On the 1866th Anniversary of Lord Guan’s Birthday, the Symposium on Innovative Transformation of Lord Guan Culture in the New Era and the Launch Conference for Overseas Export of Its Replica Statues was grandly held in Yuncheng, Shanxi from August 5 to 7, 2026. Centered on the theme "One Ancestral Temple Upholds Loyalty‑Righteousness; Eight Domains and Six Realms Usher in a New Voyage", the event thoroughly implemented Xi Jinping’s important exposition on "creative transformation and innovative development" of fine traditional Chinese culture, took the Global Civilization Initiative as its fundamental guideline, pushed for the transition of Lord Guan culture from "going global" to "taking root overseas", and explored new paths and forged new paradigms for China’s national cultural outreach strategy.
Co‑hosted by the Oriental Chinese Cultural Heritage Protection Center and the Cultural Relics Preservation Institute of Xiezhou Guandi Temple, undertaken by the Yuncheng Lord Guan Culture Research Institute and Beijing Guansheng Cultural Development Co., Ltd., and co‑organized by the Yuncheng Lord Guan Culture Research Association, this event gathered more than 50 representatives from national‑level intangible cultural heritage protection institutions, leading experts on Lord Guan culture, heads of overseas associations, cultural‑tourism industry players and media circles in the hometown of Lord Guan for this grand cultural gathering.
On the opening day of the event, guests visited Changping Guandi Family Temple — the birthplace and cultural ancestral origin of Lord Guan — to attend folk‑custom cultural ceremonies marking the 1866th anniversary of Lord Guan’s birthday and the consecration and enshrinement ritual of the replica statue. This ritual is not only a tribute to history, but also a cultural effort to clarify the authentic origin.
At present, a prominent problem persists in the communication of Lord Guan culture: inconsistent IP image standards. In response to this situation, this event proposes to take Changping Guandi Family Temple in Yuncheng, Shanxi as the spiritual origin, and adopt the officially researched authentic Ming‑dynasty collected original statue of Lord Guan as the sole traceable archetype, so as to construct a non‑replicable three‑in‑one cultural logic system of "root anchoring at the ancestral temple, standardization based on cultural relics, and communication via replica statues".
Wei Long, President of the Yuncheng Lord Guan Culture Research Association, pointed out in his research sharing that based on the Ming‑dynasty collected sacred statue as the archetype, combined with multiple research approaches including literature review, cultural relic comparison and craft tracing, the evolution of Lord Guan statues has been systematically sorted out to scientifically establish the "orthodox gene" of Lord Guan culture, laying a solid academic foundation for standardized communication, industrial development and international promotion of Lord Guan culture.
The newly released sacred statues come as a set of two statues sharing identical serial number and same origin: one 19‑centimeter‑high statue is enshrined in the Chongning Hall of Changping Guandi Family Temple, and the other 60‑centimeter‑high statue is available for hall enshrinement. Cast in tin‑bronze, the sacred statues strictly follow the shape and specifications of the Ming‑dynasty archetype. More than exquisite artworks, they serve as "cultural ambassadors" for Chinese culture going global.
Zhu Zhengming, former Director of the Overseas Center of the United Front Work Department of Hubei Provincial Party Committee, Li Yaotang, President of Shaanxi Zhouyi Research Association, and Guan Zhanbing, the 68th‑generation direct descendant of Lord Guan, delivered keynote speeches on the contemporary proposition of Lord Guan culture going global from three dimensions: international communication, cultural wisdom and blood‑line inheritance respectively.
During the seminar session, participating guests held in‑depth dialogues centering on "Opportunities, Challenges and Paths for Lord Guan Culture to Go Global". All participants agreed that the global outreach of Lord Guan culture must be rooted in the tracing of fine traditional culture, standardize its IP image and cultural core, establish an authoritative, reusable and commercial‑ready standardization system, and promote lightweight, replicable and easy‑to‑implement application models.
The seminar clarified the strategic framework for global outreach known as "Eight Domains and Six Realms", covering eight major sectors: cultural and creative products, film‑television productions, short‑video content, cultural‑tourism integration, cross‑border trade, overseas associations, academic exchanges and intangible cultural heritage revitalization. It promotes the application of Lord Guan replica statues in diverse scenarios: as tokens of integrity‑based cooperation in cross‑border trade, as cultural‑origin symbols on overseas new‑media platforms, and as exhibits for overseas cultural‑museum exchanges, realizing scenario‑driven empowerment and practical implementation.
Wu Fei, Deputy Chairman and Director of the Oriental Chinese Cultural Heritage Protection Center, stated that cultural heritage protection has been incorporated into China’s 15th Five‑Year national development strategy, bringing brand‑new opportunities for the revitalization and inheritance of traditional culture. Leveraging its institutional functions, the Center will further explore the contemporary value of Lord Guan culture, conduct research, collation, communication and promotion of loyalty‑righteousness culture, advance the global outreach of Lord Guan culture, boost the international communication of Chinese culture, guard Chinese cultural heritage with concrete actions, and contribute public‑welfare strength to civilizational mutual learning and the building of a culturally powerful country.
A grand signing ceremony was held on‑site. Seven cooperating parties grouped into three clusters signed strategic cooperation agreements with the event organizer, marking that Lord Guan culture’s global outreach has entered a new phase from "strategic planning" to "full‑scale implementation".
The three groups of signatories cover the Americas, Europe, the Greater Bay Area and Macao, spanning cultural communication, cultural‑tourism integration, fashion industry, media and film‑television sectors, forming the foundational lineup for global communication of Lord Guan culture.
Witnessed by all guests, the launching ceremony for "Root Anchoring at Ancestral Shrine · Replica Statues Going Global — Global Communication Physical Carrier of Lord Guan Culture" was grandly convened. Multiple guests including Yang Yili, Chairman of the Oriental Chinese Cultural Heritage Protection Center, Wei Long, President of Yuncheng Lord Guan Culture Research Association, Fu Wenyuan, Director of the Cultural Relics Preservation Institute of Xiezhou Guandi Temple, and Gao Jianjun, Chairman of Beijing Guansheng Cultural Development Co., Ltd., jointly pressed the launch button, officially kicking off the global overseas initiative of Lord Guan replica sacred statues.
Led and supervised by the Cultural Relics Preservation Institute of Xiezhou Guandi Temple in Yuncheng to safeguard the orthodoxy of cultural roots, and certified and witnessed by the Oriental Chinese Cultural Heritage Protection Center, a national‑level professional cultural‑heritage institution, the project provides authoritative heritage endorsement for the overseas deployment of replica sacred statues. It pioneers the dual‑carrier traceability system of "original archetype enshrined at the ancestral shrine plus global replica sacred statues", and explores a standardized certification mechanism for cultural‑heritage global outreach. This represents an original replicable cross‑border physical communication model in China.
In his address, Yang Yili, Chairman of the Oriental Chinese Cultural Heritage Protection Center, noted that as a typical representative of fine traditional Chinese culture, Lord Guan culture bears unique value in practicing the Global Civilization Initiative and advancing people‑to‑people cultural exchanges. Establishing an ancestral‑origin orthodox communication system is of great significance for strengthening the international communication capacity of Chinese culture and raising the global recognition of Chinese civilization.
Fu Wenyuan, Director of the Cultural Relics Preservation Institute of Xiezhou Guandi Temple and Dean of Yuncheng Lord Guan Culture Research Institute, stated that as "the Ancestor of Guandi Temples" and "the Premier Martial Temple", Xiezhou Guandi Temple shoulders the sacred mission of safeguarding the root of Lord Guan culture. In the new era, it will embrace a more open posture to promote the inheritance‑driven innovation and innovation‑fueled development of Lord Guan culture.
From the war‑torn era of the Three Kingdoms Period to the magnificent journey toward the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, Lord Guan, revered by later generations as the "Martial Saint", has long transcended his identity as a military general. He has evolved into a spiritual totem of the Chinese nation and a cross‑border, cross‑ethnic and cross‑times cultural symbol.
After 1866 years of inheritance, a brand‑new chapter is being written today. The spiritual totem of the Chinese nation shines more brilliantly among the stars of world civilizations. Standing at a new historical starting point, Lord Guan culture is stepping onto the global stage with greater cultural confidence, contributing unique Eastern wisdom and cultural strength to advancing exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations and building a community with a shared future for mankind.
