This is the entrance to Guanlin, the tomb of GuanYu, who was a general for the southwestern Shu Kingdom in the Three Kingdoms era (220-280 AD). You can tell what kind of person is buried in a given tomb complex by the syllable at the end of the place name. If it ends with "ling", it is an emperor's tomb. If it ends with "zhong" it is a king's tomb, and if it ends with "lin" it is a holy man's tomb. Thus, this area surrounding Guan Yu's tomb is named Guan - his family name, Lin - tomb of a holy man.
Once inside the gate, you encounter an avenue of stone lions Lions often guard gates and doors in China, though real lions never lived in China. This particular path is lined with 104 lions, 52 on each side, and each of them is unique. Anyone who has been reading our pages for awhile should be able to tell if this particular lion is male or female...
Right! It is a female, evidenced by the small lion cub under her foot.
Stone steles fill the areas behind each row of lions. There are over seventy of these steles, with inscriptions from the Ming Dynasty (1368- 1644) to the present. They extol GuanYu's virtues, such as righteousness, loyalty and heroism.
Lee showed his strength by lifting Guan Yu's weapon (it's a halberd, actually). In the words of the novel, Three Kingdoms, it was a "Green Dragon crescent moon blade, also called Frozen Glory", and weighed about 82 pounds. Guan Yu would have been a mighty warrior indeed to carry it into battle!
Guan Yu's tomb is at the very back of Guanlin. At the left of this photo is the paifang, or memorial arch. Next comes the octagonal pavilion. Inside this pavilion a five meter high stone stele rests on the back of a turtle, and is inscribed with commendations by various emperors. Finally, we come to the actual burial mound, surrounded by a stone wall.
Eight hundred ancient cypress trees make the grounds of Guanlin green and shady. Deanna is standing under a cypress that illustrates an important event in Guan Yu's life. Early in their careers, Guan Yu and two others - Liu Bei and Zhang Fei - became sworn brothers. They remained together for the rest of their lives, loyally fighting common foes. The story is told that they decided who would be leader of their brotherhood with a tree-climbing contest. All three began to climb, but soon Liu Bei became tired and sat on the ground under the tree. However, instead of admitting defeat, he told his brothers, "The strength of a tree comes from its roots, and that is where I am, so I should be leader." And so it was. Guan Yu became second brother and Zhang Fei third brother.
Lee shares a pedestal with another lion, this one made of bronze. Guan Yu's burial mound can be seen behind the lion, to the right. Since his sworn brother, Liu Bei ,was ruler of the Shu kingdom in the southwest, one might wonder how Guan Yu came to be buried in Luoyang, capital of the rival Wei kingdom. It is an interesting story. Guan Yu was actually defeated and killed by the Wu kingdom in the southeast, but that kingdom's ruler feared the vengeance of Guan Yu's two sworn brothers. He sent Guan Yu's head to the Wei kingdom, hoping they would gloat and display their prize, thereby shifting the revenge to that kingdom. However, the Wei saw through the ruse, and instead made a wooden body to go with the head, and buried Guan Yu with honors in their own capital.
Copyright 2005, Dr. Lee Williams
Last Modified: 5 October 2005
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