Walking through the streets of Taiwan or Hong Kong, you often see a red-faced god with a long beard enshrined inside shops plus offices. This is Guandi, the general Guan Yu from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
A general who became a god of business
Guan Yu is a general known from the story of the Three Kingdoms. Handed down as a man of deep loyalty, he was later enshrined as a god in Taoism, and came to be called Guansheng Dijun, or Guandi.
Broadly, Guan Yu watches over two things: loyalty, plus wealth. He was also versed in handling money, and there is even a legend that he invented bookkeeping. From there, he came to be widely worshipped as a god of wealth who brings prosperity to business.
Merchants pray to Guandi for thriving business plus honest management. Students pray to pass their exams. In Taiwan, he is a rare god respected by Confucianism, Buddhism plus Taoism alike.
Yokohama has a Guandi temple too
Belief in Guan Yu spread with emigrants to Taiwan, Hong Kong plus Southeast Asia. In Japan, the Kanteibyo in Yokohama Chinatown is well known. It began in 1862, when one Chinese man, holding a wooden statue of Guan Yu, opened a small shrine. It is the oldest Guandi temple in the country.
A way of living becomes a sign
What I find fascinating about Guan Yu is that the way of living of a real general has itself taken the form of a god. The image of a man deeply loyal plus honest with money has been handed down for hundreds of years.
I am growing my own art work little by little. The idea that there is a god who protects honest business is an encouragement to me now.
I think of Mermaid nao's order art, too, as work that leaves your way of living plus your stance in one painting, as a sign you can see.
[References]
Yokohama City official tourism site (Japanese): Yokohama Kanteibyo
Wikipedia (Japanese): Kanteibyo
Gods of Taiwan (Japanese): Guansheng Dijun
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