Guan Ping () (died January or February 220) was a military general serving under the warlord

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a China, Chinese warlord in the late Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty who later became the founding Emperor of China, emperor of Shu Han, one of the Three Kingdoms of ...

during the late

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

of China.

Life

Guan Ping was the eldest son of

Guan Yu Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...

. Little about him is documented in historical records except that he was captured along with his father west of Maicheng (麦城, southeast of present-day

Dangyang Dangyang () is a city in western Hubei province, People's Republic of China, lying east of the Gezhouba Dam on the Yangtze River. During the Western Han dynasty (206–24 BC). Emperor Jing of Han established an administration in Dangyang on an ...

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

) by the forces of

Sun Quan Sun Quan (; 182 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumous name, posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by hi ...

sometime between 23 January and 21 February 220. They were executed in Linju (臨沮; in present-day

Nanzhang County Nanzhang County () is a county of northwestern Hubei province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of Xiangyang City. Administrative divisions Ten towns: * Chengguan (), Wu'an Wu'an is a county-level city in the southwest ...

Xiangyang Xiangyang is the second-largest prefecture-level city by population in northwestern Hubei province, China. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River (Hanshui), Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city n ...

, Hubei) later.

In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''

Guan Ping appears in the 14th-century historical novel ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

'' by

Luo Guanzhong Luo Ben (c. 1330–1400, or c.1280–1360), better known by his courtesy name Guanzhong (Mandarin pronunciation: ), was a Chinese novelist who lived during the Ming dynasty. He is also known by his pseudonym Huhai Sanren (). Luo Guanzhon ...

. In the novel, he is portrayed as the adopted son of Guan Yu, rather than his biological son as he was historically. He is the second son of Guan Ding (關定), a farmer. His elder brother is Guan Ning (關寧). Guan Yu encounters Guan Ding and his family during his journey across five passes to find

. He is so impressed with Guan Ping at first sight that he accepts him as his foster son. During the Battle of Runan, Guan Ping, Guan Yu and

Zhou Cang Zhou Cang is a fictional character in the 14th-century Chinese historical novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''. Story A strong warrior with a dark face and a wiry beard, Zhou Cang gets caught up in the Yellow Turban Rebellion towards the end ...

lead 300 men to rescue Liu Bei, who is under attack by

Cao Cao Cao Cao (; ; ; 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde, was a Chinese statesman, warlord, and poet who rose to power during the end of the Han dynasty (), ultimately taking effective control of the Han central government. He laid the foundation f ...

's general

Zhang He Zhang He () (died July or August 231), courtesy name Junyi, was a military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He continued serving in the state of Cao Wei under its first two rulers, Cao Pi and ...

. Guan Ping participates in some of Liu Bei's subsequent military exploits, including the

Battle of Bowang The Battle of Bowang, also known as the Battle of Bowang Slope, was fought between the warlords Cao Cao and Liu Bei in 202 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Background Liu Bei originally sought refuge under the northern warlord Yuan Shao after ...

against Cao Cao's general

Xiahou Dun Xiahou Dun () (died 13 June 220), courtesy name Yuanrang, was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.''Sanguozhi'' vol.9. He served for a few months under Cao Cao ...

, and the Yi Province campaign against Liu Zhang. Later, he is relocated to

Jing Province Jingzhou or Jing Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China referenced in early Chinese texts such as the ''Yu Gong, Tribute of Yu'', ''Erya'', and ''Rites of Zhou''. Jingzhou became an administrative division during the reign of E ...

to join his foster father in defending Liu Bei's territories in Jing Province. In 219, Guan Ping follows Guan Yu to the

Battle of Fancheng The Battle of Fancheng or the Battle of Fan Castle was fought between the warlords Liu Bei and Cao Cao in 219 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. It is named after Fancheng in present-day Xiangyang, Hubei, a fortress that played a significant rol ...

and scores some initial victories over Cao Cao's forces, including flooding seven enemy armies. However, in the meantime,

(Liu Bei's ally) secretly breaks the alliance and sends his general

Lü Meng Lü Meng () (178 – January or February 220), courtesy name Ziming, was a Chinese military general and politician who served under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Early in his career, he fought in several ba ...

to attack and conquer Jing Province in a stealth invasion. Guan Yu is completely caught off guard and eventually isolated in Maicheng with a fraction of his remaining forces. While trying to break out of the siege, Guan Yu and Guan Ping are captured in an ambush by Sun Quan's forces. Sun Quan tries to persuade them to surrender, but they refuse so Sun has them executed.

In popular culture

Religion

Guan Ping sometimes appears as a

door god ''Menshen'', or door gods, are divine guardians of doors and gates in Chinese folk religions, used to protect against evil influences or to encourage the entrance of positive ones. They began as the divine pair Shenshu () and Yulü () under ...

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

and

Taoist temple A Daoist temple (), also called a () or (), is a place where the Dao is observed and cultivated. It is a place of worship in Taoism. Taoism is a religion that originated in China, with the belief in immortality, which urges people to become i ...

s in partnership with

. He also sometimes accompanies Guan Yu in his role as a

war god A war god in mythology associated with war, combat, or bloodshed. They occur commonly in polytheistic religions. Unlike most gods and goddesses in polytheistic religions, monotheistic deities have traditionally been portrayed in their mythologies ...

, sometimes in combination with

and

Liao Hua Liao Hua (d. 264), courtesy name Yuanjian, originally named Liao Chun, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Like Zhang Yi and Zong Yu, Liao was one of few officials wh ...

. Guan Ping's face is traditionally painted white, while Zhou Cang is black and Guan Yu red.

Video games

Guan Ping appears as a playable character in

Koei Koei Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978. The company is known for its historical simulation games based on the novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', as well as simulation games based o ...

's ''

Dynasty Warriors is a series of Japanese hack and slash action video games created by Omega Force and Koei (now Koei Tecmo). The series is a spin-off of Koei's turn-based strategy '' Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' series, based upon the Chinese novel of ...

'' and ''

Warriors Orochi is a hack and slash video game for PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox se ...

'' video game series. He was left out of '' Total War: Three Kingdoms'', though he does appear in certain mods for the game.

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' is a Chinese official history written by Chen Shou in the late 3rd century CE, covering the end of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE). It is regard ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Luo, Guanzhong (14th century). ''

'' (''Sanguo Yanyi''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Guan, Ping Year of birth unknown 3rd-century executions 220 deaths Guan Yu Generals under Liu Bei Executed Han dynasty people People executed by the Han dynasty by decapitation Chinese gods Deified Chinese men