The four masterpieces, including Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, Water Margin, and Dream of the Red Chamber, are treasures of Chinese literature and are widely loved by readers.
Although the backgrounds of the four famous works are different, from the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the age gap is very large, but have you ever thought about whether it is possible to mention some of the same characters in these ** with different backgrounds?
For example, the Jade Emperor, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Erlang God, Nezha, King Yama and others, although their appearance may only be in a specific **, it is still possible to be mentioned.
However, there is only one character who is widely known and really appears in the four famous novels, and that is Guan Yu and Guan Yunchang. Let's take a look at his performance in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Guan Yu is a well-known character. As the top military general in the Three Kingdoms world, Guan Yu's heroic deeds are countless. Since his first appearance, he has won the admiration of the people of the world by virtue of a series of feats such as beheading Huaxiong with warm wine, fighting Lu Bu in three Ying, beheading Yan Liang and punishing Wenchou, passing five levels and beheading six generals, and flooding the Seventh Army to capture the forbidden Pang De.
Guan Yu's exploits are unmatched, and the number of famous generals killed is unparalleled. Moreover, Guan Yu became a god after his death. It is said that after Guan Yu was defeated and killed by Sun Quan, he once showed his saint and protected the people in Yuquan Mountain, and the villagers felt his virtue, so they built a temple on the top of the mountain and offered sacrifices at four o'clock.
It is precisely because of Guan Yu's godhead and his fame that he is widely depicted in various literary works.
In the Journey to the West, Guan Yu was not only mentioned, but even officially debuted. In the 47th episode, when the Tang monk and apprentice were staying overnight in Chenjiazhuang, they learned that the old man's younger brother had a son named Chen Guanbao, and he was chosen to sacrifice for the King of Inspiration.
In order to save people, Sun Wukong became this child. Interestingly, the name Chen Guanbao is none other than Yu Guan Yu. According to the old man, their family worshiped Guan Yu, so they got a son, so they were named Guan Bao.
It can be seen that the titles of Grandpa Guan Sheng, Guan Ye and other titles here are all honorific titles for Guan Yu.
In the world of "Journey to the West", Guan Yu not only appeared, but was also an ally of Sun Wukong. In the Guanyin Monastery, when Sun Wukong went to the Heavenly Palace, Guan Yu and the other three marshals Ma Zhao Wenguan all saluted him.
This also shows that Guan Yu may have also participated in the incident of havoc in the Heavenly Palace with Sun Wukong during the Western Han Dynasty. However, this also raises a question: Sun Wukong was pressed to the foot of the Five Elements Mountain during the reign of Wang Mang of the New Dynasty, while Guan Yu was a person from the late Eastern Han Dynasty.
Does this mean that Guan Yu is an immortal in his own right? Of course, this is just speculation, but it also adds to the mystery and charm of "Journey to the West".
In the Water Margin world, Guan Yu's figure is everywhere. Guan Sheng, the head of the Five Tigers of Liangshan, is the descendant of Guan Yu, and Xuanzan admires him very much, calling him "the descendant of the late Han Dynasty's three-point righteous and brave Wu'an Wang'an".
Song Jiang admired Guan Yu even more, and spoke highly of him as "a loyal minister of the world, and an ancestor is a god". Moreover, it is precisely because of Guan Sheng's special identity that he has become the top figure in Liangshan above the veteran Lin Chong.
In addition to Guan Sheng, Liangshan's bearded man Zhu Tong is also related to Guan Yu. When Zhu Tong first appeared, his image was described as "his face is like a heavy jujube, his eyes are like stars, and he looks like Guan Yun".
Therefore, he was respectfully called "the beautiful bearded man", and was praised as "the face is like a heavy jujube and the color is red, and the cloud is long and reborn". In fact, in the Water Margin world, the mention of Guan Yu is not limited to Guan Sheng and Zhu Tong.
Guan Yu's loyalty, bravery, and righteousness have been widely praised and revered among many heroes in Liangshan.
The first time I met Guan Yu was in the second time. At that time, Chen of Shaohua Mountain reached Shijiazhuang to seek revenge, but was defeated by Shi Jin, the nine-pattern dragon. Zhu Wu and Yang Chun knew that it would be difficult to defeat Shi Jin, but in order to save Chen Da, they still decided to go and ask for a meeting.
After seeing Shi Jin, the two knelt on the ground and wept, Zhu Wu said that the three of them were sworn brothers, although they were not as righteous as Guan Zhang Liu Bei, but they had the same intentions. Zhu Wu skillfully used the righteousness of Liu Guan and Zhang Taoyuan's three knots to impress Shi Jin.
Shi Jin was moved by their righteousness, and instead of handing them over to the government to receive rewards, Shi Jin released Chen Da and became good friends with them. It was this righteousness that gradually led Shi Jin to embark on the road of falling grass.
In the fourth episode, Guan Yu's Qinglong Yanyue Knife was mentioned, and the blacksmith said that this knife was only eighty-one catties, which was lighter than Guan Yu's knife. Later, Li Kui and Yan Qing went to Wazi to listen to a play that told the story of Guan Yu scraping bones and curing poison.
In addition, in the Water Margin world, there are many Three Kingdoms elements. Yang Xiong's nickname is "Sick Guan Suo" because of his resemblance to Guan Yu; Lin Chong corresponds to Zhang Fei and is known as "the mountains are full of little Zhang Fei", but he does not have Zhang Fei's character; Lü Fang's nickname was Little Wenhou, and he loved to learn Lü Bu's behavior.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin and Journey to the West, Guan Yu's story is widely known. Although there is no detailed description in Dream of Red Mansions, in the fifty-first chapter, Li Kun mentions the tomb of "Guan Fuzi".
This "Guan Fuzi" is Guan Yu, because he has the style of a countryman and is easy to read "Spring and Autumn", so he is respectfully called "Guan Fuzi". In addition, "Shanxi Guan Fuzi" was also a title during the Qing Dynasty.
Therefore, it can be speculated that the background of Dream of Red Mansions is the Qing Dynasty. In addition, there is also a mention of "Ma Zhao Wenzhou" in Dream of Red Mansions, which is different from "Ma Zhao Wenguan" in "Journey to the West".
It can be seen that among the four famous novels, there is a figure of Guan Yu. In addition to Guan Yu, which other characters may appear in these four masterpieces at the same time?
Among the various **s, the Jade Emperor is one of the most frequently appearing characters. He is seen in "Journey to the West" and "Water Margin", and is also mentioned in "Dream of Red Mansions".
The Jade Emperor in "Journey to the West" is an indispensable role, and Song Jiang mentioned him when he pretended to be crazy in "Water Margin", saying that he was the son-in-law of the Jade Emperor, and his father-in-law taught him to lead 100,000 heavenly soldiers to kill the people of Jiangzhou, and King Yama was the vanguard.
The Jade Emperor and Hades are also mentioned in Dream of Red Mansions, but the Jade Emperor and Hades are not mentioned in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Guanyin Bodhisattva: Journey to the West, Water Margin, and Dream of Red Mansions are all mentioned. Lu Zhishen mentioned the Guanyin Temple in the Water Margin, and Lin Chong's wife also described it as "Tankou is speechless, like Guanyin in the South China Sea".
In the Dream of Red Mansions, Grandma Liu mentioned that there was an old grandmother in their Zhuangzidong who ate fasting and recited Buddha every day, which moved Guanyin Bodhisattva to come to dream at night. However, in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Guanyin Bodhisattva is not mentioned.
Taishang Laojun: It appears in Journey to the West, there is also a description of "Heavenly Master Sends Laojun" in Water Margin, and there is also a saying in Dream of Red Mansions that "it is not Laojun's elixir".
However, there is no mention of Taishang Laojun in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, only Kong Rong said that "Confucius once greeted Lao Tzu in the past", but Lao Tzu cannot be equated with Taishang Laojun.
It turns out that Erlang God appeared in "Journey to the West" and cannot be ignored. Although "Dream of Red Mansions" only mentions "Erlang You Wuyue", it is enough to prove his existence.
And Peng Xi, the Tianmu general in "Water Margin", may have borrowed the image of Erlang God. As for "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", although there is no direct mention of Erlang God, Ji Ling used a three-pointed two-edged knife, which may be related to Erlang God.
In "Dream of Red Mansions", although the Water Margin characters are not directly related to Erlang God, it is still a little surprising that they appear in the same work as celebrities in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Someone once said that looking at the four famous novels, it seems that except for Guan Yu, the other characters have no sense of existence. But in fact, Guan Yu is definitely not the only celebrity mentioned in the four famous novels.
First, let's take a look at Zhang Liang. In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Xu Shu once recommended Zhuge Liang to Cao Cao, saying, "If you get this person, it is no different from Zhou De Lu Wang and Han De Zhang Liangye."
In "Journey to the West", the Dragon King also said to Sun Wukong, "This son is Zhang Liang of the Han Dynasty". In "Water Margin", Zhu Wu is even known as "Zhike Zhang Liangbi".
And in "Dream of Red Mansions", my sister-in-law even said, "I am a Han Xin Zhang Liang". Second, let's look at Confucius. In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Kong Rong is the twentieth grandson of Confucius.
In "Journey to the West", Sun Wukong also mentioned the sage Confucius. In "Water Margin", someone said that "the Central Plains is the hometown of Confucius". And in "Dream of Red Mansions", there are many words of Confucius.
In addition, Yao, Shun, Yu, King Wen of Zhou and others are mentioned in the four famous works. Xiang Yu and Liu Bang are also mentioned in the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, and Red Mansions, and are known as Han Gaozu and Chu Overlord respectively.
In "Journey to the West", there is a saying "born Lu Pei, each with unkindness", referring to Xiang Yu and Liu Bang. Even, Xi Shi also appears in the four famous novels.
It can be seen that there are not many celebrities mentioned in the four famous novels, far more than Guan Yu.