Quan Vu’s image made posterity laugh because he “wears a green hat”. Because, this is a way of saying in Chinese, meaning a person is “cuckolded” by a lover or partner. Therefore, in the way of dressing, they will limit wearing green hats, otherwise it will become a laughing stock for others.
Quan Vu’s image is green from head to toe, but it is not here that he is “cuckold”, behind it contains many layers of profound meaning.
1. During the Three Kingdoms period, “wearing a green hat” did not have the same meaning as it does today
The meaning of “cuckold” in the Chinese saying “wear a green hat” has nothing to do with Guan Yu.
In history, there is no detailed record of Quan Vu’s wife, Tran Tho only recorded one story in The Tale of the Three Kingdoms Guan Yu, when My Phuong stationed in Giang Lang surrendered to Ton Quyen, Quan Vu’s wife coincidentally was also in Giang Lang, the result was “Right has taken over Giang Lang, taking full advantage of the martial artist’s wife”. It means that Sun Quan captured Quan Vu’s wife.
But what happened after that? History does not speak, history does not record. But even if Ton Quyen really did animal things, he couldn’t think that Quan Vu was “cuckold”. Since the “green hat” is related to adultery and deception, this situation is purely Sun Quan’s coercion.
In addition, the official history also does not have a description of Quan Vu’s costume. In Records of the Three Kingdoms Only mentioning Quan Vu’s appearance that he has a very long and beautiful beard, Zhuge Liang even calls him straight by “Nem” (beard).
In Records of the Three Kingdoms Indeed, it is written: When Guan Gong (Quan Vu) was locked up in Cao’s camp, Cao Cao saw Guan Gong wearing a green war robe torn by countless knife marks, mottled dirt, and extremely old, so he assigned the guard. gave Guan Gong a new suit. After that, his subordinates brought a red-pink battle robe and invited Guan Gong instead, but Guan Gong wore a red robe inside, wearing a green robe outside, showing his rejection of Cao Cao’s invitation. with Liu Bei. Cao Cao was not happy, but then he had to laugh and say that the General was not ashamed of the world, the first sage!
Towards the end of the Yuan and the beginning of the Ming dynasties, when Luo Guanzhong composed China’s Three KingdomsQuan Vu’s image is even richer: “The body is nine meters tall, the beard is two meters long. The face is red like an apple, the lips are like lipstick; phoenix eyes, silkworm eyebrows, majestic appearance.”
Song also did not mention that Quan Vu wore a green hat, only said that he was wearing a green war robe.
2. Green is the color to be despised
The Chinese have a tradition of disdain for the color green. In Signing Ceremony – Ngoc Tao For the record, the staff wears a costume, the upper part is in noble colors such as red, yellow, white, black… the lower part (including the skirt) uses normal colors such as purple, green…
During the reign of Emperor Wu, Dong Trong Thu proposed “Abolish the Hundred Family and Monolithic Confucianism”, the high-color regime began to have a strong influence. Since then, the color green has taken on a lower and lower position, with only subordinates wearing this color.
Theo China’s Three KingdomsQuan Vu is a Giai Luong in Ha Dong, selling apples everywhere. From this description, it can be seen that Quan Vu comes from an inferior background, so it is reasonable to wear green clothes.
From the North and South dynasties to the Song dynasties, the green color in mandarin uniforms had a very low status. There is even a story that the district ordered a minor offender to be punished by wearing a green scarf for a specified number of days for insults.
In the Yuan Dynasty, the “Originary Chapter” stipulates: “Parents and relatives of prostitutes must wear green headscarves.”
This policy was even worse in the Ming Dynasty. Chu Nguyen Chuong also stipulates: People wearing green scarves can only walk, not ride horses.
3. Confusion regarding the brothel
Back to the novel, Guan Yu in China’s Three Kingdoms just a general, but not the most outstanding. Although there are many achievements, but in the way of saying: “Nhat Lu Nhi Trieu Tam Dien Vi, Four Quan Five Ma Luc Truong Phi”, Quan Vu is only 4th.
In terms of intelligence, Quan Vu is also mediocre, as evidenced by his negligence and loss of Kinh Chau. But the reason why Quan Nhi Gia is worshiped and ordained by descendants through generations, the status can be compared with Khong Minh Zhuge Liang, the main reason is in the two words “loyalty”.
Guan Yu for thousands of miles alone riding a horse to protect his sister-in-law, looking for brothers, releasing Cao Cao at Hoa Dung Dao to report great favors, are all actions derived from the “meaning” in the Confucian thought “Humanity and courtesy” faith”.
In Chinese folklore, many people who practice martial arts and worship Guan Gong are not worshiping his bravery, but their heroic spirit. Quan Cong statue is associated with the image of a horse-riding general holding a knife, long beard, sharp eyebrows.
There are many explanations surrounding Quan Vu’s image of wearing a green hat. The most prominent of which is the story related to Prime Minister Guan Zhong in the country of Qi. He is a model of the position of prime minister in Chinese history because of his ideology of reforming the country and focusing on commerce.
Besides, Quan Trong is the Patriarch of the singing profession in the technocracy. He helped the main road singer become a profession under the management of the court, began to collect taxes.
Over time, the statue of Quan Trong was displayed in the brothel and worshiped as the ancestor of the profession, plus wearing a green hat so that the courtesans could clearly remember how they were despised by society.
Coincidentally, the statue of Quan Trong is also shaped like a horse with a sword and a long beard. So the guests assumed that the brothel also worshiped Quan Cong. From there, the image of Quan Vu wearing a green hat and costume was born.
Source: Sohu