Guan Zhangxun
01 · Lineage & Regional School
His father, Guan Chengxi, was the tenth holder of the title of Wujing Boshi (Erudite of the Five Classics) at the Guanling Tomb of Guan Yu in Dangyang. Within the regional tradition and school record of Temple Fair in Dangyang, Hubei: The local character of the Guanling Temple Fair was shaped jointly by belief in Guan Yu in the Jingchu region and by Three Gorges transport. Dangyang is the place where Guan Yu met his end; people from the surrounding Yichang, Jingzhou and Xiangyang, and even from eastern Sichuan and northern Hunan, mostly come by river and overland routes, and the Guan-themed drama "Dangyang Sha Gushi" (The Dangyang Killing) serves as a fulcrum for transmitting the local repertoire, bringing narrative, vocal styles and physical gestures into the fair together. The composition of the believers itself crosses administrative boundaries: descendants of Guan Yu and traveling merchants from surrounding counties and cities, other provinces and even overseas flock here at the time, and the Guan Zhangxun line, descendants in the direct line of Guan Yu's sixty-second-generation eldest grandson, presides over the sacrifices, giving the ceremony a clan significance that ordinary village sacrifices lack. The fair market spreads along Guanling Avenue, with paper offerings, firecrackers and local products all on sale, connecting the religious sacrifice to everyday trade. The historical starting point of the Dangyang Guanling Temple Fair lies in what followed Guan Yu's death. Dangyang, also called Maicheng, is the place where Guan Yu was killed and buried in the Three Kingdoms period; with the grave present, sacrifice had a fixed point of reference. The record "the local people sacrifice at the tomb as a yearly custom" in the Jiaqing-era Jingmen Zhili Zhou Zhi: Dangyang Tombs shows that the earliest sacrifices were initiated spontaneously by the villagers, with no official pomp and no set ritual procedure, each family simply laying out a few offerings before the tomb according to its own devotion. By the pattern recorded in volume 25 of the Yongzheng-era Huguang Tongzhi of the Qing dynasty, the Emperor Guan Temple had established a shrine at the site of the tomb, with officials offering sacrifice at the proper seasons; popular tomb sacrifice was thereby incorporated into the sequence of official sacrifices, and the object, timing and administration of the sacrifice all became clear. This shift was crucial: it raised the sacrifice at Guanling from a village custom to a fixed item of local government affairs, and only then could the temple fair gather people on a larger scale. The Guanling Temple Fair was revived in 1991 and has been held every year since; the ritual procedure of the grand sacrifice was arranged by senior artistes according to the old rules, and the fair has again become the most concentrated folk occasion of the year in Dangyang city.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Male, of the Han ethnic group, born in January 1941 in Dangyang City, Hubei Province. He is a direct descendant of Guan Yu in the sixty-second generation. From childhood he accompanied his father to the Guanling Temple Fair and took part in sacrifices to the ancestral figure Lord Guan. Through constant exposure he formed deep impressions of the scenes at the fair. He is thoroughly familiar with the rules and procedures of the Guanling Temple Fair, and has a particularly comprehensive command of the etiquette observed in its sacrificial rites. Since the restoration of the Guanling Temple Fair in 1991 he has presided each year over the grand ceremony of sacrifice to Guan Yu. The rites include the chief sacrificiant's three kneelings and nine prostrations and the offering of the first, second and third libations in the tailao ritual of complete livestock; the officiating sacrificer reads the sacrificial text, praising Guan Yu's virtues and extolling loyalty, righteousness and benevolence. While presiding, he has also collated and recorded the ritual procedures of the Guanling Temple Fair, and through word and example has passed them on to more than twenty disciples. Within the documented technical tradition of Temple Fair in Dangyang, Hubei: The Dangyang Guanling Temple Fair is a traditional folk-custom cultural space held regularly at Guanling Temple in Dangyang City, Hubei Province, with the worship of Guan Yu as its main content. Dangyang, also called Maicheng, is the place where Guan Yu, the general of Shu in the Three Kingdoms period, was killed and buried. In sacrifice to Guan Yu, "the local people sacrifice at the tomb, taking it as a yearly custom" (Jiaqing-era Jingmen Zhili Zhou Zhi: Dangyang Tombs). Volume 25 of the Yongzheng-era Huguang Tongzhi of the Qing dynasty records that the Emperor Guan Temple "established a shrine at the site of the tomb, with the officials offering sacrifice at the proper seasons." The fair is held in spring or autumn each year. The main activities include sacrifices to Lord Guan, performance of the Guan-themed drama "Dangyang Sha Gushi" (The Dangyang Killing), folk entertainment, vow-making and vow-repaying, and the fair market. Large numbers of believers from surrounding counties and cities, other provinces and overseas flock here at the time, reflecting the positive role of this folk activity in strengthening the cultural identity of community members. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The three kneeling and nine prostrations": The chief worshipper kneels three times and prostrates nine, then offers the grand sacrifice in three stages, the most solemn part of the rite. "The three grand offerings": The three graded offerings follow the ancient sacrificial rules with attendants chanting praise, an order that may not be reversed. "The chief celebrant reading the text": The chief celebrant reads the sacrificial text aloud, restating Guan Yu's loyalty and righteousness in the temple hall. "The story opera of Guan Yu's death at Maicheng": The festival's opera tells of Guan Yu's fall at Maicheng in local vocal style, a living record of belief meeting regional theatre.
The three kneeling and nine prostrations
The chief worshipper kneels three times and prostrates nine, then offers the grand sacrifice in three stages, the most solemn part of the rite.
The three grand offerings
The three graded offerings follow the ancient sacrificial rules with attendants chanting praise, an order that may not be reversed.
The chief celebrant reading the text
The chief celebrant reads the sacrificial text aloud, restating Guan Yu's loyalty and righteousness in the temple hall.
The story opera of Guan Yu's death at Maicheng
The festival's opera tells of Guan Yu's fall at Maicheng in local vocal style, a living record of belief meeting regional theatre.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
He is a national representative bearer of Temple Fair (Dangyang Guanling Temple Fair), a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
The historical starting point of the Dangyang Guanling Temple Fair lies in what followed Guan Yu's death. Dangyang, also called Maicheng, is the place where Guan Yu was killed and buried in the Three Kingdoms period; with the grave present, sacrifice had a fixed point of reference. The record "the local people sacrifice at the tomb as a yearly custom" in the Jiaqing-era Jingmen Zhili Zhou Zhi: Dangyang Tombs shows that the earliest sacrifices were initiated spontaneously by the villagers, with no official pomp and no set ritual procedure, each family simply laying out a few offerings before the tomb according to its own devotion. By the pattern recorded in volume 25 of the Yongzheng-era Huguang Tongzhi of the Qing dynasty, the Emperor Guan Temple had established a shrine at the site of the tomb, with officials offering sacrifice at the proper seasons; popular tomb sacrifice was thereby incorporated into the sequence of official sacrifices, and the object, timing and administration of the sacrifice all became clear. This shift was crucial: it raised the sacrifice at Guanling from a village custom to a fixed item of local government affairs, and only then could the temple fair gather people on a larger scale.
05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage
National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hu Wenxiang | Jinyun, Zhejiang | 04-1974 | Other regional school |
| Guan Zhangxun | Dangyang, Hubei | 04-1975 | This page |
| Cheng Zhongxin | Yongkang, Zhejiang | 05-3018 | Other regional school |
| Wang Defeng | Mentougou, Beijing | — | Other regional school |
| Luo Binggen | Dongguan, Guangdong | — | Other regional school |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。