After the passing of the protagonists of the Three Kingdoms period，there sprung up many temples created by the common people dedicated to the worship of these heroes, the most popular being the ones dedicated to Guan-yu [關羽]. Especially in the post-Song period，temples dedicated to Guan-yu quickly multiplied. During the early Qing period [清朝]，temples dedicated to Guan-yu could be found everywhere. From early on，there have been many historians that researched the cult of Guan-yu，but due to a lack of records various aspects of the Guan-yu cult failed to produce significant findings. There was a special need for further research on the character Guan San-lang. Sources used in this paper include Guan Wang Shi Ji [關王事?]，local gazetteers, notes, novels and Song Hui Yao [宋會要]，Assembled Essentials of the Song Dynasty，among others. Famous Guan-yu temples during the Tang Dynasty include the three temples of Yu Quan Shan temple [玉泉山寺]，Guan Hou Ci [關侯祠] in Sichuan-fu [四川府] and Guan Hou Ci in Yinzhou [郢州]. The reason for the prominence of the Yu Quan Shan Temple is that its physical location was where Guan-yu died in battle and where there occurred his spiritual manifestation. Furthermore，Guan-yu is closely tied to a Buddhsit monastery there by the name of Yu Quan Monastery and its order of monks. It is because that the monks of Yu Quan Monastery propagated the legend of Guan-yu Establishing the Yu Quan Monastery that many temples dedicated to Guan-yu's worship flourished later on. The reason for the zealous propagation of Guan-yu's temples by the monks of Yu Quan Monastery was because they reckoned him to be an important deity in the Buddhist religion. Whether the perspective of Guan-yu is related from the viewpoint of him as a specific character deity，the spiritual powers that he possessed or his roles as a spiritual protector of a local area, i.e.a spiritual landlord，he is referred to as the character Guan San-lang [關三郎] in the works Bei Meng Suo Yan [北夢瑣言] and Yun Xi You Yi [雲谿友議]. However，the character Guan San-lang in these two works are two different deities. In the former，it is Hua-yu San-lang [華嶽三郎]and in the latter，it is Guan-ping. When the cult of Guan-yu reached the Song Dynasty，it underwent some major transformations. These changes were threefold：A ceremonial and ritual structure for the worship of Guan-yu was created. The Guan-yu cult was conceptualized within the religious framework of Buddhism and Taoism. Different manners for worship of Guan-yu were evolved.
