Guan Yu Biography

Verify-able Information is obtained from the "Records of the 3 Kingdoms" by Historian Chen Suo during the 3rd Century.

Guan Yu styled name "Yun Chang"
- Born around the year 160
- in Xie County, Hedong (present day Yuncheng, Shanxi).
- family of scholars. His Grandfather was Guan Shen and his father Guan Yi.
- Trained in the classics ie: Book of Changes and the Spring & Autumn Annals
- Was forced to leave his home around the age of 23 because he had killed a ruffian named Lu Xiong.
- In modern Zhuozhou, Hebei Province, along with Zhang Fei he joined Liu Bei (a distant relative of the Han Emperor) who was forming a militia to deal with the rebel bandits known as the "Yellow Turbans".
- He served under Liu Bei for many years as a prominent General along with Zhang Fei.
- He married Lady Hu
- Dies around 219: after being captured in battle at Zhang Town (east of present-day Yuan'an County, Hubei) he was executed along with his son Guan Ping.
- Children:
1. oldest son Guan Ping was born in 178
2. 2nd son, Guan Xing - died young at age 19
3. oldest daughter, Lady Guan (aka: Guan Yinping) -
- Grandchildren:
1. Guan Tong, son of Guan Xing, married a princess, served as a general in Shu, did not have any children.
2. Guan Yi son of Guan Xing, born to Guan Xing's concubine, succeeded Guan Tong and was killed during the turmoil caused by General Zhong Hui under Cao Wei.

According to Pei Songzhi's annotations in Records of Three Kingdoms, after the fall of Shu, Pang Hui (son of Pang De) massacred the Guan clan to avenge his father, who was put to death by Guan Yu.

Guan Yu's tomb is said to be approx. 7 kilometers (approx: 4.5 miles) south of modern Luoyang City of Henan Province. It is said that Cao Cao highly respected him and thus buried his head with a carved wooden body with full honors just outside the South Gate of ancient Luoyang City. Today that spot is within Guanlin Temple, built in 1596, during the reign of Emperor Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and was expanded in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Emperors of succeeding dynasties all revered Guan Yu a lot and even worshiped him as "God of War". As a result, the temple in Luoyang is splendid and grandiose.

All remaining famous tales and stories is sourced from the famous novel "Romance of the 3 Kingdoms" by Luo Guanzhong of the 14th Century (based on characters and times of the Historian Chen Suo's "Records of the 3 Kingdoms".)