Why do Hong Kong police worship Guan Gong?

Paying tribute to Guan has always been a tradition of the Hong Kong police. It is reported that the Public Relations Branch of the Hong Kong Police will "invite" Guandi to a temple in Wan Chai, so that sincere police officers can continue to visit the temple. Some senior police officers said that the new generation of police leaders have indicated that they will not encourage Guandi to become a designated worship ceremony, and some police districts are considering "please leave" Guandi. Some senior police officers also revealed that paying homage to Guan Emperor is not only a tradition, but also a psychological comfort and a bridge between superiors and subordinates.

Some psychologists have analyzed that if the police give up worshipping Guandi, it may make police officers who have always had the habit of worshipping Guandi feel uncomfortable: "It's like everyone is used to carrying a mobile phone and suddenly it's gone, and they will feel uneasy psychologically."

The Hong Kong police's worship of "Guan" has entrusted their professional ideals of strengthening the body, eliminating evil spirits and sincere unity.

Guan Gong was in danger of being swept out of the house at the Hong Kong police station, but unexpectedly, he flew quietly across the sea and was invited to a foreign altar. It turns out that before and after the reunification of Hong Kong, many Hong Kong immigrants passed the Commonwealth Examination and entered the police stations in Britain and Canada, so many police stations in these two countries put Guan Gong statues on them. These policemen attributed the success of solving the case to the worship of Guan Gong, which made Guan Gong's belief take root overseas and greatly increased his prestige.

This leads to a rather interesting question. Why do the police believe Guan Gong persistently and devoutly? Hu Xiaowei, a researcher at the Institute of Literature, China Academy of Social Sciences, who has been engaged in research on Guan Gong's belief for many years, has consulted the Hong Kong Police Force on this issue and got two official answers. The main idea is: First, there is injustice and anxiety in society, and the police represent social justice, while the upright Guan Gong symbolizes physical fitness and the elimination of evil spirits. Second, the police need unity, which is exactly what Guan Gong has. But these do not seem to explain the whole problem.

Guan Gong's prestige in the eyes of the police was not formed in a day or two. Researcher Hu Xiaowei said that the predecessor of the police, the official worship of Guan Gong, began in the Northern Song Dynasty. The important reason for the formation of this belief lies in Guan Gong's identity. He works as a Sima in another department, which is equivalent to catching the head, that is, the official in charge of local public security. Guan Yu's personality characteristics and legendary experience made him gradually evolve into a god of public security in the Northern Song Dynasty, and it has continued to this day.

Businessmen pay homage to Guan Gong and express the pursuit of business ethics of "paying equal attention to justice and benefit".

After careful observation, we will find that Guan Gong is not only an industry, but also an identity. In many shops and restaurants, all kinds of Guan Gong statues are always filled with incense. In the eyes of businessmen, Guan Gong is the embodiment of the God of Wealth. Soon the general became the protector of the businessman, which was somewhat funny.

In this regard, Lu Wei, a researcher at the Institute of Literature of China Academy of Social Sciences, made the following analysis: "Guan Yu's image as a god of wealth may be more due to the rules of an industry and the need of pursuing a business ethics. In the process of doing business, honesty is often pursued, and loyalty and faith are actually related. Guan Yu's original image is loyal to Liu Bei, and the relationship between loyalty and loyalty can be used to deal with different social relations. The relationship between industries and within industries can also be handled by the principle of loyalty and righteousness, and Guan Yu's image will be transformed into the moral image of the industry and eventually become a symbol that can bring wealth. China people believe that only when the relationship between ethics and morality is properly handled can we gain wealth. They advocate normal means and emphasize that good people are rewarded. The image of the god of wealth actually reflects the pursuit of ethics. "

It is not only businessmen and policemen who worship Guan Yu, but also many other industries and even the underworld, from which it is not difficult to see Guan Yu's great appeal.

The rise and development of Guan Yu worship represents the construction of China's traditional cultural value system.

"In fact, since the Ming Dynasty, Guan Yu has penetrated into different industries. It can even be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty, and it is believed that Guan Yu has become more common in many industries, which is closely related to the consensus reached by Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. In traditional folk beliefs, only Guan Yu transcends the three religions and worships. Other faiths can't do this because Guan Yu's word' righteousness' is a public moral concept. " Researcher Hu analyzed.

Historically, the spread of Guan Gong religion has four centers. First Jingzhou, Hubei, then moved to Shanxi, then moved to Beijing, and finally moved to Jiangnan, which became more and more important in the evolution process and reached its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Jiajing and Emperor Wanli once named Guan Yu as "the emperor who helped heaven to protect the country and was loyal and righteous", "the emperor who possessed heaven" and "the emperor of Weiyuan Town". In the Qing Dynasty, he became the highest god in China, and Guan Yu was often worshipped by the Manchu royal family. Emperor Qianlong once called Guan Yu "the loyal SHEN WOO" and always deified Guan Yu.

"I think the rise and development of Guan Yu's worship basically represents the construction process of China's traditional cultural value system and forms a moral value system. This enabled him to conquer so many social classes and so many ethnic minorities. Now, except for a single nationality, other nationalities believe in Guan Gong. " Researcher Hu said.

However, he has his own views on the worship of Guan Yu in Chinese mainland. He pointed out that after the May 4th New Culture Movement, especially the impact of the "Cultural Revolution" on Chinese mainland's traditional beliefs, most people no longer understood the traditional ceremony of "worshipping Guan Yu" and were in an embarrassing situation where they wanted to worship but could not. At present, the phenomenon that mainland businessmen worship Guan Yu is more the result of the return of worship customs preserved in Hong Kong and Taiwan to the mainland.