial sons.

In order to better achieve the propaganda effect, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" compiled the story of Guan Yu passing five passes and killing six generals in order to defect to Liu Bei, in order to highlight Guan Yu's unswerving loyalty to Liu Bei.

The compilation of such stories in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is more in line with the interests of the ruling class.

In fact, Guan Yu surrendered to Cao Cao, and the content introduced in "Three Kingdoms" is very limited.

The biography of Guan Yu in "Three Kingdoms" records: "After Cao Cao captured Yu and returned, he worshiped him as a partial general. The courtesy was profound."

There is also no trace of Guan Yu's five passes after leaving Cao Cao. The story of killing six generals. There is no such story, because when Guan Yu left, Cao Cao's men were going to hunt down Guan Yu.

Cao Cao said: "Each is his own master, don't pursue him."

Second, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" exaggerates Guan Yu's righteousness and caters to the needs of civil society.

Guan Yu’s righteousness is also the focus of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

The opening chapter of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is "Three sworn brothers are sworn in at a banquet in Taoyuan." The oath of "I don't want to be born in the same year, the same month and the same day, but I want to die in the same year, the same month and the same day." has a profound meaning. For thousands of years, It has moved countless people with lofty ideals. In fact, this song does not exist in the official history of "Three Kingdoms".

Afterwards, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" performed the story of capturing and releasing Cao Cao, which was not recorded in the official history "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

The story about the Battle of Chibi in "Three Kingdoms" is very simple, just a few sentences.

The specific content is that the coalition forces of Cao Cao and Sun Liu fought in Chibi. Cao Cao's soldiers died seriously due to the epidemic. Zhou Yu set fire to the ships. Cao Cao first set fire to the ships around him and led the army to Nanjun retreated, and the Sun and Liu coalition forces pursued Nanjun.

There is no story about catching and releasing Cao at all.

"The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" compiles the story of Guan Yu's capture and release of Cao Cao, aiming to highlight Guan Yu's righteousness.

Guan Yu’s righteousness is exactly the spiritual sustenance that the people living at the bottom of society have longed for for thousands of years.

The majority of people live at the bottom of society and are deeply exploited and oppressed by feudal rulers. They hope to associate with each other through the quality of righteousness and jointly deal with feudal rulers.

Third, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" exaggerates Guan Yu's art, catering to society's need to create gods.

There is no doubt that Guan Yu is highly skilled in martial arts, but the relevant stories we read from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" are all artistic creations designed to highlight Guan Yu's martial arts.

For example, "Beheading Hua Xiong with warm wine" is intended to highlight Guan Yu's invincible martial arts. Unfortunately, the real hero who killed Hua Xiong was not Guan Yu, but Sun Quan's father Sun Jian.

For example, "Three Heroes Fight Lu Bu" is also a romance, intended to highlight the bravery of the three brothers Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei.

"The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" compiles these stories to highlight Guan Yu's superior martial arts, establish an idol for society, and give the people of Li a spiritual sustenance.

To sum up, the reason why Guan Yu became a famous general of the Three Kingdoms in national belief is because Guan Yu's qualities catered to the needs of all walks of life.

Guan Yu's loyalty meets the needs of the feudal rulers; Guan Yu's righteousness meets the needs of the common people; Guan Yu's art meets the psychological needs of idol worship by the public.

So, such an iconic figure who is needed by all walks of life has naturally become a famous general of the Three Kingdoms in national belief.