How did Guan Yu, the fierce general of the Three Kingdoms, die? Guan Yu’s cause of death

How did the Three Kingdoms general Guan Yu die? Guan Yu's cause of death

Guan Yu in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms was a rare general and a very loyal person. He is loyal to his eldest brother Liu Bei. So how did you die in the end? Next, I will tell you about the cause of Guan Yu's death.

In the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an (219), Liu Bei proclaimed himself the King of Hanzhong and appointed Guan Yu as his former general. In July, Guan Yu ignored the threat from Soochow and led his army to attack Cao Ren in Fancheng. He also sent people deep into Cao Wei's occupied areas to instigate rebellion and disrupt the enemy's rear. Cao Cao sent General Jin to assist in the battle. Guan Yu used the Han River to flood Cao and Wei's seven armies and captured Jin alive. This shocked China. Cao Cao planned to move the capital to avoid Guan Yu's power.

At this time, Sima Yi, Jiang Ji and others tried to dissuade him, thinking that Sun Quan must not want to see Guan Yu succeed, so he could use Sun Quan's promise to grant Jiangnan to Sun Quan as a condition for him to send troops to attack Guan Yu from behind. At the same time, Cao Cao mobilized generals such as Xu Huang and Zhang Liao, as well as Pei Qian, the governor of Gunzhou, and Lu Gong, the governor of Yuzhou, to lead troops to rescue Fancheng, and even prepared to personally conquer Guan Yu.

After the Seventh Army was flooded, Cao Cao asked Sun Quan to attack Guan Yu. At first, Sun Quan did not agree immediately. Instead, he sent an envoy to Guan Yu to make peace and marry Guan Yu's daughter. Guan Yu was furious and insulted his envoy. Sun Quan heard this , became even more furious and sent Lu Meng to sneak attack Jingzhou.

Sun Quan ordered Lu Meng to be the commander-in-chief to attack Jingzhou secretly, and personally led the army as backup. Mi Fang (Liu Bei's brother-in-law) and public security guard Shi Ren surrendered without fighting because of their quarrel with Guan Yu. Lü Meng effortlessly captured each county in Jingzhou one after another without any effort.

Xu Huang, who rescued Fancheng, thought it would be difficult to compete with Guan Yu due to insufficient troops. However, Cao Cao later sent generals such as Xu Shang and Lu Jian, as well as 12 battalions of troops including Yin Shu and Zhu Gai to reinforce Xu Huang. , Xu Huang finally went to battle and defeated Guan Yu's army besieging Fancheng. At this time, Guan Yu learned of the changes in the rear and retreated south, but the navy still controlled the Han River.

Most of the family members of Guan Yu's army were in Jiangling (the seat of Nanjun). When they learned that Jiangling had fallen to Sun Quan, the soldiers gradually dispersed and retreated to Maicheng. In December, Guan Yu led dozens of cavalry to escape and broke through to Linju (now Nanzhang County, Xiangfan City, Hubei Province), which was only 12 miles away from Yizhou. He was ambushed by Ma Zhong, a general of Pan Zhang's tribe, and was captured, along with his adopted son. Guan Ping was killed in Linju at the beginning of 220 AD.

After Guan Yu defeated Maicheng, he knew that he was alone and out of power, so he retreated west to defend Maicheng. Sun Quan sent people to lure him to surrender, but he pretended to surrender, put banners and banners in human shapes on the city wall, and took the opportunity to escape. All the soldiers dispersed, and only a dozen cavalry followed him. Sun Quan had ordered Zhu Ran and Pan Zhang to cut off Guan Yu's way. In December, Pan Zhang's Sima Zhong captured Guan Yu and his son Guan Ping alive in Zhangzhou and beheaded them.

After Guan Yu accidentally lost Jingzhou, he was defeated in Maicheng. Liao Hua went to Shangyong to ask for help. Liu Feng and Meng Da disagreed. There was not enough food and grass in the back city, so Guan Yu had to risk a breakout, leaving Wang Fu and Zhou behind. Two people in Cang defended the city. As a result, he was ambushed on the road and Guan Yu was captured by Pan Zhang's subordinate Ma Zhong. Guan Ping went to rescue him and was also captured. When Sun Quan saw that the two men refused to surrender, he killed them. Guan Yu was 58 years old when he died. Later, fearing that Liu Bei would blame him, he sent Guan Yu's body to Cao Cao.

Sun Quan gave Guan Yu’s head to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao buried him in Luoyang with the courtesy of a prince. It is usually believed to be Guan Lin. However, some modern opinions believe that Guan Yu’s tomb in Guanzhuang Village is the place where Guan Yu’s head is buried. Guanlin is only a place of worship built during the Wanli period. At the same time, Sun Quan buried Guan Yu's body in Dangyang with vassal rites, namely Guan Ling, also known as Dangyang King's Tomb.

The Shu Han regime built a tomb for Guan Yu in Chengdu, which is the tomb of Guan Yu in Chengdu, to summon his soul and offer sacrifices. Later, the Guandi Temple was built in Jiezhou, Yuncheng, Shanxi, Guan Yu's hometown. It was the Guandi Temple in Jiezhou, and it was considered to be the place where Guan Yu's soul returned. Therefore, it is also said among the people that Guan Yu "put his head on Luoyang, his body lying on the sun, and his soul returned to his hometown."

To summarize Guan Yu's death, he died because of the word "arrogance". The arrogant will be defeated. He looked down on his repeated meritorious deeds. Huang Zhong, a veteran, claimed that he was "not in the same category as the veterans."

He looked down upon Sun Quan, Lord of Wu, and not only refused to accept Sun Quan's proposal for his son, but also insulted him. He even said, "How can my tiger girl be worthy of your dog?" He looked down on his colleagues Mi Fang and Shi Lin, and claimed that he wanted to settle accounts with them. He even looked down on the young general Lu Xun of Soochow, calling him "boy".

In Guan Yu’s eyes, he only had one elder brother, Liu Bei, and Tuduo had one sworn brother, Zhang Fei. Therefore, his field of vision was very narrow, and his belly was too small to accommodate people. In the end, he was separated from his relatives, exhausted, and had to surrender. When Guan Yu died, the Shu-Wu alliance between Sun Quan and Liu Bei collapsed. Not only did Zhang Fei and Liu Bei die, but the fall of Shu was irreversible. From this point of view, the chain reaction of Guan Yu's death caused a series of losses that were extremely Seriously.