Zhou Cang

Zhou Cang

Zhou Cang, with the character Yuanfu, is a character in the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It is also recorded in Shanxi Tongzhi, but not in the Three Kingdoms. His image is a tall, black faced and bearded man from guanxi. He was originally born in the yellow scarf army. When Guan Yu searched for his brother for thousands of miles, he asked to follow him. Since then, he has been loyal to Guan Yu. After hearing that Guan Yu was defeated and killed, Zhou Cang also committed suicide. In the romance of the Three Kingdoms and various folktales since then, Zhou Cang appeared as a guard of Guan Yu. In Guandi temples all over the world, the two sides of Guan Yu's statues often worship the statues of Zhou Cang and Guan Ping (the son of Guan Yu).

Life of the characters

Zhou Cang, the character Yuanfu

Yuanfu

）Pinglu County, Shanxi Province, is a fictional character in the romance of the Three Kingdoms, which does not exist in real history. In the romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhou Cang was originally a general under the command of Zhang Bao, the general of the yellow scarf bandits. After Zhang Bao died, Zhou Cang and Pei yuanshao, who was also the yellow scarf army, led the troops to gather in the mountains. When Guan Yu rode alone for thousands of miles near woniu mountain, he met Pei yuanshao leading the crowd to rob the horse. Zhou Cang ordered Pei yuanshao to lead the crowd back to the mountain and follow Guan Yu alone. Since then, he has become a general around Guan Yu. In the battle between Guan Yu guarding Jingzhou and Cao Wei's famous general Yu Jin and pound, he captured pound alive in the water. Finally, Zhou Cang committed suicide after Guan Yu and his son were beheaded. "

In the traditional Chinese folk religious belief of Guan Yu, Zhou Cang was called "general Zhou", who was the bodyguard of Guan Sheng emperor.

Ming Shenzong Wanli 42 years, 1614 was named "Weiling Huiyong Gong".

(woniu mountain is woniu hill in today's western Pingluo)

Image of romance

The Ministry of Guangong, Guanxi people's family. He died in the 25th year of Jian'an (220 AD). Zhou Cang used to be Zhang Bao's department. After Zhang Bao died, Zhou Cang and Pei yuanshao, who was also the yellow scarf army, led the Department to gather in the mountains. When Guan Yu rode alone for thousands of miles, Zhou Cang planned to surrender to Guan Yu together with PEI yuanshao. After returning to the mountain stronghold, he found that Pei yuanshao had been killed because he wanted to rob Zhao Yun's horse, so only Zhou Cang became Guan Yu's personal guard and the general around him. In the 16th year of Jian'an (211 AD), when Liu Bei attacked Chengdu, Zhou Cang followed Guan Yu to guard Jingzhou. In the romance, when Guan Yu flooded the seventh army, Zhou Cang captured Li Yi general pound of Wei army alive. After Guan Yu was beheaded by Sun Quan, Zhou Cang burst into tears in Maicheng and killed himself by drawing his sword.

Religious records

General Zhou baogao

(1) General Zhou

The famous general of the Three Kingdoms, surnamed Zhou Mingcang, is the Minister of Guansheng emperor. His statue is made of iron beard, silver teeth, black face and vermilion lips. He is in charge of checking the good and evil, checking the world. He is upright, loyal and brave.

It is quoted from the three kingdoms that: "general Zhou Cang, a native of Pinglu, was the first minister of Zhang Bao. Later, he met Guan Gong in Woniushan, so he followed him. In the battle of Fancheng, he captured pound alive, and then defended Maicheng and died. It was also found in Shunde Fu Zhi that he died with Wang Fu. Li Ju's deeds can be distinguished.

According to the governor of Guandi, he led Jingzhou and made general Zhou guard the wheat city. Because Wu soldiers attacked Jingzhou, Guandi was defeated and died, so general Zhou committed suicide. In the first year of song Chongning (1102 AD), he was granted the title of general Weining, and in the 16th year of Yuan Zhizheng (1356 AD), he was granted the title of Duke Weixuan Zhongyong.

(2) Baogaowen

The rite of conversion from ambition to life. Support the heaven and observe the earth. Iron beard, silver teeth, black face and vermilion lips. He is loyal and strong. Check the good and evil, check the world. It's famous everywhere. Eliminate evil and save the world. Loyal officials and righteous people, help them to extend. A good son is angry with his son. Maintain the world religion and rectify human relations. Kill the demon to protect the Dharma, the road always exists. He is the most spiritual and the most divine. He is upright, loyal and courageous.

Folklore

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

It is said that before Guan Yu arrived at the ancient city by riding alone for thousands of miles, he received a senior general named Zhou Cang. He also said that he was from the west of guanxi (generally referring to the area west of Hangu pass or Tongguan pass), "he had the strength of a thousand jin on his two arms" and "he described it as very great.". He used to be a general under Zhang Bao of the Huangjin army. After Zhang Bao died, he gathered in the mountains. He admired Guan Yu's reputation for a long time, so he invested it in his account.

Folk image

According to the records, Zhou Cang was born in a poor family. He was bold and unrestrained, resolute, sincere and loyal to others. In his early years, he was forced by life and often went to Jiezhou to pick and sell illegal salt, so he developed a pair of iron feet, two Scud legs and a good martial arts. In 1841, Lu began to fight against the poor. He moved to the north and the South and kept fighting. Zhou Cang was originally the Ministry of Zhang Bao, the "Duke of the earth" of the yellow scarf army. After Zhang Bao died, Zhou Cang and Pei yuanshao, who was also the yellow scarf army, led the Ministry to gather in the mountains. Later, he led his troops to go to Guan Gong. From then on, Zhou Cang was loyal to Guan Gong and was determined to fight with him. He made many meritorious contributions. Later, he killed himself for Guan Gong. He was known as "the most loyal man in the world" and was named "the Marquis of Wulie" and "the loyal and brave man" after his posthumous title. It is said that today in Guangdong and other places, there are temples dedicated to Zhou Cang. The people in his hometown did not forget this sage, and recently renovated the temple for him to commemorate and preach to posterity.

Tomb of Guan Yu

In the romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is often mentioned that he followed Guan Yu in his activities. In traditional opera, he often carried a sword for Guan Yu, and he was Guan Yu's valet. His statue is indispensable in Guandi temples all over the world.

The romance of the three kingdoms also says that he died in Maicheng. There is a small Tomb of Zhou Cang near today's Maicheng site in Dangyang, Hubei Province. On the tombstone, it is engraved: "the tomb of Han Wulie Hou Zhou general taboo Cang". However, Zhoucang is a legendary figure, and the so-called "Zhoucang tomb" is also attached. Zhou Cang was first born in the Pinghua of the Three Kingdoms at the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, which was not recorded in the historical books before. Therefore, this person is not included in the novel. (Tian Xingjian's Guan Yu, a fierce general of the Three Kingdoms)

Sitting in the hall

In memory of Guan Yu, a hero of the Three Kingdoms period, people set up temples to worship him. There are Guan Ping and Zhou Cang. For the sake of local peace, Guan Gong took Zhou Cang out for inspection every day and ordered Guan Ping to take care of his affairs at home. One day, Zhou Cang said to Guan Ping, "every day I carry a big sword and lead a horse to follow your father on inspection. You enjoy the worship of your disciples at home every day. Tofu, spiced, how much did you eat? I feel very tired today. Can you give me a day off at home? " Guan Ping said, "why not?" Then he picked up his sword and went out with Guan Gong.

On that day, there was a local dyeing workshop to undertake a batch of dyeing and printing business. The time was very tight and a fine was imposed for exceeding the time limit. The boss was afraid that it would rain, so he prepared a load of "holy gifts" to go to Guangong temple to "make a wish" to ask emperor Guandi not to rain. Zhou Cang was overjoyed. He held the pig's head in his hands and chewed it. He would give the Holy Grail no matter what. After that, another farmer came with the holy gift. Because it has been sunny for a long time, the crops will dry up. Please give it to Ganlin. Zhou Cang would like to give the Holy Grail when he took the cup and drank it. After a while, another fruit farmer came to make a wish. The causal tree was in blossom, and he was afraid that the wind would blow down the branches and affect the yield. He asked Guan Gong for his protection. Zhou Cang laughed and took the fruit and bit it. He would also give it to the Holy Grail. At noon, another merchant who wanted to go on a long journey by sea prayed for the protection of the great sage of Guandi. He had a good journey and returned home as soon as possible. Zhou Cang laughed, tore a chicken leg and chewed it. He was willing to give it to the Holy Grail.

At noon, Guan Ping followed his father back to the temple with a sword. Zhou Cang went forward to meet him. Guan Ping asked, "did anyone come to make a wish this morning?" Zhou Cang patted his belly with both hands and said happily, "NAH! You see my belly is full and I'm drunk Guan Ping asked again, "who are those people?" Zhou Cang told Guan Ping all about the four people's wish in the morning. After hearing this, Guan Ping asked: "you have drunk people's food and drinks, and received people's gifts. As the saying goes," get people's money, and help people to eliminate disasters, how do you plan to deal with one who wants sunny weather, one who wants rain, one who wants no wind, and one who wants the wind? "

When Zhou Cang asked Guan Ping this question, he was elated and smiling. Suddenly, Zhou Cang turned into a melancholy man. He reached for his head and wandered with his hands behind him. He couldn't figure out a way. As a result, he went to Guan Ping and bowed his hands together to ask Guan Ping to solve his difficulties. Looking at Zhou Cang's embarrassed appearance, Guan Ping raised his pen and wrote four words: "the sun shines in the dyeing workshop during the day, the rain drenches the fertile fields at night, and the wind blows by the sea Don't go into the orchard. " Zhou Cang nodded and said: "Chengjiao! Teach! Next time I don't dare to be at home, I'll carry a knife and pull a horse. "

Historical allusions

Beat the ant

During the Three Kingdoms period, Guan Gong, the great general of Shu Han, once subdued a mountain bandit named Zhou Cang as his bodyguard. Zhou Cang's strength is boundless, but he is careless by nature and doesn't use his head very much. On this day, Guan Gong rode and Zhou Cang walked. They came to a tree to have a rest. Seeing a group of ants crawling under the tree, Guan Gong said to Zhou Cang, "Zhou Cang, you beat these ants to have a look." Zhou Cang stretched out his fist and smashed it hard. The ground was sunken, but the ant was OK. With another smash, his hand hurt so much that he screamed, but the ant was still as if nothing had happened. Zhou Cang's face turned red when he saw that the little ants could not be killed. Guan Gong said, "look at me." He stretched out his index finger and rubbed it gently. Several ants died. Zhou Cang was stunned, so Guan Gong said to him, "if you have great courage and strength, you should know how to use wisdom and strategy to do great things."

Enlightenment: if you rely on brute force and don't know how to use skills, the effect will be greatly reduced. For example, in baseball, you have the strength to hit a home run, but if you don't choose the ball carefully and don't know how to swing the bat in the right posture, you will often be defeated. If you want to do things well, you must make good use of your mind.

Historical records

Check the historical books such as the annals of the Three Kingdoms and the book of the later Han Dynasty, and the two quotations cited by Pei Songzhi for the annotation of the annals of the Three Kingdoms

Chinese PinYin : Zhou Cang