Why do you worship Guan Gong?

In order to consolidate its ruling position, the feudal ruling class of past dynasties regarded Guan Yu as the embodiment of loyalty and righteousness, and Guan Yu's status was getting higher and higher, from "being crowned king" to "being proclaimed emperor" and finally being honored as "warrior sage". During the Chen and Sui Dynasties, all Buddhists built Guan Yu's first temple in Dangyang. In the third year of Tang Jianzhong (782), Guan Yu was listed as one of the 64 famous generals in ancient and modern times, and was put into the Wu Temple to enjoy Jiang Taigong. After the Song Dynasty, Guan Yu was crowned as a "warrior sage". Guan Yu, who has been unknown for 800 years (if he was admired by his opponents before his death, he would be unknown as an example of a military commander after his death), was promoted to three levels: first, he was named "loyal monarch", then "worshiping Ning Zhen jun", and then he was named "Zhaolie Wu 'an King" and "Wu Yong 'an King". Yuan Wenzong named Guan Yu "the king of Miao Zhuang Yi Wu 'an, showing his spirit to help Britain", and Ming Shenzong named him "the Great Demon of the Three Realms is far away in Megatronus Guan Sheng Di", and named Guan Di Temple as "Wu Temple", which is juxtaposed with Confucian Temple and Confucius Temple. The Qing emperor flaunted Guan Yu as "the best in the world" and named him "loyal, benevolent, brave, protecting the country and benefiting the people, sincere appeasement, righteous praise, Xuande, Guan Sheng the Great" ("Rites and Music in Qing Dynasty"), and built Guandi Temple in Beijing, ordered the whole country to build Guandi Temple and offer sacrifices to incense on time. The number of Guan Gong temples in Vu Thang far exceeds that of Confucius temples in Wensheng. In the Qing Dynasty, there were 1 16 temples in Beijing alone. And some closed temples are much larger than Confucius temples. Some people say that Guan Yu is a culture; Some people say that Guan Gong is a kind of spirit. Otherwise, why are there so many temples for Guan Gong in China and overseas?

For thousands of years, Guan Yu, a perfect image representing the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation, has appeared in front of the world after being sealed by rulers of past dynasties and described in operas and literature. "Serve the country faithfully, be kind to others, act with wisdom, make friends with righteousness, and fight with courage." He rose from a "strange man through the ages" to a "god among gods" and became a god of war, a god of wealth, a god of literature and a god of agriculture. He is an all-powerful god, worshipped by rulers and people of past dynasties. China and Japan are overseas, at home and abroad. Needless to say, the feudal rulers of past dynasties revered Guan Yu, and even Li Zicheng, Zhang, Hong Xiuquan and other peasant uprising leaders worshipped Guan Yu as a hero. Moreover, in China, Japan, Southeast Asia and overseas Chinese, the worship of Guan Yu is still vivid. In Taiwan Province Province, with a population of more than 20 million, there are as many as 8 million followers of Guan Gong, and almost every household has set up incense tables, set up memorial tablets and hung icons for Guan Gong. The annual sales volume of Guan Gong's portraits in Taiwan Province Province far exceeds their most revered god Mazu. The American "Longgang General Association" is a non-governmental organization, whose ancestor is Guan Yu, and there are more than 140 branches all over the world where Chinese live. Southeast Asian countries compete to build temples to worship Guan Yu, and Thailand is the most prosperous. In Japan, there was Guandi Temple as early as the Qing Dynasty. A new Guandi Temple was built a few years ago, which is said to be the largest Guandi Temple overseas. Mr. David Jordan, a professor of anthropology at the University of California, San Diego and a doctor of anthropology at the University of Chicago, once said a very interesting sentence. "I respect you the great god, he deserves the respect of everyone. His benevolence, righteousness, wisdom and courage are still meaningful until now. Benevolence is love, righteousness is credibility, wisdom is culture, and courage is not afraid of difficulties. If all God's people are like you Guan Gong, our world will be a better place. " The American scholar's words are quite insightful. Loyalty, righteousness, faithfulness, wisdom, benevolence and courage, which are condensed on Guan Yu and admired by all previous dynasties, contain the ethics and ideals of China traditional culture, permeate the essence of Confucianism in the Spring and Autumn Period, and merge with Buddhism and Taoism. Essentially, they are brilliant souls of China.