Chinese Warrior
online source: Oriental Outpost
The Warrior, the River, and a Near Disaster
“I,” Guan Yu said, standing up and taking his weapon in hand, “will tell you the story of a hero.” Guan Yu positioned his weapon by his side, drew in a deep breath, and began. “Many ages past, there was a warrior named Han Xin. When he was a boy, he showed great wisdom…”
“Wait,” Wen Chang interrupted, “wisdom? Ha! I told you it is wisdom that is needed!” He smiled, and leaned back in his chair.
“Wisdom is just the beginning of a warrior, not the end, you fool!” Guan Yu yelled.
“Be nice, boys,” Guan Yin said. With his face redder than ever, Guan Yu sat down, took one of his Mahjong pieces and placed it in the middle of the table. The others played their pieces as Guan Yu started to calm down.
“He was wise as a child. One day, a woman fell down a well, and he saved the life of the foolish woman. Because of this deed, he was brought before a prince in a distant land, but the prince, Chin Pa, did not see Han Xin for what he was. Chin Pa only saw someone small and weak. After Han Xin was laughed out of the kingdom, Chin Pa tried to follow and kill Han Xin. But, Han Xin was cunning, and escaped being killed by the foolish prince.”
“It is not right to call a prince foolish,” Yu Huang said, “for it would have been wisdom that made him prince in the first place.”
“A land of fools has a fool for a prince,” Guan Yu replied. Wen Chang started to laugh at this until Guan Yin reached over and poked him, silencing his laughter.
“Han Xin grew into a warrior. The king in his own land, knowing the strength of Han Xin, placed him as a leader in the king's army. The king then sent Han Xin to war against Chin Pa. The war was great, and many fought in epic battles!” Guan Yu stood up again, and swung his weapon over his head as he did so. The others ducked, even though they knew they were too far below the weapon to be hit and knew that Guan Yu probably didn’t have it in him to attempt to chop them in half anyways.
“In one battle, Han Xin led his men on the shores of a great river to camp. Others thought that this was foolish, because they had neither boats nor bridges to cross the great river, and none could swim so far.”
“Couldn't swim huh? Sounds like someone I know,” Wen Chang said quietly.
“Han Xin was cunning, and his choice of location was intentional. He wanted to lure the enemy to them, and he wanted his men to have the strength and courage to defeat the enemy. He knew that not giving them the option to flee would bring out their inner warriors, and fight with true strength.
Then, one day, they spotted the army of the enemy coming over the mountain.” Guan Yu crouched down with his weapon reaching out in front of him. "The men were stricken with fear, for they had no means of escape. Han Xin declared to his soldiers ‘fight for your lives! Certain death lies in the river behind you, but if you fight with the strength of a dragon and the bravery of a tiger, you can defeat the enemy that lies before you!’
This rallied the men to action, and they fought with such strength and courage. With each wave of enemies that tried to push them back into the river, Han Xin and his men attacked and struck back!” As he said this, Guan Yu used his weapon to strike and slash the air in front of them, coming dangerously close to the table. With a loud voice and the drama of battle, Guan Yu yelled, “And cut down their enemies!”
With this, Guan Yu raised his weapon above his head, and slashed downwards, hitting the Mahjong table, and sending pieces flying everywhere! In an instant, all the gods were out of their seats and scrambling to gather up the Mahjong pieces as fast as they could, trying not to risk another disaster that had happened when just one piece was knocked from the table.
After moments of near misses and several gasps, all the pieces were gathered up, the table was replaced, and the Mahjong pieces once again were being shuffled in the middle.
Guan Yu, his face now red with embarrassment rather than anger or frustration, said nothing.
“Well,” said Yu Huang, “that is what happens when a leader leads by using violence. Mistakes that could have been avoided are made, and people get hurt."
“But Han Xin was cunning and strong! He forced the strength out of his men by not giving them the choice to flee, and his army won the battle,” Guan Yu said, rather timidly.
“Regardless,” Yu Huang said as he began to set the pieces up again to begin play, “those people down there don’t need a leader who will bring them more harm than they have already experienced. That is why a man of order is needed.”
“Now,” Yu Huang began after all the pieces were set up and they all began playing again, “let me tell you about how order can help people….”
Adapted from: A Chinese Hero
Author's Note: I tried to have fun with this story. I knew even before I found a story to use that I wanted Guan Yu to somehow get too into his story, using his weapon as if he was reliving a battle that he himself fought in. I was originally going to have him cut the table in half, but realizing that all those Mahjong pieces would cause an apocalyptic “end of the world” type disaster if they all fell to earth, I decided to have him hit the table, rather than chop it in half. I didn’t have as much banter between the gods in this story as I did the previous story, mainly due to the fact that if I did the story would be much longer. With that, not as much time is spent in this story trying to focus on character development. Between the introduction and the first story, I would hope that it is clear that:
A) Guan Yu is a short-tempered, argumentative god.
B) Wen Chang tries to provoke Guan Yu into an argument.
C) Yu Huang maintains his composure, trying to show an example of order.
D) Guan Yin is rather quiet, yet tries to maintain the peace of the game, especially between Wen Chang and Guan Yu.