Guan Gong, patron saint

 

Guan Gong, patron saint

 

Agudengba smiled and said to the carriage driver A Zhuo: In Chinese Spring Festival folk customs, there is the custom of worshiping the God of Wealth. The God of Wealth is divided into Wen Wealth God and Wu Wealth God. In Taoist culture, people who believe in literature worship the God of Wealth and Wealth, and people who believe in martial arts worship the God of Wealth and Wealth. Tao Zhugong, who has a good way of making money, is a literary god of wealth, while Guan Gong, who is well-known in China, is a top military god of wealth.

Agudengba told the coachman Azhuo:

In his previous life, Guan Gong was known as the "Old Dragon who relieved Liang". During the period of Emperor Heng of the Han Dynasty, Hedong suffered from severe drought for many years. The old dragon took pity on the people and raised the clouds and mist that night to divert the water from the Yellow River. When the Jade Emperor saw that the old dragon had disobeyed his destiny and took away the sealed water without authorization, he ordered Tiancao to kill the old dragon with a divine sword and throw his head to the ground. A monk named Pujing in Jie County discovered this dragon head by the stream. He placed the faucet in a jar in the center of the room and chanted sutras and mantras for nine days. Monk Pujing heard a sound in the tank and looked up, but there was nothing. To the east of the stream, there is a treasure pond in Jieliangping Village. Guan Yi's family gave birth to a son, named "Shou". When "Shou" became a disciple when he was young, he was named "Changsheng". Later, he took the nickname "Yu" and the courtesy name "Yun Chang".

Guan Gong was an upright man. He killed local bullies and then traveled around the world. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he, Liu Bei, and Zhang Fei became "sworn brothers" in Taoyuan. They vowed to live and die together, fight side by side, and strive for world hegemony. Later, Cao Cao sent troops to attack Liu Bei, and Liu Bei defected to Yuan Shao. Cao Cao captured Guan Gong and regarded him as a loyal minister and worshiped him as a partial general. Cao Cao realized that Guan Gong had no intention of staying for a long time, so he bribed him with a large amount of gold, silver, jewelry, dignitaries, and beautiful women, but Guan Gong remained unmoved.

When Guan Gong learned that Liu Bei was at Yuan Shao's place, he immediately made a golden seal and traveled through five passes to kill six generals to find Liu Bei. Liu Bei established himself as the Queen of Hanzhong and named Guan Gong the leader of the Five Tiger Generals.

Cao Cao was furious when he learned about this and planned with Sima Yi to unite with Sun Quan to capture Jingzhou. Liu Bei worshiped Guan Gong as "former general" and ordered him to capture Fancheng. Guan Gong divided his troops to capture Fancheng from Jingzhou. Unfortunately, he fell into Lu Meng's scheme and lost Jingzhou. He marched to Maicheng at night, was defeated and captured, and died unyieldingly.

Agudemba continued:

After Guan Gong died, his ghost remained until he shouted over Yuquan Mountain in Dangyang County, Jingzhou: "Give me your head!"

After hearing this, the old monk Pu Jing on the mountain said to Guan Gong: "The past and the present are different from the past, and we don't need to discuss anything... Now that the general has been killed by Lu Meng, you shout: Give me my head." "But Yan Liang, Wen Chou, etc. You have killed everyone, who should you ask for their heads from?" Guan Gong suddenly realized this and converted to Buddhism.

Guan Gong was loyal, brave and determined throughout his life, and was deeply believed in Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Guan Gong was extremely prominent and had the titles of "King of Martial Arts" and "Sage of Martial Arts". Therefore, Guan Gong was regarded by the world as having "omnipotent" magical powers such as Si Ming Lu, which could conduct examinations for imperial examinations, cure diseases and disasters, and exorcise evil spirits. Folks and people from all walks of life worshiped the "Almighty God" Guandi. The reason why people regard Guan Gong as the God of Wealth is probably because Guan Gong is not moved by gold and silver treasures. This is in sharp contrast to some people in the world who are greedy for profit and have no righteousness. People all over the world, especially businessmen, admire Guan Gong for his loyalty and trustworthiness, and hope that Guan Gong will become their patron saint of making money. In addition, people also hope that businessmen will abide by integrity in transactions and regard Guan Gong as a righteous man to maintain the traditional moral order.

Agudengba smiled again and said:

When worshiping Guan Gong, the God of Wu and Wealth, one usually offers incense first and then makes a wish. The first thing to do when worshiping is to offer incense to Guan Gong, the God of Wealth. This not only shows respect, but also uses incense to convey messages and pray for blessings from God, because incense is a communication tool between humans and gods. By burning incense, the curls of incense can make oneself The prayer message is conveyed to the gods, thereby praying for the gods' blessing; therefore, the Taoist scriptures say that "Three pillars of true incense communication method, the gods of the three realms will bring blessings." But now many "fragrances and incense" have been developed, and smokeless incense can bring blessings to the gods. Is the message conveyed to the gods?

Agudengba sang a song "Sacrifice to Guan Gong":

 

The peach garden is full of friendship and the sky is thin, the moon is dying and the green dragon's blade is cold.

Wearing the golden armor of a hundred battles, the brocade robe reflects the green sun in the wind.

His arrogance dominates the clouds and swallows up the mountains and rivers, and his majesty is like a god subduing the seven armies.

Hua Rongyi explained Cao Aman, which shows the man's true temperament.

Riding Juechen for thousands of miles, looking for his brother and killing six generals in five passes.

However, he acted foolishly and bravely, and was captured by Jiangdong Shuzi.

He was defeated and left Maicheng, never to return, and the Heroic Soul Temple turned into blue smoke.

Merchants worship the God of Wealth and pray for blessings from Guan Gong.

The people made a wish to Master Guan, but they only wanted peace in the world.

The lingering fragrance of tears and candles comforts the heroic souls. I remember sighing at the long clouds from afar.

I only have one thought: Who can save the people from suffering?