What is the reason why it is said that Guan Yu "head rests on Luoyang, his body lies on Dangyang, and his soul is in Shanxi"?

In the winter of 219 AD, Guan Yu was defeated in Maicheng, and was captured by the Wu army in Linju. He was brutally killed in the spring of the following year. "Three Kingdoms" records:

"Quan sent generals to counterattack Yu, and he killed Yu and Ziping in Linju."

The famous general Guan Yu fell at this point, but it also started his career. "Mythical Life". After Guan Yu's death, there was a popular saying among the people: "My head rests on Luoyang, my body lies on the Yangtze River, and my soul is in Shanxi." What is this? This has to talk about the political game between Sun Quan and Cao Cao.

Head rests on Luoyang, body lies on Dangyang

In the past, Guan Yu's Northern Expedition to Xiangfan was so successful, but due to Sun Wu's intervention, it failed in the end. Not only did he lose the three counties of Jingzhou, but he also lost his own life. . At that time, Sun Quan beheaded Guan Yu and sent it to Cao Cao. However, what Cao Cao did after getting Guan Yu's head was beyond Sun Quan's expectation. Cao Cao ordered people to carve agarwood for his body and buried Guan Yu's head in the south of Luoyang City with the courtesy of a prince. It is the so-called "headrest in Luoyang". Seeing Cao Cao acting like this, Sun Quan had no choice but to follow suit, so Guan Yu's body was buried in Dangyang, Hubei with marquis rites, which was called "lying in Dangyang". So why did both the Wu and Wei families choose to bury Guan Yu generously?

Many friends have always believed that sending Guan Yu's head to Cao Cao was a way for Sun Quan to shift the blame. He wanted to lead Shu Han's hatred of Soochow to Cao Wei, and Cao Cao buried Guan Yu's head generously because he saw through it. Sun Quan's strategy, and Sun Quan's imitation of the rich burial was to reduce the Shu Han's hatred of himself. This statement does have merit, but I don't quite agree with Sun Quan's intention of sending Guan Yu's head to Cao Cao. Jingzhou was captured by Sun Wu, and Guan Yu was killed by Sun Wu. Giving Guan Yu's head to Cao Cao can transfer the Shu Han Hatred for Sun Wu? Do you really think Liu Bei is a fool?

So what is Sun Quan’s real intention? Personally, I think this is Sun Quan expressing his sincerity to Cao Cao, hoping to use Guan Yu's head to express to Cao Cao that he has completely broken with Liu Bei, and hopes to form an alliance with Cao Cao to conquer Shu and divide the Shu equally. "Three Kingdoms: Biography of Zhou Tai" recorded this passage:

"After Quan defeated Guan Yu, he wanted to advance to Shu and worshiped the Taishou of Hanzhong."

In the past, Sun Quan made progress after defeating Guan Yu. Xichuan's heart was so strong that he worshiped his beloved general Zhou Tai as the prefect of Hanzhong, which shows Sun Quan's ambition. However, the attack on Shu could not be accomplished by Soochow alone, so it was necessary to join forces with Cao to attack Shu. And why didn't Cao Cao agree? In fact, it’s easy to understand. Previously, Cao Cao was defeated by Liu Bei in Hanzhong, and then Guan Yu’s northern expedition to Xiangfan was overwhelming. Cao Wei’s vitality could be said to be severely damaged. However, when Wei and Shu were fighting, Soochow was reaping the benefits of the fisherman. Not only did it not cause the disaster of war, , but easily captured the three counties of Jingzhou in the Shu Han Dynasty. If Cao Cao agreed to Sun Quan to attack Shu together, even if the Shu Kingdom was really destroyed, I'm afraid it would be more of a favor to Sun Quan. Why not become a fisherman himself and watch Wu and Shu fight each other? better? Therefore, Cao Cao buried Guan Yu in a rich way, and Sun Quan had no choice but to bury Guan Yu in a rich way in order to ease the relationship between Wu and Shu. However, the Battle of Yiling broke out after all.

The soul returns to his hometown

Guan Yu was neither from Luoyang, Henan nor Dangyang, Hubei, but from Jieliang, Hedong (now Yuncheng, Shanxi). Although his head was buried in a foreign land, The ghost finally returns to its hometown, which is called "the soul returns to its hometown".