Guan Yu

A military commander in the Three Kingdoms state of Shu, China. He was from Hedong Jie (Linjin County, Shanxi Province). His pen name was Yunchang. His posthumous name was Zhongyi Hou. There was a salt pond in Jie, so he may have worked in the salt industry. He defected to Zhuo Commandery (Hebei Province) and met Liu Bei and Zhang Fei. The novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms tells of the three of them making a promise to be sworn brothers in the Peach Orchard, and something similar to this may have happened. When Liu Bei raised an army, Yu also joined, and they lived and ate together. In 200, Cao Cao and Liu Bei fought, Bei was defeated, and Yu was captured by Cao. Cao treated Yu with respect and encouraged him to submit, but in a battle between Cao and Yuan Shao, Yu cut off the head of Shao's general Gan Liang and took it as a gift before returning to Bei. He then went to Jingzhou with Bei, and when Cao Cao came south, he fled from there, but in the subsequent Battle of Red Cliffs (208), he waited on land for Cao's army, which had been defeated in a naval battle, and defeated them. Even after Liu Bei entered Shu with Zhuge Liang and Zhang Fei, he was ordered to guard Jingzhou and made Jiangling his base. In 219, when Liu Bei became King of Hanzhong, he went north to attack Cao Ren, a subordinate of Cao Cao, and surrounded Fancheng (Xiangfan City, Henan Province). However, Sun Quan, who was plotting to take control of Jingzhou, allied with Cao and attacked from behind, so Liu Bei retreated south just before the fall of Fancheng, but was killed in battle together with his son Guan Ping in Linju (Nanzhang County, Hubei Province).

Guan Yu had a beautiful beard, and Zhuge Liang nicknamed him Beard. He was not only a brave warrior, but also enjoyed reading the Zuo Zhuan. However, he was also known for looking down on others, which earned him hatred. After his death, he was worshiped as the god of war and wealth.

[Naotsugu Kano]

“Zhuge Liang” by Hisashi Miyagawa (1940, Tomiyamabo) ▽ “Zhuge Liang” by Naoyoshi Kano (1966, Shinjinbutsu Oraisha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、三国蜀(しょく)の武将。河東解（山西省臨晋(りんしん)県）の人。字(あざな)は雲長。諡(おくりな)は忠義侯。解には塩池があるから、塩業関係の仕事に従事していたのかもしれない。亡命して涿(たく)郡（河北省）にきて、劉備(りゅうび)や張飛(ちょうひ)と知り合った。桃園で3人が義兄弟の約束を結んだことが小説『三国志演義』にみえるが、それに近いことはあったろう。劉備が起兵すると羽も参加し、寝食をともにした。200年、曹操(そうそう)と劉備が戦い、備は敗れ、羽は操に捕らえられた。操は羽を礼遇して帰順を勧めたが、羽は操と袁紹(えんしょう)との戦いに、紹の将である顔良の首を斬(き)って、これを置き土産(みやげ)に備の所に帰った。やがて備とともに荊州(けいしゅう)に赴き、曹操が南下してくると、ここを逃れたが、ついで起こった赤壁(せきへき)の戦い（208）では、水戦で敗れた操の軍を陸上に待ち受けて撃ち破った。劉備が諸葛亮(しょかつりょう)や張飛らと蜀に入ったのちも、彼は荊州の留守(りゅうしゅ)を命ぜられ、江陵を基地とした。219年、劉備が漢中王になったのを機に、北上して曹操の部将である曹仁を攻めて樊城(はんじょう)（河南省襄樊(じょうはん)市）を囲んだ。しかし、荊州領有をもくろむ孫権(そんけん)が、操と同盟して背後を襲ったので、樊城陥落を目前に南に引き揚げたが、ついに臨沮(りんしょ)（湖北省南漳(なんしょう)県）において、子の関平とともに戦死した。

　関羽は美しい髯(ひげ)の持ち主で、諸葛亮も彼を髯の愛称でよんだ。また彼は武勇に優れていたばかりでなく、好んで『春秋左氏伝』を読んだ。しかし人を見下すことがあり、人の恨みを買うこともあった。死後、軍神、財神として祀(まつ)られている。

［狩野直禎］

『宮川尚志著『諸葛亮』（1940・冨山房）』▽『狩野直禎著『諸葛孔明』（1966・新人物往来社）』

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