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- KUAN
TI was born in 162 A.D. during the period of the warring
states of the Three Kingdoms. Born as Kuan Yu he led a simple life
and made his living by selling bean curds. He also devoted much of
his time to serious study and on one occasion displayed his talent
by reciting the entire volume of the classic word for word after
only reading it once.
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- Kuan Yu was a righteous man
who loved justice and was more than eight feet tall. His love for
fair-play put him into trouble when he slayed the licentious and
corrupt magistrate who forced a poor girl to be his concubine. This
made him into a criminal and had to flee for his life into the
mountain. He came upon a stream while crossing to the neighbouring
province and stopped for a wash. Immediately after that he noticed a
transformation to his appearance. His facial complexion had changed
from white to reddish tint which saved him from easy passage through
the sentries who were guarding the mountain pass.
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- Upon reaching Chu-Chou of
the Szechuan Province he befriended two men who shared his noble
ideals and virtues that they ended up as ‘sworn blood brothers’
which had been recorded in history as the ‘Brotherhood at the
Peach Orchard’. Chang Fei, a butcher, became the youngest brother
and was a man of fiery temper. He had a black face which was full of
whiskers and was seven feet tall. His great respect and loyalty to
Kuan Yu won him a place of honour and was always seen standing
behind Kuan Yu in all depictions. Liu Pei, the elder brother came
from a distinguish family with imperial linkage, was known to be a
man of honour.
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- Together the three sworn
blood brothers set out and became involved in military and served
under the crafty and famous Ts’ao Ts’ao. They displayed great
military might and prowess and fought many battles recorded in the
novel of "The Romance of the Three Kingdom". Kuan Yu
proved himself to be worthy of honour because of his nobility,
uprightness, integrity, loyalty, bravery and generosity and never
known to turn aside from danger. He also proved his fidelity by not
taking advantage of ladies and preserved his reputation and
trustworthiness.
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- He lived at a time of great
distress and chaos of the Han Dynasty, set up in 202 B.C; began to
decline and uprising, warring, dissatisfactions and rebellions were
rampant. In the year 219 A.D. he was captured by Sun Chuan and put
to death. The honour and tributes that the succeeding emperors of
the various dynasties conferred upon him marked him as the greatest
military hero ever lived. Kuan Yu earned the rank of ‘TI’
meaning ‘God’ or ‘Emperor’
and since then became KUAN TI.
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- In the
temple of Tao, God conferred him the title of First Heavenly
Discipline Teacher of Tao, in charge of disciplining Tao devotees to
attain great discipline. Lao Mu said, "Man should have the
character of ‘Kuan Ti’ and lady the character of ‘Kuan Yin’,
the Goddess of Mercy.
