• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.47
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• pp.101-129
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• 2017

This paper presupposes that the reason for the development of Guanyu's anthropolatry as a cultural phenomenon is derived from, along with Guanyu's loyalism and valor, the people's physiological effects longing for the emergence of a hero, and is closely linked with religious activities to provide the justification of their belief system. Based on this, the purpose of this paper is to study how major religions that is, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism take the courses of Guanyu's anthropolatry to their religious advantage and how Guanyu-god is applied to roots in Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. In Buddhism, it succeeded in the settlement by upgrading it to jialan-shen that guarded the Buddhist temple, while in Taoism, it was used as a guardian of the san-jie-fu-mo-da-di that chased the almighty devil and deviated from the disaster and suffering. In Confucianism, it was connected to Guanyu's Confucian-commander image to that of chun-qiu-da-yi of kongzi. That is, by symbolizing Guanyu as God of Martial Power and War depending on the country, it was used as a means of governance to establish rules and order.