Skip to main content

Why Are There Guan Yu Mini Shrines Everywhere in Chinatown?

If you are in Chinatown and paying attention to restaurants, stores, and such, you may find many of them with mini shrines of Guan Yu similar to this:

A typical Guan Yu shrine you may find in Chinatown all over

Guan Yu was a real person that lives in the Three Kingdoms period of China, and due to his unerring sense of honor (and in the end, died for it), he became venerated for his various virtues, such as total honesty, martial prowess, brotherhood, and later, extended to other virtues such as justice, business integrity, and fortune. In fact, Guan Yu was so popular, that after his death in the 3rd century, he was eventually adopted by both Taoist and Buddhist as a minor deity. And there are temples worshipping his all over Asia, including Japan, Korea, and various places of Chinese Diaspora. 

In fact, in the Qing Dynasty (the final one), Guan Yu was raised to the status of "Saint of War" and equal to that of Confucius (who's "Saint of Culture")

Guan Yu is also known as Guan Gong, Guan Di, and various other spellings and pronunciations from different transliterations and different Chinese dialects. 

Guan Yu was regarding as a guardian of justice, esp. in Hong Kong, probably due to a historical incident, where he was once captured by his enemy Cao Cao, and Cao Cao, instead executing him, lavished him with gifts and tried to recruit him. Guan Yu agreed to defeat two armies for Cao Cao, and did just that, then returned to his own side. Cao Cao did not attempt to chase him down. Years later, when Cao Cao was defeated in battle elsewhere, Guan Yu had a chance to capture or kill Cao Cao for his side, but let Cao Cao pass through unharmed, at risk to his own life and reputation, showing that he is fair no matter what. You will find a shrine to Guan Yu in EVERY police station in Hong Kong (though worship is technically optional). 

Interestingly, the Triads and criminal elements of Hong Kong also worship Guan Yu, for Guan Yu was the 2nd of three god brothers: Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhuge Liang. And Guan Yu was faithful to his brothers to the end. And the brotherhood was very important to the Triads and such. 

Guan Yu's eventual defeat and death can be attributed to betrayal. He had to leave his main provinces in the hands of two subordinates he did not trust. His mistrust was later proven when they failed to defend his territory when his enemies invaded, taking control of the city and thus, essentially holding the families of his soldiers hostage, leading to most of his soldiers deserting. Eventually they were surrounded and captured, then executed, probably because he would never turn against his godbrothers and holds no value as a hostage. 

When Chinese immigrated to the US in the mid-19th century, Guan Yu worship came with them. One of the earliest Chinese temples built in the US, the Mendocino Joss House (in Mendocino, CA) back in 1852, was in fact a Guan Yu temple. 

Businessmen and merchants later adopted Guan Yu as a god of business as you want someone with the utmost integrity and honesty, and this later extended to wealth, making Guan Yu a deity of wealth as well. 

And that is why you often see Guan Yu shrines in Chinatown, both large ones, like this one, and smaller ones you often see in individual stores and businesses. 

Bonus trivia: There is ANOTHER Guan Yu Temple here in Chinatown on Stockton. It was said that Mrs. Harry S. Truman, on the day before the re-election in 1946, came to see the advice of Guan Yu, and she got a fortune from the temple, which was favorable. Truman won the election, and the fortune she got was still on display... at the 4th story of a building we will visit later (on your own time!)



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

About the author

Kasey is a professional tour guide and amateur historian who specialized in Chinatown History and Tours. You will often find him guiding groups sampling delicious food and learning interesting historical tidbits about Chinatown most weekends.

Popular posts from this blog

Dragon Gate and its Surprising History

You can't come to SF Chinatown and leave out Dragon Gate, aka the Chinatown Gate, at the corner of Bush and Grant. But do you know its history?  Chinatown Gate, aka Dragon Gate, San Francisco Dragon Gate (aka Chinatown Gate, aka Dragon's Gate) was designed by Clayton Lee and others in 1967 in response to a mayoral competition, and his was the winning entry. Originally two gates were proposed, but the other gate leading to Barbary Coast was dropped due to lack of funds, and cost overrun.  The gate itself was designed after a Chinese "pailou 牌樓" or "paifang 牌坊", which were the "gates" that marked separate fang 坊, or "ward" within a city. However, later it evolved into a purely decorative element. As with tradition, the gate faces South, and is composed of a large gate with two smaller side gates.  The gate has a lot of its materials donated by Taiwan (Republic of China) including artisanal tiles, roofing, and the two guardian lions. Despite...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chinatown Q&A: Things You Probably Never Thought to Ask

Here are some questions that are a bit too short to deserve their own posts, but are interesting information nonetheless.  Q: When did Chinatown become known as Chinatown?  A: According to PBS's "Chinatown Guide" , the first Chinese in the area settled either on the street next to Portsmouth Square, or in the immediate block around it. The area was first known as "Little Canton", and it wasn't until 1853 that the local press named the area "Chinatown".  Q: What books should I read if I want to know more about San Francisco Chinatown?  A: In no particular order: San Francisco's Chinatown by Judy Yung and the Chinese Historical Society of America , full of vintage photographs, this book documented the life in Chinatown never seen before.  The Children of Chinatown: Growing Up Chinese American in San Francisco, 1850-1920 by Wendy Rouse , discusses the seldomly touched subject: children in Chinatown, who really feel the prejudices against them and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chop Suey Still Available: New Woey Loy Goey Restaurant

Chop suey is reputed to have been invented in Chinatown. The story goes that in the 1850's, Chinatown is barely established, but word was already out that Chinese food is cheap and delicious. So, late at night, 2 miners fresh off the gold fields, wandered into this Chinese restaurant, even as the owner and cook is about to close up. Already half drunk, they want food, and they want it now! To avoid confrontation, the cook went into the kitchen, found whatever scraps of vegetables left, tossed them all into the wok, whipped up some sauce, added whatever scraps of meat he had, added an egg, and served it on a plate and gave it to the miners.  The miners loved it, to the surprise of the owner, as they wanted the name of the dish as they want to order it again when they come back.  The owner, flabbergasted, simply told them 雜碎 tzap-suey which literally means "mixed scraps". The miners heard that as "chop suey", and a legend was born.  Keep in mind this is a story, a...
Post a Comment
Read more