Guan Suo is a fictional character of the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

period of China. He is often depicted as the third son of the general

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 ...

. He is not mentioned in historical records, and appears only in folk tales and in the 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 ...

''. He was said to have served in the state of

Shu Han Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu (; pinyin: ''shŭ'' <

'', Guan Suo was described as a capable warrior, and was involved in

Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign, also known as the War of Pacification in Nanzhong, was a military campaign which took place in 225 during the early Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of China. It was led by Zhuge Liang, the Chancellor (China), ...

against the

Nanman The Man, commonly known as the Nanman or Southern Man (, ''lit. Southern Barbarians''), were ancient indigenous peoples who lived in inland South and Southwest China, mainly around the Yangtze River valley. In ancient Chinese sources, the term ...

. Guan Suo was very popular among the girls because of his handsome appearance. In a

Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...

play, ''Guan Suo Play'' (關索戲), he was described as a man "seven

chi Chi or CHI may refer to: Greek *Chi (letter), the Greek letter (uppercase Χ, lowercase χ); Chinese *Chi (length), ''Chi'' (length) (尺), a traditional unit of length, about ⅓ meter *Chi (mythology) (螭), a dragon *Chi (surname) (池, pin ...

tall, with a face like a peach blossom" (身長七尺，面似桃花). In some stories, he has many wives. The first is called

Bao Sanniang Bao Sanniang is a possibly fictional character of the Three Kingdoms period of China. She appears primarily in Chinese opera and plays, and is usually portrayed as a brave woman warrior and as the wife of Guan Suo, a possibly fictitious son of ...

, followed by Wang Linggong's (王令公) two daughters Wang Yue (王悦) and Wang Tao (王桃), and the fourth one is Huaman (花鬘), a fictional daughter of

Meng Huo Meng Huo was a local leader in the Nanzhong region in the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was popularly depicted as a local leader representing the gentries of the Nanzhong region, but some historians doubt his h ...

. In folk tales, Guan Suo has another name – "Hua Guan Suo" (花關索), which literally means "Flower Guan Suo". It is said that Guan Suo used this name before he met his father Guan Yu. "Hua" was the family name of his martial arts master Hua Yue (花月/花岳) in Banshidong (班石洞), Mount Qiuqu (丘衢山). Sources such as ''Genealogy of the Guan Family'' (關氏家譜), ''Guang Yi Si Dian'' (廣義祀典) and ''

Kaozheng Kaozheng (; "search for evidence"), alternatively called ''kaoju xue'' (; "evidential scholarship") and Qian–Jia School (), was a school and approach to study and research in the Qing dynasty of China from about 1600 to 1850. It was most prominent ...

on the Holy Emperor's Genealogy'' (聖帝世系考證) claim that Guan Suo's

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

was Weizhi (維之).

In popular culture

Yang Xiong, a fictional character in the classical novel ''

Water Margin ''Water Margin'' (''Shuihu zhuan'') is one of the earliest Chinese novels written in vernacular Mandarin, and is attributed to Shi Nai'an. It is also translated as ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' and ''All Men Are Brothers''. The story, which is s ...

'', was nicknamed "Sick Guan Suo" because he resembles Guan in appearance, but has a lighter skin tone. Guan Suo is featured as a playable character in the seventh instalment of

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

's ''

Dynasty Warriors is a series of Japanese hack and slash action video games created by Omega Force and Koei (now is 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 ...

'' video game series.

References

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

'' (''Sanguo Yanyi''), Chapter 87. {{DEFAULTSORT:Guan, Suo Fictional people of the Three Kingdoms Guan Yu

In popular culture

See also

References