him from remaining faithful to the oath that he had taken with
his brothers at the peach orchard: “...to be loyal to each other in
life and united in death...” And of his ability to bear pain un-
flinchingly, there was an occasion when he was wounded by a
poisoned arrow which required the arrow and the poison to be
removed. He calmly submitted himself to the terrible ordeal and
allowed his arm to be cut opened and scratched to the bone by
his physician while he concentrated his attention on a game of
chess, without showing the least sign of pain.
In the year 219 .. he was captured by Sun Chuan and put to
death. It was recorded that on the night of his death, his spirit
appeared to a Buddhist monk, to seek for instruction on the
Buddha’s teachings.According to the Buddhist account, Kuan Yu manifested him-
self before the Tripitaka Master Chi Tsai, the founder of Tien
Tai Buddhism, with a retinue of spiritual beings. e Master
was then in deep meditation at the Yu Chien Mountain when
he was distracted by Kuan Yu’s presence. After receiving the
teachings Kuan Yu requested for the Five Precepts and became a
Buddhist practitioner. He then vowed that he would henceforth
be a guardian for the Buddha-dharma and thus, for more than
a thousand years, Kuan Ti has been worshipped as a Guardian
or Dharma Protector in the Buddhist temples. e Pure Land
Buddhists also respected him as the Sentinel to the Western
Paradise of Amitabha Buddha. For these reasons Kuan Ti has
earned a place in the Chinese Pantheon of Deities; his statues
are normally found in the first hall of most temples and incense
should be offered to him as a mark of respect.