Kuan Kung--from General to God

Most people who live in Taipei, be they believers or not, will have experienced being taken to Hsing Tien Temple to be treated for infant shock. Parents clutch their children's clothes and possessions, sick relatives are propped up as they patiently queue, while mysterious priests ask their names and addresses reciting mysterious chants and immersing them in a cloud of incense as they pray to Kuan Kung to exercise evil, prevent disasters and preserve their peace.

One volunteer who has been cleaning the temple and changing the incense for many years says that Kuan Kung definitely works miracles. She has seen many weeping believers come in to worship and request help only to return home smiling after a few days. Next to her a woman is beseeching Kuan Kung to turn her husband's business to profit, while another prays that her daughter will pass the university entrance examination. Yet another is requesting a lucky charm to protect his conscripted son.

Kuan Kung Master of Heaven?: From "Great Demon Queller" to "Master of Mercy"--in the hearts of his followers Kuan Kung has, from being a general of a previous age, become a god who will answer any kind of request. Over the past thirty years, Taiwan's large Luan Men sect has announced that Kuan Kung has already been elected by the major gods of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity and Islam to the highest place in heaven.

Is Kuan Kung Master of Heaven? The debates are endless. But not only is this is no blemish on Kuan Kung's reputation, on the contrary, he is riding on a high-tide of faith in Taiwan. The number of temples to Kuan Kung has grown from nearly two-hundred in the 1950s to more than four hundred at present, and they are getting bigger. It can be said that apart from Matsu, Wang Yeh and the Land God, Kuan Kung has penetrated the spiritual life of the people of Taiwan most deeply.

Yet, whereas the cults of Matsu and Wang Yeh both originated from the province of Fukien, Kuan Kung came from Shansi and was born in the far off period of the Three Kingdoms. How then did he come to be so attractive to believers on Taiwan?

Righteous Demon-Queller and Protector of Immigrants: "The first settlers to cross the sea to Taiwan did not only have to put up with storms and fevers, but when they arrived they fought with the aboriginal peoples. You could say that there were dangerous obstacles everywhere," says folk scholar Yuan Chang-jui. In this situation Kuan Kung was basically a god of war. He was formally named as "Great Demon Queller" by the Ming emperor Shen-tsung and the Ch'ing emperor Shentsu in accordance with the needs of the settlers. On the prows of the settler's ships, in sitting rooms and between villages, the angry red-faced idol could be seen everywhere. In a step forward from Demon Queller, Kuan Kung then became a god of medicine who could alleviate drought and epidemics, solve crises and prevent calamities. Up until today many Kuan Kung temples thus supply medical prescriptions alongside the usual objects to be found there, such as fortune-telling sticks.

Apart from this, there were often violent disputes over land among the immigrants--Hakka against Fukienese and Fukienese from Changchou against those from Chuanchou. As a matter of self-preservation, the settlers formed brotherly associations which swapped cards on which were written the names of the Three Brothers of the Peach Orchard in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms--Liu, Kuan and Chang. Among them Kuan Kung was respected for loyalty. These brothership cards kept in the homes of many Taiwanese had characters that read, "The Peach Garden Contract, a great story of the ancients." Of course, when you were in front of the temple of the "god of righteous union"--Kuan Kung--burning incense and making an oath was an unavoidable ceremony.

Actually, apart from Taiwan, other migratory overseas Chinese societies all need demon quellers and righteous unions. Thus Kuan Kung crossed the seas so that, let alone Southeast Asia, even among the Chinese community of Panama, icons of Kuan Kung have been specially ordered from mainland China. Although some overseas Chinese do not understand the Chinese language, the red faced general is still an object of reverence. In many overseas-Chinese clan societies, the three names of Liu, Kuan and Chang are called one clan and an expression of remembrance of the style of righteous union of their predecessors.

But in the period after Koxinga arrived in Taiwan at the end of the Ming Dynasty down to the present day, some three-hundred years, Taiwan has moved from being a migratory society to an industrial-commercial society. If you go to Kuan Kung's temple today there will still be a lot of people burning incense and throwing fortune sticks, but the need for expelling epidemics and quelling demons is not as it was in earlier days. The faith in Kuan Kung is still flourishing, only for different reasons.

Jack-of-all-Trades: "Being a war god, as early as the T'ang dynasty Kuan Kung was put in the temple of war by the T'ang court," points out Yuan Ch'ang-jui. But his home not only entitled him to become an official along with Confucius and Lao-tse but to surpass his status and became an idol for scholars--the gentleman from Shantung had written the Spring and Autumn Annals, and the man from Shansi read them! Kuan Kung caressing his beautiful beard with one hand whilst holding the Annals in the other thus entered deep into the minds of the people and he became known as a god of culture among Confucians. It is not then surprising that in the exam season, while the Confucius temple is rather lackluster, the Kuan Kung temple is enlivened by the blushing faces of young students dragged along by their parents.

Of even more interest is the close connection between Kuan Kung's righteousness and businessmen. According to historical records, when Kuang Kung was defeated and imprisoned, Ts'ao Ts'ao flattered him and sent him endless gifts of gold, silver and cloth, as well as giving him the title"Duke Shou T'ing." Yet Kuan Kung would only single-mindedly remember the fall of his brother general Liu Pei. Later, when he had heard that Liu Pei had gone to general Yuan Shao, he thanked Ts'ao Ts'ao and returned the gifts, then rode his horse a thousand li to his old master, passing five stockades and killing six guards on the way.

So as to avoid any slanderous accusations, before Kuan Kung left, he returned all Ts'ao Ts'ao's gifts, even enclosing strict records of his dealings with Ts'ao Ts'ao in an account book recording where items had come from, how much had been received, what were his outgoings and what was left over. The traditional Chinese record of bookkeeping is, according to legend, Kuan Kung's method. He thus not only had a head for figures but also the appropriate trust, and thus came to be the god of commerce.

"Scholars-peasants-workers-merchants was the traditional Chinese social hierarchy and Kuan Kung was the patron saint for scholars and merchants. It is not surprising then that he had a lot of followers," points outfolk-scholar Chou Jung-chieh. Look at the forty-eight years of history of Taipei's Hsin Tien Temple, which was originally built by a coal baronas thanks to Kuan Kung for looking after him. With Taiwan's businessmen prospering so much of late they have, of course, not forgotten Kuan Kung. For example, Taichung City has a committee to build a Kuan Kung templeon the cross-island highway at Kuanyuan. The chairman, Hung Hsing-jung,a representative of Taiwan province, says that in future the temple will provide a place not only for business training but also "to advocate loyalty to the company among the workers and a spirit of righteousness."

Loyalty and Righteousness: Belief in Kuan Kung has continued unbroken in Taiwan basically because he is the most useful of gods and has been able to satisfy the different requirements of different ages. Yet, putting aside Kuan Kung's utilitarian attraction, Kuan Kung is also revered infolk stories as a noble of great loyalty and righteousness.

Loyalty in his single minded devotion to Liu Pei and righteousness because when Ts'ao Ts'ao fell into his hands he did not forget how Ts'ao Ts'ao had once treated him kindly as a prisoner and thus finally released him. Moreover, when the famous physician Hua Tuo was treating his wounds after the slaying of the six guards, Kuan Kung could still drink spirits and play chess, joking all the while--such was his bravery. When he was the prisoner of Ts'ao Ts'ao, he shared a room with Liu Pei's two wives, but the whole night he would stand by the door with a candle to show that he would guard his sisters-in-law and to display that he was a man beyond temptation.

The virtues of loyalty, righteousness, bravery, courtesy, wisdom and trust all in one person makes it seem reasonable that Kuan Kung should have become a holy figure. On the other hand, in the Three Kingdoms there are numerous other able and virtuous generals, while Kuan Kung was a defeated general who still stood out. This is probably because his courage was never defeated and there have been repeated rumors of Kuan Kung apparitions.

Many Stories of Apparitions: It is said that after many years of battle, Kuan Kung was eventually ensnared by the scheme of general Lu Meng and his head was put on public display. When Sun Ch'uan held a banquet for Lu Meng, Lu was about to drink when he suddenly threw his goblet to the ground and grabbed Sun Ch'uan, screaming out, "How dare you use a scheme to destroy me. I could not damage your flesh when I was alive, but now I am dead I will harry Lu's bandit spirit! I am Duke Shou T'ing Hou Kuan Kung!" Lu then fell to the ground with blood pouring from his orifices and died.

Spirits reaping revenge on the living is the story of a thousand old tales. What is even more mysterious is how the state of Eastern Wu, after ensnaring and killing Kuan Kung, sent his head to Ts'ao Ts'ao in a crate. When Ts'ao Ts'ao opened the crate and saw Kuan Kung's familiar face he could not resist jesting, "Hello, how are you?" He did not think that Kuan Kung's head would open its mouth and eyes, eyebrows and moustaches bristling, terrifying Ts'ao Ts'ao into a state of illness from which he never recovered.

Another tale tells of how Kuan Kung's spirit did not disperse after death but drifted to Yu Ch'uan Mountain in Hupei province. P'u Ching, an old monk in the mountains, heard a voice shouting out, "Give me back my head!" He looked up and knew that this was Kuan Kung, then said, "Let bygones be bygones--we all get what we deserve without fail. You want your head back, but what about all those other generals decapitated by you? Whom should they ask for their heads back?" On hearing this, Kuan Kung was so moved that he became a Buddhist. Later on his spirit appeared and helped the Buddhists build a temple. Because of this episode, apart from being canonized by the Confucians and Taoists, Kuan Kung also took on the Buddhist names of Chia-Lan Guardian and Sky-Covering Buddha.

A Political Tool?: After 1,800 years, was Kuan Kung first an apparition that became an object of popular worship or did the belief come first with the stories being made up later by his followers? It is probably impossible to say. But none of this could affect the faith of his followers or the devotion of the emperors over the ages.

To enumerate Kuan Kung's titles, he began by entering the temple of war in the T'ang dynasty; three of the Sung emperors gave him five titles; Yuan Shih of the Yuan dynasty gave him the title "God of Righteous Loyalty;" Ming T'ai Tsung built a temple to him in Nanking and when Ming Ch'eng Tsu transferred the capital to Peking he did not forget to build another; the Ming emperors Shih Tsung and Shen Tsung also gave him titles; with the arrival of the Manchurian Ch'ing dynasty, the eight-banner armies took The Romance of the Three Kingdoms as their military manual and Kuan Kung worship reached its apogee. It is as if every emperor wanted to provide his own name, the result of which is a tongue-twisting appellation composed of no less than twenty-six Chinese characters!

But the bottom line of this admiration of the emperors for Kuan Kung boils down to a matter of real politik--Kuan Kung is famous for his loyalty, a useful quality for securing the stability of the emprie. This was especially so at times of rebellion when Kuan Kung could be called outto show up the disloyalty of the rebels and spur on the morale of the government troops. That his creed became a tool of the government was no doubt the last thing Kuan Kung would have expected himself.

Kuan Kung of the Novelists: Apart from the imperial affirmation of Kuan Kung's strengths, the Ming novelist Luo Kuan-chung's description of Kuan Kung's perfection in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is also a key as to why he should have been so deified.

In The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, not only is Kuan Kung loyal and fiercely brave but all the people and animals of his household are also brave and loyal. Thus, in the last battle, when Kuan Kung is defeated and captured, his eldest son Kuan P'ing hears the news and goes straight to his father's rescue, resulting in father and son dying together. When the bad news reaches the camp of his generals, Chou Ts'ang and Wang P'u,they commit suicide. Even Kuan Kung's Red horse weeps for days and dies after refusing to eat.

Kuan P'ing, Chou Ts'ang, the Dragon-Moon Sword and the Red Horse, all play leading roles in the Kuan Kung temple. Yet the novel cannot be true to fact. The historical evidence reveals no record of any Chou Ts'ang or Dragon-Moon Sword; then there is the fact that the Red Horse is usually the steed of another general, Lu Pu. Although Lu Pu died very early, in the following six-hundred years of the Tang and Sung dynasties, the Red Horse always appears in conjunction with his name. So the Red Horse as Kuan Kung's steed can be little more than poetic license on the novelists behalf.

Not only are the characters in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms fictional and sensational and not to be taken seriously, but even Kuan Kung's most famous exploit of passing the five guardhouses and killing the six guards is without supporting evidence. In the formal Three Kingdoms history, Kuan Kung is only described as "a foe for a thousand people, braveas a tiger, but macho, arrogant and merciless." It seems then that he was not much more than a rather vulgar braggart and a long way from the revered image we find in The Romance of Three Kingdoms.

People who read novels outnumber those who read history; folk beliefs are always sensational and moving and need not be rational. It does not matter what kind of person Kuan Kung was in history. What is important is the actual didactic impact of his cult on the masses and his ability to pacify the people. This is what makes him a really outstanding god.

[Picture Caption]

The Hsing Tien Temple in central Taipei is very popular and famous for treating shock in babies.

Paintings of Kuan Kung are common pieces of folk art that can protect the home.

The custom of worshipping Kuan Kung among businessmen leads many entrepreneurs to place his icon in their sitting room. (photo by Diago Chiu)

Kuan Kung's make-up and costume in Peking opera. People call the actor Li Tung-chun "the living Kuan Kung." (Sinorama photo file)

Because Kuan Kung is so popular, a lot of free literature about him is available.

Paintings of Kuan Kung are common pieces of folk art that can protect the home.

The custom of worshipping Kuan Kung among businessmen leads many entrepreneurs to place his icon in their sitting room. （photo by Diago Chiu）

Kuan Kung's make-up and costume in Peking opera. People call the actor Li Tung-chun "the living Kuan Kung." （Sinorama photo file）

Because Kuan Kung is so popular, a lot of free literature about him is available.