Guandi (or Guan Yu, Guangong) is a Chinese deity associated with commerce, riches, and literature, although traditionally he is also a war god. Chinese immigrants brought the Guandi cult to America, where he remains a figure both of popular veneration and pop culture to this day. The historical Guandi was a sort of “Chinese Robin Hood” by the name of Yunchang who became an outlaw when he saved a powerless young girl from being forced into a life of concubinage by a government official. Fleeing the authorities after slaying the offending functionary and that official’s equally lecherous uncle, Yunchang changed his appearance when he washed in the red water of a mountain stream. His resulting russet appearance allowed him to escape capture, and forever afterwards the figures of Yunchang and eventually Guandi have been associated with bright, rosy-hued faces.
Born around 160 CE and executed around 220 CE, Yunchang rose to prominence in his early twenties during a time of turbulent social and political upheaval. As recorded in the chronicle Sanguo zhi (“The History of the Three Kingdoms”) as well as in the romance Sanguo zhi tongsu yanyi (“The Romance of the Three Kingdoms”), this was a chaotic period during which the leadership and infrastructure of the Han Dynasty had broken down and political power in China was divided into three kingdoms, each of which was controlled by its own ersatz “emperor.” During this troubled era, Yunchang the bean curd merchant swore eternal friendship with the two other Brothers of the Peach Orchard, Liu Bei the sandal-maker and Zhang Fei the butcher. Liu Bei reconciled the other two when they had fallen into an argument, their ensuing lifelong loyalty became proverbial in Chinese lore, and Yunchang remained true to his vows to his two blood brothers until death. Moreover, Yunchang became such a byword for integrity and living rightly that even an evil ruler honored him for his fidelity after his death.
In fact, Guandi’s journey toward heroic status began almost as soon as he was executed. According to legend, upon the presentation of the outlaw Yunchang’s head, the tyrant commanded that it be fitted to an effigy body and interred with honors befitting the mortal outlaw’s reputation for personal integrity. Furthermore, Guandi’s iconic status as a kind of Confucian ideal of right-thinking and correct action led to a series of posthumous promotions for this figure. Guandi became, ironically, an outlaw put to the service of the state, as in death he became a stalwart figure in the pantheon recognized by the Chinese emperors. In the course of the twelfth century, for example, Guandi rose under the Song Dynasty first to duke and then to prince in the official canon. During the late sixteenth century Guandi was finally elevated to the status of di, or “divine being,” under the auspices of the Ming Dynasty. During the nineteenth century Guandi was both raised to the status of cosmic military emperor and finally—more than a millennium and a half after his death—reached the rarified atmosphere of exalted fuzi, or “teacher,” which put this Confucian outlaw on the same ethereal plane as Confucius himself.
Many “Warrior Temples” devoted to Guandi were established throughout China, and there are now a number of Daoist temples in the United States dedicated to this figure. One of earliest and the most famous is the Temple of Kwan Tai in Mendocino, California, which was established in the mid-nineteenth century. Kwan Tai may be rendered Kwan Dai or Guan Di, just as Yunchang is sometimes anglicized to Shantung. Moreover, Guandi is a figure well known to and beloved by not just those who have come recently from China, but also the descendants of earlier generations of immigrants, as he has become a staple of contemporary video games and movies. Finally, this mythic figure is a common presence in most Chinese American communities, as an altar to Guandi may be found in front of many shops.
C. Fee
See also Bok Kai Temple, Folktale, and Parade; Chinese American Mythological and Legendary Deities; Fa Mu Lan, or Mulan; Monkey King, or Sun Wukong
Further Reading
Chen, Lianshan. 2011. Chinese Myths and Legends. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chen, Shehong. 2002. Being Chinese, Becoming Chinese American. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
“Daoist Temples in California.” 2010. Asian American History and Culture: An Encyclopedia, edited by Huping Ling and Allan W. Austin. New York: Routledge.
Goossaert, Vincent, and David A. Palmer. 2011. The Religious Question in Modern China. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Miller, James, ed. 2006. Chinese Religions in Contemporary Societies. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.