Liu Pei, the elder brother who came from a distinguished but
impoverished family with Imperial linkage, was known to be a man of
honour. He was later to distinguish himself by founding the Later
Han Dynasty. Kuan Yu, a powerful figure of more than eight feet
tall, possessed an enigmatic personality and integrity which won
him respect of all whom he met.
Together these three newly sworn brothers set out and became
involved in military pursuits, Kuan Ti once serving under the
crafty and famous Tsao Tsao. They displayed great military
prowess and fought many battles which can be read in full details
in the famous novels of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Kuan Yu proved himself worthy of the honour and affection of those
who fought with him for he was brave and generous and was never
known to turn aside from danger. He also proved his fidelity on the
occasion when he was taken prisoner together with the wife and
concubines of Liu Pei, and having been allocated a common sleeping
quarters with the ladies, he preserved
their reputation and his own trustworthiness by sitting all night
through, outside their door, reading a book under the bright light
of a candle. There is also another version of this account which
stated that he stood through the night at the door of the ladies
room with a lighted lantern in his hand.
In the recorded history of his life Kuan Yu had many occasions to
display his nobility, uprightness, integrity, loyalty and bravery.
He lived at a time of great distress and chaos when the virtue of
the Han Dynasty, set up in 202 B.C., began to decline and uprising,
warring, dissatisfactions and rebellions were rampant.
Temptations of acquiring wealth, fame and power did not deter him
from remaining faithful to the oath that he had taken with his
brothers at the peach orchard:
to be loyal to each other in life
and united in death
And of his ability to bear pain
unflinchingly, there was an occasion when he was wounded by a
poisoned arrow which required the arrow and the poison to be
removed. He calmly submitted himself to the terrible ordeal and
allowed his arm to be cut opened and scratched to the bone by his
physician while he concentrated his attention on a game of chess,
without showing the least sign of pain.
In the year 219 A.D. he was captured by Sun Chuan and put to death.
It was recorded that on the night of his death, his spirit appeared
to a Buddhist monk, to seek for instruction on the Buddhas
teachings.
