The God of War

This legend tells of Guan Yu, honored as Guan Di, the God of War. In the days when the rebellion of the Yellow Turbans was raging across the empire, he met two men by the roadside who shared his love of their country, and the three made a pact of friendship. One of them was Liu Be, who later became emperor; the other was Dschang Fe. They met in a peach orchard and swore to be brothers, though they came from different families. They sacrificed a white horse and vowed to be true to one another until death.

Guan Yu was loyal, honest, upright, and brave beyond measure. He loved to read Confucius’s “Annals of Lu,” which tell of the rise and fall of kingdoms. He helped his friend Liu Be defeat the Yellow Turbans and conquer the land of the four rivers. His horse, the Red Hare, could run a thousand miles in a day, and he carried a half-moon-shaped blade called the Green Dragon. His eyebrows were as beautiful as a silk moth’s, his eyes were long and narrow like a phoenix’s, his face was scarlet, and his beard was so long it hung down over his stomach. Once, when he came before the emperor, the emperor called him Duke Fairbeard and gave him a silk pouch to keep his beard in. He wore a robe of green brocade. In battle his courage could not be beaten; whether he faced a thousand armies or ten thousand horsemen, he charged them as if they were empty air.

Once the wicked Tsau Tsau stirred up his master the Emperor’s enemies to seize a city by treachery. When Guan Yu heard of it, he hurried with an army to rescue the town, but he fell into an ambush and, together with his son, was taken prisoner to the enemy’s capital. The prince of that land would gladly have won him over to his side, but Guan Yu swore he would not give in, even if it cost him his life. So father and son were put to death. After he died, his horse, the Red Hare, stopped eating and died too. A faithful captain of his named Dschou Dsang, a dark-faced man who carried a great blade, had just laid siege to a fortress when news of the duke’s sad end reached him. He and other loyal followers would not outlive their master, and they perished as well.

At that time a monk who came from Duke Guan’s home region and had known him lived in the Hills of the Jade Fountains. He liked to walk at night in the moonlight. Suddenly he heard a loud voice call down from the sky: “I want my head back!”

The monk looked up and saw Duke Guan on his horse, sword in hand, looking just as he had in life. On his right and left, shadowy figures in the clouds, stood his son Guan Ping and his captain Dschou Dsang.

The monk folded his hands and said, “In life you were upright and loyal, and in death you have become a wise god, yet you do not understand fate! If you insist on getting your head back, to whom shall the many thousands of enemies who died because of you appeal to have their lives restored?”

When Duke Guan heard this, he bowed and disappeared. The legend says that his spirit remained active and appeared when new dynasties were founded. That is why temples and sacrifices were established for him and he was made one of the gods of the empire. Like Confucius, he receives the great sacrifice of oxen, sheep, and pigs, and his rank has risen over the centuries: first he was worshipped as Prince Guan, then as King Guan, then as the great god who conquers demons, and the last dynasty worshipped him as the great divine Helper of Heaven. He is also called the God of War, a strong rescuer in every need when people are tormented by devils and foxes. Together with Confucius, the Master of Peace, he is often honored as the Master of War.

About this telling

This legend closes the “Legends of the Gods” in Richard Wilhelm’s The Chinese Fairy Book, translated by Frederick H. Martens for the 1921 Stokes edition published in New York. The chapter combines a warrior’s career, supernatural appearances and an account of worship. Its heroic episodes should be read as this collection’s legend, rather than a verified biography; the spellings Liu Be and Dschang Fe follow the old English edition.

The note explains that the monk’s words rest on the Buddhist law of karma: the monk asks Guan Di to consider the lives of the people he killed, rather than only his own loss. Wilhelm calls him one of the most popular figures in Chinese legend, god of war and rescuer in one.

Read the original: Wilhelm’s The Chinese Fairy Book, available free from Project Gutenberg

Reading guidance: older readers. Includes warfare, execution, animal sacrifice, and followers who die rather than survive their leader. Their deaths belong to the legend’s honor code, not a model for proving loyalty.

Reading the story closely

The opening accumulates signs of greatness: the extraordinary horse, weapon, clothing and battlefield courage. The monk then changes the measure. Instead of asking how powerful or loyal Guan Yu was, he asks whose losses are missing from the hero’s complaint. The bow acknowledges a perspective that the battle descriptions barely allow.

Choose one sentence that praises the warrior and one that questions the cost of war. Read them side by side. Does the monk erase Guan Yu’s virtues, or insist that virtues do not erase other people’s suffering?

Questions to ask

• What promise did Guan Yu, Liu Be, and Dschang Fe make in the peach orchard?
• Why does the monk refuse to sympathize when Duke Guan asks for his head back?
• Why do you think people came to honor Guan Yu as a god?

Related stories

• How Three Heroes Came by Their Deaths Because of Two Peaches — another tale of Chinese warriors and honor
• The Fire-God — another of Wilhelm’s legends of the gods
• Old Dragonbeard — a hero who foresees who will rule the empire