General
Kuan Kung
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Among the many immortals of the Chinese Pantheon, Kuan Kung,
still venerated today, is considered to be perhaps the most
powerful. He is also known as General Kuan, Kuan Ti, Kuan Yu,
or Wu Ti. A real person, he was a great warrior, born in what
is today Shanzi, China in 162 AD, toward the end of the Han
Dynasty. He died at the age of 58 in the year 220, beheaded
because he would not join forces with the enemy who had captured
him. His story has been narrated in the Chinese classic The
Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Kuan Kung was raised and educated by his mother. The legend
has it that in defense of another he killed a corrupt and powerful
noble and so was forced to flee from his homeland. To survive
he took on menial jobs in the countryside until one day in a
village inn he encountered two young men like himself, with
no home or occupation: Liu Pei and Chang Fei. The story goes
that on that very afternoon, in a peach orchard, the three sealed
their newly formed yet profound friendship with an eternal pact
of brotherhood to the death. (Still today one can find the three
friends depicted in the images of Kuan Kung that are often hung,
as a symbol of loyalty and integrity, guarding the entryway
to many traditional schools of Chinese martial arts.)
Later Kuan Kung, Liu Pei and Chang Fei answered a call to arms
by the government in suppression of a revolt by a group that
was known as “The Yellow Scarves.” The three sworn
brothers organized and led a company of 300 men, aiding the
government significantly in the defeat of the rebels. Over the
years they fought together under numerous lords and patrons,
gaining ever greater fame and fortune. Their bond of loyalty
and brotherhood was not put to the ultimate test until they
came up against the famous and brilliant general Tsao Tsao,
who, being very ambitious, was planning the overthrow of the
Han throne. Unfortunately, Liu Pei was kin to the imperial family,
so Kuan Kung and Chang Fei had no choice but to join their brother
and fight in the name of the Han Emperor against Tsao Tsao.
Tsao Tsao, had heard of Kuan Kung’s martial prowess, and
so organized the latter’s capture; he wanted General Kuan
to command his troops against the emperor. General Kuan would
not surrender preferring death. Tsao Tsao promised General Kuan
that he would not be executed. General Kuan replied by offering
his surrender but only upon the condition that in the event
of his hearing that Liu Pei was still alive he would be allowed
to go to him.
Tsao Tsao accepted the condition, yet tried with every means
to compromise Kuan Kung’s virtue. Tsao Tsao offered Liu
Pei’s wife and concubines, whom he had captured, to Kuan
Kung but the latter did not defer; he offered him silk, gold,
women and lands, yet Kuan Kung took nothing. Upon his hearing
that Liu Pei was still alive, Kuan Kung, leaving everything
behind save his horse and Liu Pei’s family, fought courageously
until reunited with his friend.
This high level of loyalty and integrity has always distinguished
Kuan Kung from other warriors; so he has been venerated as the
God of War ever since. Because he incarnated “righteous
action” he has also been called the God of righteousness,
of justice, of honesty and of virtue and has been venerated
by everyone: by all of the Chinese emperors of all the dynasties,
by soldiers, by businessmen, by people of all walks of life
and traditionally by practitioners of the Chinese martial arts.
Kuan Kung is as famous and powerful today as he was in the past;
therefore it is fitting that practitioners of traditional Chinese
martial arts extend their respect to this acknowledged protector
of righteousness, of the training hall, of the theater, the
home and business. He was a man who in his life and his death
demonstrated the virtues of courage, loyalty, and integrity
and who, therefore, is and will always continue to be, for all
who know of him, an example of rectitude and high moral and
ethical character.
The Protective Power of General
Kuan Kung
In southern Shanzi, on the outskirts of Yur’ Cheng, once
a small city rich in history, but now a depressing collection
of gray, recently built housing blocks, there is a great temple
built during the Sung Dynasty in honor of Kuan Kung, one of
the heroes of the Era of the Three Kingdoms, who for the Chinese
is a symbol of trust and faithfulness. Kuan Kung, always depicted
with a red face, is also a recurrent figure among the protagonists
of classic Chinese Opera. For centuries people have paid homage
to him at that temple, making it the center of great veneration.
In 1957 the temple was still in pristine condition and a local
artist had just finished working on a series of large frescoes
narrating the life and acts of this popular hero with the red
face and the long black beard.
The even here, as everywhere [in China] the Cultural Revolution
arrived. However, when in 1966 the Maoist rebels arrived at
the temple to destroy it, they found themselves locked out.
Zhang Jie-xiang, the woman who was responsible for the entire
complex of buildings, and her six assistants bolted the gates
and barricaded themselves inside. The siege lasted three months.
“You have the keys, but we have the power!” screamed
the Maoists from outside. Ms Zhang, however, had the local population
on her side. At night, the locals succeeded in throwing packages
of food to the besieged caretakers on the other side of the
high walls. Finally the Red Guards gave up their vain struggle
to get their way and left.
In 1969, the Maoist county authorities ordered that the temple
be turned into a school. But Ms. Zhang gave up only one courtyard
to the project and then, in order to avoid that the school be
used as an excuse to enter into the rest of the temple complex,
she had a high wall built all around it.
Today, Kuan Kung’s Temple is the only site in the province
that is perfectly preserved and the only one in which there
is still that aura of mystery and charm that was once found
throughout China. The numerous pavilions are still intact, the
altars all have their candelabra, their censers, their bronze
vessels and their statues. Kuan Kung’s legendary weapons
may still be found in the ancient armory, and in the main pavilion
in a darkened corner, he is still there, the legendary Kuan
Kung.
Tiziano Terzani
The Forbidden Gate (La Porta Proibita)
1984 Longanesi, Milano
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