Few are as famous in Chinese history as the mighty Guan Yu and even fewer have been “canonized” as a deity.  Guan Yu was a mighty and brave general during the Three Kingdoms Period in China, he was famous for not only his skills in war, but also for his knowledge in literature and his loyalty.  Since his death in 219 A.D. many temples, paintings, and sculptures have been created in his honor.  One of these sculptures can be found in the Ackland Art Museum on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  This piece, titled Guan Yu, was made in the 1490s during the Ming Dynasty in China; made of wood, lacquer and lacquer paste, polychrome and gold, leather and hair.  This sculpture depicts Guan Yu’s might and wisdom that made the Chinese people worships him as the God of War and a God that protects against criminals.

            In this sculpture of the God of War, he is wearing a scholar’s hat to symbolize his knowledge and wisdom.  He is said to be the only man to read a scripture from Confucius without being cross-eyed.  Literature was not the only place where Guan Yu displayed his intelligence; he also showed a great mind on the battle field in his crushing defeats of his enemies by outwitting and out-maneuvering his opponent.  Looking at the face in this sculpture, Guan Yu seems to have a malicious expression on his face.  It is an easy mistake to make for those who are not familiar with Chinese history, those that are familiar with the history of Guan Yu knows that he was a kind person.  The expression on Guan Yu’s face is not malicious at all; this expression is showing Guan Yu in deep thoughts.  In real life, Guan Yu is a man who tries to avoid confrontation as much as possible, but he will not shy away in a battle.  The expression on his face can also be interpreted as overpowering and fierce.  For his enemies, it is a powerful face that is to be fear and if you are unlucky enough to be in his path, death is not far around the corner.  For his allies, it is a face to be admired, for he was a mighty warrior who went out, killed the enemy general, and got back before his wine has cooled.  This story exemplifies the greatness of Guan Yu in the Chinese peoples’ eyes.

            Accompanying the expression on Guan Yu’s face is his facial hair.  In this sculpture, Guan Yu is wearing both a scholar’s and a warrior’s beard.   The mustache and the goatee is a representation of a scholar, it is worn by all scholars in ancient China.  The beard under his cheeks that runs from one ear to the other is a beard that is typically worn by warriors.  The warriors that bear this type of facial hair are usually of large stature and use heavy weapons.  Guan Yu’s profile fit these characteristics exactly; he had a huge frame and carried an equally large weapon.  His preferred weapon is a broad sword attached to a metal pole, that weigh in at 41 kilograms.  The beard is most important part of any Guan Yu painting or sculpture; it is the one characteristic that identifies him immediately.  This particular sculpture is different because Guan Yu’s beard is not as long as it is in other depictions of him, usually the beard goes all the way down to stomach, but in this sculpture it barely reaches the top of the chest.

            With the shorter beard, it is harder to tell that this is a sculpture of Guan Yu.  However, he can be identified another way.  In this sculpture, he is wearing an official’s robe over his armor, like many other Guan Yu sculptures.  The robe over the armor has a very important meaning.  The robe is to show that he is a high ranking general, as he was the highest ranking general of the Shu Kingdom and also the Shu’s emperor most trusted official..  The armor is inside the robe because, as mentioned earlier, Guan Yu is a man who tries to avoid confrontation.  It is very ironic to find a God of War who would rather avoid confrontations then engage in them.  The trouser and the boots that Guan Yu is wearing in this sculpture are nothing special.  The trouser is tied up above the top of the boots, but just below the knees.  They would be found on any soldier and in the same style that he is wearing. 

            Although many of the features found in this sculpture are similar to other many other Guan Yu artworks, this sculpture has qualities that are unique.  The posture that the artist gives Guan Yu in this sculpture is not found in any other piece, it is a confident, strong and unyielding stance.  This stance illustrates the one characteristic that made him a legend.  His strong values and unwillingness to break those values is one of the main reasons why Guan Yu was so loved in China.  Guan Yu, along with Zhang Hei, made a blood-brother oath with Liu Bei, they promised to fight for each other during this troubled time in China.  Liu Bei revolted against Cao Cao in order to form his own kingdom, Cao Cao attacked Liu Bei and Guan Yu and Liu Bei’s wives were captured.  Not knowing where his brother was, Guan Yu agreed to serve Cao Cao.  Guan Yu won many victories for Cao Cao and even though Cao Cao awarded him with precious gifts and even bestowed upon him a title of a high ranking general, he would not betray Liu Bei.  Upon hearing of Liu Bei whereabouts, he returned all of Cao Cao’s gifts and took Liu Bei’s wives to rendezvous with Liu Bei.  Guan Yu killed six of the generals that Cao Cao sent to recapture him.  He gave up riches and power because he was disinclined to betray his blood-brother.  Another testament to his unbreakable loyalty to Liu Bei is when he was captures by Shu Quan and had the option of joining Shu Quan or death.  Guan Yu along with his son chose death instead of betraying Liu Bei.  Just like his stance in this sculpture, Guan Yu’s loyalty to Liu Bei was strong and unyielding. 

            Another unique characteristic of the stance that Guan Yu takes in this sculpture is his left arm coming in front of his body.  It looks as if he was holding something in his hand that possibly was lost or broken away.  If he was holding anything in his hand, it would most likely would have been his weapon since that is all that he is seen holding in all of the artworks about him.  An important distinction to make here is that Guan Yu is seen holding his weapon on his right hand in all of the works that he is holding it.  So it could be said that is he not holding anything at all, but then why is his left hand in that position?  The left hand in that position could also indicate Guan Yu’s enormous strength.  During a battle, he was hit with a poison arrow on the left arm.  The surgeon urged him to get the poison out as soon as possible and so he gave his left arm to the surgeon to work on.  He refused any anesthesia for the procedure and through out the whole procedure he didn’t show any sign that he was in pain.  This shows the enormous strength that Guan Yu possesses in order to go through that whole ordeal with showing pain. 

            The distinct characteristics of this sculpture made it stand out from other artworks.  The shorter beard, the stance and the position of the left arm all attributed to uniqueness of the sculpture.  This sculpture, like many other artworks, depicts Guan Yu’s strength, intelligence, and loyalty.  His strength was unmatched on the battle field as he demolished his opponents, his intelligence in war and as an accomplished scholar, and his unbreakable loyalty to Liu Bei as threw away riches and power and chose death instead of betraying his brother.  His strength, intelligence, loyalty made him a legend and the God of War.  Today, he is worshipped not only as the God of War, but he is also the protector of law enforcement officers against criminals and his name is associated with loyalty.

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