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Guan Yu
General under Liu Bei who killed Yan Liang at Baima and destroyed Cao Cao's relief armies at Fan, before Sun Quan's forces seized Jingzhou and executed him
At dusk on a hilltop, a large tent stands open with a table holding a map marked with small stones inside, a saddled horse tethered outside, and fire stands burning; campfires dot the river plain below, and one tiny sentry stands on the slope.
Also known as Zi Yunzhang · Meiran Gong · Wu Sheng · Ben Zi Changsheng
- Roles
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Guan Yu, courtesy name Yunchang and originally Changsheng, was from Xie in Hedong. A fugitive, he joined Liu Bei at Zhuo together with Zhang Fei, and his biography in the *Records of the Three Kingdoms* (*Sanguo zhi*) says the three shared a bed and were as close as brothers. Captured by Cao Cao in 200, he was made a lieutenant general and that year killed Yuan Shao's commander Yan Liang at Baima, for which he was made Marquis of Hanshou; he then sealed up Cao's gifts and returned to Liu Bei. When Liu Bei went west into Shu, he held Jingzhou. In 219 he besieged Fan; when the Han River flooded, Yu Jin's seven armies were swamped, Yu Jin surrendered and Pang De was beheaded. Sun Quan then sent Lu Meng to take Jiangling, and Guan Yu was captured and killed at Linju early in 220. Shu Han named him Marquis Zhuangmiu in 260, and in 1614 the Wanli emperor named him a divine emperor.
Life and times
Dates c. 160 CE–220 CE