<b>Early life</b>
Guan Yu was born in the county of Xie (?, a subdistrict of present day Yuncheng, Shanxi). The year of his birth is not found in historical records.

Guan Yu fled his hometown at the age of twenty-three after slaying a local bully named Lü Xiong (??). Five years later, he arrived in Zhuo Commandery (??, present day Zhuozhou, Hebei), where Liu Bei was recruiting a force to heed the government's call to resist the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Together with Zhang Fei, Guan Yu joined Liu Bei and fought against the rebel forces in northern China. For his efforts Liu Bei was appointed governor of Pingyuan County (??). Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were also made commanders and given their own divisions of troops. According to the Records of Three Kingdoms, the three men slept on the same bed and treated one another like brothers. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei also followed Liu Bei wherever he went, and protected him from danger however perilous the situation.

In 199 Liu Bei attacked and killed Che Zhou (??), the governor of Xuzhou (??) who was appointed by the rising warlord Cao Cao, and placed Guan Yu in control of the regional capital Xiapi, while he returned to Xiaopei. Cao Cao soon retaliated, personally leading a campaign east to reclaim Xuzhou. Liu Bei fled to seek refuge under Yuan Shao, a powerful warlord further north, but Xiapi was captured and Guan Yu surrendered to Cao Cao. Cao Cao treated Guan Yu with respect and even made him a deputy general.


<b>Short service under Cao Cao</b>
In 200, Yuan Shao mustered an army boasting 100,000 in strength and marched on Xuchang, the new capital and base city of Cao Cao. To ensure a safe crossing of the Yellow River, Yuan Shao sent his trusted general Yan Liang to attack Baima (??, northeast of present day Huaxian, Henan) as a diversionary tactic. In a counter-tactic, Cao Cao moved his main force westwards along the Yellow River, diverting Yuan Shao's army in the same direction, but sent Guan Yu and Zhang Liao east to relieve the attack on Baima. Upon reaching Baima, Guan Yu speared Yan amid the enemy troops, and brought back his severed head. Thus Yuan Shao lost an important lieutenant and the siege of Baima was unraveled. Guan Yu was then enfeoffed as Marquis of Han Shou(????). After doing Cao Cao this favor, Guan Yu left for Liu Bei, his former lord who was still in the camp of Yuan Shao, leaving behind a farewell letter and all of Cao Cao's rewards. When some of his subordinates wanted to pursue Guan Yu, Cao Cao stopped them, saying, "To each his own."


<b>Capture of Jingzhou</b>
After Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao at the decisive Battle of Guandu, Liu Bei went south to seek shelter under Jingzhou (??) governor Liu Biao, who soon died of sickness. Cao Cao took the opportunity to expand his control south and seized a great part of Jingzhou north of the Yangtze River, but Liu Bei escaped south and formed a coalition with Sun Quan, a powerful warlord controlling most of southeastern China. The coalition defeated Cao Cao at the Battle of Red Cliffs and Jingzhou was reclaimed. Guan Yu was promoted to General Who Purges Rebels (????) and made governor of Xiangyang (but he was stationed in Jiangling), in charge of the defense of northern Jingzhou.

In 213, Liu Bei left for Yizhou (present day Sichuan) and took over the region two years later, staying there ever since. In 219, Liu Bei proclaimed himself King of Hanzhong (???) and promoted Guan Yu to General of the Front (???), The popular ranking of the Five Tiger Generals, was however a work of fiction.


<b>Downfall</b>
In the same year Guan Yu attacked Fancheng (??, present day Xiangfan, Hubei), a city near Xiangyang which was defended by Cao Ren, a trusted general and cousin of Cao Cao. A long spell of rainfall as autumn came around flooded the Han River next to the city, which greatly aided Guan Yu. The flood drowned the majority of the relief troops Cao Cao sent, while their commanders, Yu Jin and Pang De, were both captured by Guan Yu. However, a further relief force under Xu Huang successfully repelled the invaders.

Further, at this time, it became known that Sun Quan, whom Guan had previously repeatedly provoked -- including, for example, forcibly seizing Sun's troops' food supply for his own troops while marching north against Cao -- had attacked Guan's home base of Jiangling, and that the two commanders that Guan had left in charge of the home base -- Mi Fang and Fu Shiren, whom Guan Yu had repeatedly insulted and threatened to punish -- had surrendered to Sun Quan. Instead of immediately sealing off the report of this, Guan Yu allowed this news be known to his army. The Wu forces held the families of the soldiers accompanying General Guan as hostages, because of his mercy for the soldiers and their families, he allowed them to rejoin their families in the captured territory to give the Wu forces no reason to harm the city's people.

With many of his troops deserting, Guan Yu attempted to retreat west to reunite with Liu Bei. However, he was encircled by Sun Quan's forces west of Maicheng (??, southeast of present day Dangyang, Hubei). As Guan Yu attempt to escape, he and his surviving followers including his son Guan Ping, his Inspector General Zhao Lei were captured in Zhang (?) Township (east of modern day Anyuan ?? County, Hubei). All three were executed. Sun Quan sent Guan Yu's head to Cao Cao in an attempt to lay all the blame on Cao Cao, who buried the body with the honors befitting a marquis. Guan Yu was given the posthumous title of Marquis Zhuangmou (???).

In 223, Liu Bei attempted a campaign to recapture Jingzhou and avenge Guan Yu, which culminated in his decisive defeat at the Battle of Yiling. Guan Yu's son Guan Xing and grandson Guan Tong both served as military commanders for Shu Han. According to the Record of Shu (??) by Wang Yin (??), after Cao Wei conquered Shu in 263, many members of Guan Yu's household were massacred by Pang Hui, son of Pang De who was executed by Guan Yu at the Battle of Fancheng.