Hometown of Lord Guan and Bronze Statues

By Hu Chunliang

Yuncheng of Shanxi Province was one of the top ten charming cities of China in 2006. What makes the city stands out is Lord Guan, a general of the Three Kingdoms (220-280).

The lord is Guan Yu (160-219) born in todays Yuncheng. He was a general of great prowess and incredible military deeds. But what makes him stand out from a lot of similar generals during the warring years is his personal loyalty, honesty, the spirit of brotherhood. In folklores and customs that have evolved around the hero over centuries, the general has become a lord and an immortal, and a symbol of the finest qualities the Chinese people admire and respect in a man. His life is a living legend in “The Romance of Three Kingdoms”, a classic novel written in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). He is more than romanticized. He is deified in the Chinese culture.

Now Yuncheng, where Guan Yu spent 19 years, knows how to promote the lord. What it has done constitutes something more than business. It is cultural development based on the lord. Of many things about the hometown hero, bronze statues of the lord are an eye-catching phenomenon. The bronze statues are in four major categories. The lord is featured in four typical postures: the general in quiet meditation; the general stands with his long-handled broadsword; the general on the horseback with his long-handled broadsword; and the general sits with his long-handled broadsword. All the statues are cast in advanced technology. The statues made in Yuncheng have 31 design patents.

In a square of Yuncheng stands a 21-meter-tall bronze statue of Lord Guan. It was erected in 1999 to usher in the new millennium. At present, a 78-meter-tall bronze statue of Lord Guan is about to be erected in the vicinity of Lord Guans ancestral tombs. The pedestal is 19 meter tall, indicating the 19 years the hero spent in his hometown. The bronze statue stands at 59 meters indicating his 59-year-long life. □