Here's my personal souvenir from the last trip to Singapore: a figurine of a Chinese deity who I had been seeing in different versions everywhere, pretty much, but without recognising it as the same god, or his name, until this trip. As mentioned in a recent post, a guy in a Buddhist temple on the northern edge of Singapore took the time to explain to me the different statues and figures I was looking at, and one was indeed this guy, who does feature as a side character, so to speak, in many Chinese Buddhist temples. I'm pretty sure I have seen him in Japanese temples, too. He is also the red faced guardian deity who features in some Chinese homes (or businesses) on an altar facing the front entry, in order to ward off evil entities (or perhaps people?) from entering.
He's Guan Yu, or Guan Gong, and there is a pretty extensive Wikipedia page that explains his history. It's an interesting case of a real person being deified after death, in a process taking centuries and including the benefit of fan fiction in a popular novel.
He lived around 200BCE, and there are several aspects of his life and legend that are pretty fascinating:
* He didn't exactly dies in a glorious manner as one might expect - in the midst of battle by a lucky arrow, or anything. He was captured and executed. Didn't hurt his reputation, though.
* How did Buddhism claim him as their own? According to Wikipedia:
According to Buddhist legends, in 592, Guan Yu manifested himself one night before the Chan master Zhiyi, the founder of the Tiantai school of Buddhism, along with a retinue of spiritual beings. Zhiyi was then in deep meditation on Jade Spring Hill (玉泉山) when he was distracted by Guan Yu's presence. Guan Yu then requested the master to teach him about the dharma. After receiving Buddhist teachings from the master, Guan Yu took refuge in the triple gems and also requested the Five Precepts. Henceforth, it is said that Guan Yu made a vow to become a guardian of temples and the dharma. Legends also claim that Guan Yu assisted Zhiyi in the construction of the Yuquan Temple, which still stands today.
* Apparently, both the Hong Kong police, and the triads, honoured him - you really are an all purpose God when both sides of the law think you're on their side.
* There also features a period in which he was believed by some to be communicating directly through "spirit writing". Here's the Wiki explanation:
Guan Yu's messages were received by mediums through spirit writing, later called Fújī (planchette writing) (扶乩/扶箕), since the late 17th century. "By the mid-Qianlong period (1736–96) the number of 'sacred edicts' issued by Guandi ordering people to do good and help those in need became increasingly frequent." In the 19th century, Guandi's messages received through spirit writing assumed a millennialist character. Dates were announced for the end of the world, followed by messages indicating that Guandi had "prevented the apocalypse" and was indeed "the savior of endtimes." In 1866, the Ten Completions Society (Shíquánhùi 十全會) was established to propagate the messages of Guandi and promote the charitable work his spirit had ordered to perform. The tradition of Guandi spirit writing continued in Chinese folk Religion well into the 20th century.
I was aware of "planchette writing" as part of the Spiritualist movement in the West in the 19th century. What I didn't know was that it was a thing way earlier than that in China. There's a whole Wiki page on that topic, too!
This is all pretty fascinating, and feel it is something I should have known about earlier. All the more reason for me to travel to Asia, I think...
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