‘Guan gong’ was an honorific title given to a historical figure named Guan Yu 关羽, who lived in the Three Kingdoms period (220-280 CE). His deification began as early as the Southern dynasties (317-589 CE). His cult reached a peak during the late Ming (1368-1644) and early Qing (1644-1911) dynasties largely due to the spread of the popular novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Although an influential god in his own right, he is included as a guardian general in the Buddhist and Daoist pantheon.
