Guan Yu, Liu Bei’s adopted brother, ranked first among the Five Tiger Generals of the Shu Han Dynasty. He is named Yunchang, rides a red rabbit horse, and carries a Qinglong Yanyue Sword. He fled to Zhuo County because of killing powerful people. Later, he and Zhang Fei followed Liu Bei. He was famous all over the world for killing Hua Xiong and fighting Lu Bu before Hulao Pass. He was captured before the Battle of Guandu. He was worshiped by Cao Cao as a partial soldier and granted the title of Hou Tinghou of the Han Dynasty. However, he surrendered to the Han but not to Cao Cao. He killed Yuan Shao's famous generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou for Cao Cao. Later, he rode alone for thousands of miles, passed five passes and killed six generals, and finally returned to Liu Bei. During the attack on Fancheng, the seven armies were flooded, Cao Cao surrendered to General Jin, and Pang De was killed, which made him famous far and wide. But in the end, because of his arrogance and underestimation of the enemy, he was stubborn and self-willed, and was defeated in Maicheng and killed by Sun Quan. He has the style of a Confucian general and knows the general meaning of "Spring and Autumn". He values ??friendship throughout his life, possesses wisdom and courage, and has unrivaled martial arts skills.
Guan Yu is the military commander that Luo Guanzhong portrays the most. He is as famous as Cao Cao - "the traitor" and Zhuge Liang - the "wisdom" portrayed in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and is called "Yi Jue". He shone with the brilliance of an ideal personality that transcended this world. Mao Zonggang commented that "the world admires his divine power and is the most amazing person among famous generals in ancient and modern times." Therefore, although he ultimately failed in guarding Jingzhou, he was still a revered hero in people's minds. It can be said that "loyalty and justice are so awe-inspiring that success or failure cannot be judged as a hero." After the artistic processing of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Guan Yu's heroic prowess, loyalty and righteousness, and righteousness have become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. He has long been regarded as a benevolent gentleman and the embodiment of loyalty, and has been praised and posthumously awarded by the rulers of the past dynasties. Later generations of people worshiped him, and Guan Yu's image was gradually sanctified and deified. If we want to correctly understand and evaluate the artistic image of Guan Yu in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", we should remove all the halos from his head and restore his original character.
Guan Yu's most prominent character trait is loyalty, which contains multiple rich connotations, including loyalty to the country, the people, and loyalty to the monarch, brother, and friend. At the end of the Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos, officials were corrupt, and tyrants were rampant. With a sense of responsibility for the country and the people, and saving the people from fire and water, Guan Yu became sworn friends with Liu Bei and Zhang Fei in Taoyuan, and spent his life fighting for this. . The word "righteousness" runs throughout the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, especially in Guan Yu. It can be said that Guan Yu's words and deeds are inseparable from "righteousness". When Liu Bei was defeated and defected to Yuan Shao, Guan Yu had no choice but to surrender in order to protect his two brothers and sister-in-law. However, Cao Cao had made three agreements first: first, to protect his integrity, he would surrender to the Han but not to Cao Cao; second, to protect his two sisters-in-law; third, to protect his integrity. Loyalty and oath, once the whereabouts of Uncle Liu Huang are known, he will immediately defect to him. Even though Guan Yu's shirt was a gift from his brother Liu Bei, even if it was irreparably worn, he refused to change into a new one made for him by Cao Cao. This fully shows Guan Yu's sincerity, loyalty and righteousness. In his eyes, surrender can be changed, but his loyalty to the Han Dynasty and his loyalty to Liu Bei can never be changed. Guan Yu's righteousness is by no means an ordinary sense of loyalty, but a spirit of devotion and loyalty that never looks back. His righteousness is heavier than Mount Tai, more precious than life, and can withstand all kinds of tests in the world.
Guan Yu was also a talented man with outstanding martial arts skills and noble moral cultivation. "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" uses a lot of pen and ink to describe Guan Yu's heroic prowess in defeating the three armies. For example, the section about warming wine and killing Hua Xiong is very vivid. First, Hua Xiong claimed to behead an admiral, just like picking something out of a bag. Then he wrote that several generals were beheaded by him. All the princes who were attacking Dong Zhuo were horrified. Only Guan Yu stepped forward and said lightly to the wine Cao Cao had given him, "Pour it down and I'll come back when I go." The thunder and drums were beating loudly, and while everyone was still in fear, Guan Yu picked up Hua Xiong's head and threw it to the ground - the wine in the cup was still hot. Chapter 66 "Guan Yunchang went to the meeting alone" is another excellent display of Guan Yu's courage, intelligence and confidence. Guan Yu knew that Lu Su was inviting him to Soochow for the Hongmen Banquet this time, which might not be good for him, so he still went there calmly, and with superhuman strategy and alertness, he held Lu Su hostage, and finally controlled the situation and turned defeat into victory. It is amazing to walk calmly among thousands of troops and horses, as if you are in a deserted place. Not only that, Guan Yu's inner personality cultivation is particularly admirable. He understands righteousness well, and money, beauty, and honors cannot sway him, showing his noble moral integrity; and exemplifying Cao Cao on Huarong Road also reflects his tolerant, benevolent and humane spirit of repaying kindness and not bearing killing. .
At the same time, Guan Yu also has certain weaknesses in his character, mainly because he is naturally proud, and sometimes he cannot help but not listen to advice. Guan Yu's reserve and pride are certainly related to his own civil and military skills and fame, but it also brought him lifelong regrets. When Guan Yu stayed in Jingzhou, Zhuge Liang asked Guan Yu about his defense strategy. Guan Yu only replied that he should "resist Cao's army with force" and that of Sun Quan's troops, "split his troops to resist it." Although he agreed with Zhuge Liang's repeated motto of "reject Cao Cao in the north and reconcile with Sun Quan in the east", he still acted according to his own personality. Sun Quan sent Zhuge Jin to propose marriage to his son, and the two families formed a good relationship. When they fought together against Cao Jun, Guan Yu was arrogant and became furious. He said, "Is my tiger girl willing to marry a dog son?", and finally ended up with a soldier. Defeated and killed.
In short, Guan Yu is a loyal man who takes the rise and fall of the world and the people as his own responsibility. He is also an ideal personality model who understands righteousness, is both wise and courageous, is extremely brave, and possesses noble ethics. However, gold is not pure, and no man is perfect. Guan Yu also has a side that takes credit, is arrogant, and does not listen to others, but this does not prevent people from loving, admiring, and remembering Guan Gong for thousands of years.
Summarize three points:
1. The core characteristic of Guan Yu's character is loyalty, which is called "righteousness".
2. Guan Yu is a talented man with outstanding martial arts and noble moral cultivation.
3. Guan Yu also had the weakness of being proud by nature and unable to listen to advice.
Reference material: Jilin Literature and History Publishing House, December 2006 edition of "Clicks and Questions and Answers on Four Famous Characters"