Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.4, 2015

 

The Legend of “Lord Guan Combating Chi You” and Its Early Spread

(Abstract)

 

Wang Changming

 

The focus of the legend of “Lord Guan (or Guan Yu) Combating Chi You” was the oppositional relationship between the two legendary figures. It can be taken to have originated from a story that was orally composed by a Buddhist monk in Yuquan Temple in Jing (荆) Prefecture of today’s Hubei Province in the Southern Song Dynasty. The relationship between the conqueror and the conquered embodied in the story of the “Marquis of Hanshou Village (Guan Yu’s official title) Killing a Dragon” was constructed according to the “seal of the Marquis” and the “dragon bone from Jiechi Salt Lake” that were stored in the temple, according to the principle that “things of similar kind interact.” In the Yuan Dynasty, the tale of “Zhang the Taoist Master Killing the Dragon with the Assistance of Guan Yu’s Divine Power” told, in both classical and vernacular Chinese, in two adjacent regions of Qu (衢) Prefecture and Xin (信) Prefecture, reveals the efforts of the Taoist Zhengyi Sect (正一派) to make use of the material of Buddhist legends to promote Taoism. Emperor Chenghua of the Ming Dynasty wrote a eulogy for the Temple of Emperor Guan (Guan Yu) in Hai (解) Prefecture to praise Guan Yu’s heroic deeds in protecting the salt lake and the civilians. As they spread from Xing Prefecture to Hai Prefecture, the legends were continuously modified, polished and revivified. The “explanatory” role of these legends finally resulted in their successful linkage with official history and their inclusion, with the spread of the legends in regional chronicle of the salt lake area.