Hometown seeks new honor for revered general

Visitors from around the world attend a ceremony in memory of Guan Yu at the Xiezhou Guandi Ancestral Temple. Photo Provided to China Daily

Together with Zhang Fei, Guan joined Liu and fought against the rebel forces in northern China. The three of them shared a brotherly relationship. Guan and Zhang followed Liu wherever he went, and protected him from danger. His martial skill in his later years was highly admired and lionized thereafter.

Thanks to the long-standing popularity of the novel, which was both read by the literate and presented orally to the general public on the street, he was gradually deified. Temples have been built to have his statues enshrined and worshiped.

His followers include the rich and the poor, says Wang Xilan, former deputy director of Shanxi Federation of Literature and Arts Circles.

"The ruling class worship Guan to consolidate their dominant positions. The ordinary people worship Guan, hoping he will bless them with a peaceful life. The soldiers worship Guan for making contributions to the nation."

In modern time, Guan is also revered by businessmen in Hong Kong, Macao and in Southeast Asia as an alternative god of wealth. He is perceived to bless the upright and protect them from the dishonest, Jia Dezhang adds.

There are more than 30,000 Guandi temples in about 30 countries and regions, with the one located in Guan's hometown in Xiezhou township, Yuncheng, being the oldest, the largest and the most famous.

The temple, which was designated a national cultural heritage site in 1988, was built between the Southern and Northern Dynasties (AD 420-581) and Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618).

Each year, the temple along with two others in the city play host to three important cultural activities in memory of Guan Gong, including the traditional temple fair on the eighth day of the fourth month according to Chinese lunar calendar (May 6 this year) and the celebration of Guandi's birthday on the 24th day of the sixth month (July 20 this year).

"We need to do a lot of work, such as improving the surrounding environment of our temple," says Jia from the Xiezhou Guandi Temple. Confirming that the complex is now applying to be named a world culture heritage, he says the process is expected to finish by 2016.