Guan Di
Guan Yu, also known as Guan Yunchang and Guan Changsheng, was born during the final years of the Eastern Han Dynasty in present-day Shanxi Province.
According to historian Chen Shou's History of the Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu had a "beautiful beard and sideburns", and was renowned for his courage and loyalty. Together with Zhang Fei, Guan Yu assisted Liu Bei in the latter's political and military adventures during the internecine chaos known as the Period of the Three Kingdoms. He was made a marquess by Cao Cao, political strongman and the de facto ruler of the day. After Liu Bei's acquisition of territories in the south of the Yangtze River and his conferring upon himself the title of Prince of Hanzhong, Guan Yu was given various civil and military appointments, but he is best remembered for his governorship of Jingzhou. He was eventually killed, together with his son Guan Ping, during the sacking of Jingzhou by General Lu Meng of the rival Wu Kingdom.
After his death, Guan Yu was deified by the masses and was conferred posthumous titles by kings and emperors over the centuries. However, his rank in the pantheon of Chinese gods wasn't that high. It was the Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty who first elevated Guan Yu's status to "The Great and Loyal Emperor Who Assists the Heavens and Protects the Nation", and thereafter he has been popularly known as Guan Di, or "The Emperor Guan". The emperors of the subsequent Qing Dynasty had heaped upon him more elaborate titles, and by the reign of the Emperor Guangxu, his full title contained up to 26 Chinese characters.
Historical records of Guan Yu are rather sketchy. It is, however, in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, compiled and written almost 1,000 years after his death, that Guan Yu came to his own. The novelist Luo Guanzhong's depiction of Guan Yu as the epitomes of loyalty and courage endeared him to the masses. That, and the various titles conferred upon him over the centuries, added to his mystique and appeal among the Chinese, and in time, Guan Yu underwent a metamorphosis from being a mere historical figure to becoming an exalted deity worshipped by millions. After the invasion of the Manchus in the 17th century and the subsequent founding of the Qing Dynasty, the foreign Manchu Court actively encouraged the worship of Guan Di by building Guan Di temples all over China. The ruling classes believed that Guan Di's image of loyalty and bravery could inculcate a sense of patriotism among the general Chinese population and loyalty to the court within the ranks of its military forces. The masses, however, believed that Guan Di's loyalty and martial bearing could repel evil and malignant forces.
It was in 1931 that an altar dedicated to Guan Di was first installed in a police station of the Force. In that year, Detective Sergeant Major Lai Shiu set the altar in a Detective's Room in the Yau Ma Tei Police Station to demonstrate his own dedication to, and courage in carrying out duties. He also prayed for divine intervention in the solving of his crime cases. The idea caught on among members of the Force and shortly after, Guan Di altars and shrines were erected in many police stations. Members of the Force belonging to other religious faiths and those who have been recruited overseas usually follow their colleagues in offering joss sticks to Guan Di. The veneration of Guan Di in the Force has gone beyond folk tales to become a symbol within the Force of unity in fighting crime.
A picture, taken in the 1960s, shows a Staff Sergeant offering joss sticks at the altar of Guan Di