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Torres
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2010-03-02
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Torres
2010-03-31 14:31
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Guan Yu, the epitome of loyalty and righteousness, is a general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the Three Kingdoms era of China. Red-faced with a long lush beard, his signature weapon's Green Dragon Crescent Blade which resembled a halberd. Some of his most famous feats are crossing five passes and slaying six generals, releasing Cao Cao at Huarong Trail, and Enlightenment on Yuqian Hill.
Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei met in Zhuo County and took the oath of fraternity in the fabled Peach Garden, thus becoming sworn brothers. Guan Yu was ranked second in seniority among the three. The oath served as a guiding principle for Guan Yu and influenced much of his later life. Guan Yu held on to his oath till his death and was always loyal to his sworn brothers.
Guan Yu made his name by slaying the seemingly "undefeatable" warrior Hua Xiong in the campaign against Dong Zhuo. Later, the sworn brothers challenged the mighty warrior Lu Bu at Hulao Pass and managed to force Lu Bu to retreat although they never defeated him.
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Cao Cao attacked Liu Bei's territory of Xuzhou and defeated Liu Bei's army. The sworn brothers were temporarily separated. Guan Yu was in charge of defending Xiapi, where Liu Bei's wives were housed. Guan Yu was lured out of the city and besieged on a nearby knoll while the city fell to Cao Cao's troops. Cao Cao sent Zhang Liao to persuade Guan Yu to surrender. Guan Yu was worried about the safety of his sisters-in-law as he saw that as his responsibility. After much consideration, Guan Yu agreed to submit to Cao Cao on three conditions:
Firstly, in name, Guan Yu submits to the Emperor Xian (who was actually a puppet ruler in Cao Cao's control) and not to Cao Cao.
Secondly, Liu Bei's wives must not be harmed in any way. They must be treated with full respect and honour.
Thirdly, if Guan Yu manages to discover the whereabouts of Liu Bei (whose fate was unknown after the battle) one day, he will leave Cao Cao and reunite with his sworn brother.
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Cao Cao agreed to the conditions although he felt uneasy about the last one. Guan Yu then submitted to Cao Cao and served Cao Cao for a short period of time. Cao Cao treated Guan Yu with the utmost respect and bestowed upon Guan Yu several gifts, luxuries and women, as well as the famous steed Red Hare which once belonged to Lu Bu. Guan Yu was not very appreciative towards Cao Cao's other gifts, but when Cao Cao gave him the steed, he knelt down and thanked Cao Cao. When Cao Cao inquired the reason, Guan Yu replied, "Sir, I'm very grateful to you for the steed because with it, I can reach my sworn brother in a shorter period of time if I ever know where he is."
When Guan Yu finally received news that Liu Bei was alive and currently in Yuan Shao's camp, Guan didn't hesitate for a mere moment and flee to rejoin Liu Bei. Afterwards, suffering his defeat at the Battle of Red Cliffs, Cao Cao made his escape with his surviving men towards the city of Jiangling. Liu Bei's chief military strategist Zhuge Liang had foreseen Cao Cao's defeat and predicted Cao Cao's escape route. He ordered Guan Yu to lead 5,000 men and lie in ambush along the Huarong Trail, a narrow shortcut in the woods leading towards Jiangling. Before his departure, Guan Yu made a military sworn pledge that he would not spare Cao Cao's life on account of his past relationship with the warlord. If he failed to do so, he would face execution under military law. As expected, Cao Cao did pass through Huarong Trail after having met with several ambushes along his escape route.
Cao Cao and his men encountered Guan Yu and his army. Cao Cao spoke to Guan Yu and begged him to spare his life on account of their past relationship. Guan Yu was moved when he recalled the favours he received from Cao Cao while he was serving the warlord earlier for a short period of time. Also, when he saw the plight of Cao Cao's defeated troops and Zhang Liao, whom he saved earlier from death, he decided to allow Cao Cao and his men to leave. Upon his return, Guan Yu pleaded guilty to having violated the pledge he made earlier and expressed his willingness to accept execution. However, with the interference of Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, Zhuge Liang decided to pardon Guan Yu on account of his past contributions. It was later revealed that Zhuge Liang had expected Guan Yu to spare Cao Cao and his intention was actually to allow Cao Cao to escape so as to hasten the formation of the Three Kingdoms.
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Anecdote goes that during a siege on Fancheng, Guan Yu's arm was wounded by a bolt fired by enemy crossbowers. The arrow was promptly removed but the poison smeared on the arrowhead had already seeped deep into Guan Yu's arm. Guan Yu was unwilling to order a retreat thus his subordinates had to send for a physician to treat his wound. The famous physician Hua Tuo appeared in the nick of time and volunteered to treat Guan Yu's wound.
Hua Tuo diagnosed that he needed to perform surgery on Guan Yu's arm, by cutting open the flesh and scraping off traces of poison on the bone. Hua also suggested that Guan Yu be blindfolded and have his arm secured tightly because the surgery would be performed in the absence of anesthesia and most patients were unable to bear with the excruciating pain. However, Guan Yu requested that the surgery be performed on the spot and he proceeded to continue a game of Weiqi with Ma Liang during the surgery. Throughout the surgery, those watching nearby cringed as they watched the gory scene before them, but Guan Yu remained calm and did not show any sign of pain at all. Eventually, Hua Tuo managed to heal Guan Yu's wound and sewed it up after applying medication and then left without accepting any reward.
After Eastern Wu captured Jingzhou and killed Guan Yu, the lord Sun Quan threw a banquet to celebrate the victory in honour of the military commander Lu Meng, who planned the attack on Jingzhou. During the feast, Guan Yu's spirit possessed Lu Meng and seized Sun Quan. As the others rushed forward to save Sun Quan, the possessed Lu Meng swore vengeance before collapsing onto the floor. Moments later, Lu Meng died. Sun Quan was terrified and he sent Guan Yu's severed head to Cao Cao, hoping to push the responsibility of Guan Yu's death to Cao and sow discord between Shu Han and Cao Wei.
When Cao Cao opened the box containing Guan Yu's head, he saw that Guan's facial expressions resembled that of a living person. He smiled and spoke to the head, "I hope you are well since we last parted." To his horror, Guan Yu's head opened its eyes and mouth and the long beard and hairs stood on their ends. Cao Cao collapsed and did not regain consciousness until a long time later. When he came to, he exclaimed, "General Guan is truly a god from heaven!" Then he ordered the head to be buried with full honours befitting that of a noble.
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