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Guan Ping

The Adopted Son Who Died With His Father at Maicheng

Best of the Rank and File · Fierce Generals & Fine Strategists

Filial ValorMartyrdom

Who they are

Guan Yu’s adopted son (some say eldest son), who campaigned with Guan Yu from boyhood and was his most trusted lieutenant. At the Jing province campaign, when Guan Yu was caught front and back and fled to Maicheng, Guan Ping stayed with him through the breakout and was captured and killed with his father by a Wu ambush — history leaves him little ink, but the four words "died with his father" are the fullest summary of his life.

Primary sourcesChen Shou, Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Shu, appended to the Biography of Guan Yu

Key stories

Martyrdom at Maicheng

When Guan Yu was defeated at Maicheng and broke out with his remnants, Guan Ping stayed at his side and guarded him to the death. Father and son were at last captured near Linju by Ma Zhong, a subordinate of the Wu general Pan Zhang, and killed together. To heighten the pathos of father and son dying together, the novel makes him a general of both wit and valor; though the histories record him briefly, the image of filial loyalty in "dying with his father" is deeply fixed in the popular mind.

Relationships

Father

⚔️Guan Yu

Slain by

🌊Sun Quan　Died with his father at the Jing province campaign

Echoes today

Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.

A fixture of Lord Guan temple statuaryLord Guan temples commonly show the grouping "Zhou Cang bearing the seal, Guan Ping holding the blade," and his image is widely known through this folk-faith tradition.

Appears in

The Loss of Jing Province and the Defeat at YilingLosing Jing Province to Carelessness, Falling at Maicheng

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