中國關帝廟之祖山西運城解州關帝廟（下）｜Lord Guan Temple，Yuncheng City，Shanxi Province E02

Guan Yu was deified as early as the Sui dynasty (581–618), and is still worshipped today as a bodhisattva in Buddhist tradition and as a guardian deity in Chinese folk religion and Taoism. He is also held in high esteem in Confucianism and in new religious movements such as Yiguandao.
In Chinese folk religion, Guan Yu is widely referred to as "Emperor Guan" (關帝) and "Lord Guan" (關公; Guān Gōng), while his Taoist title is "Holy Emperor Lord Guan" (關聖帝君; Guān Shèng Dì Jūn). Martial temples and shrines dedicated exclusively to Guan Yu can be found across mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and other places with Chinese influence such as Vietnam, South Korea and Japan. The Lord GuanTemple in Haizhou (解州), Shanxi, were built exactly in the layout of an imperial residence, befitting his status as a "ruler".
Guan Yu's life was lionised and his achievements glorified to such an extent after his death that he was deified during the Sui dynasty. Through generations of storytelling, culminating in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, his deeds and moral qualities have been given immense emphasis, making Guan Yu one of East Asia's most popular paradigms of loyalty and righteousness. He is still worshipped by many Chinese people today. In religious devotion he is reverentially called the "Emperor Guan" (Guān Dì) or "Lord Guan" (Guān Gōng). He is a deity worshipped in Chinese folk religion, popular Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism, and small shrines to him are almost ubiquitous in traditional Chinese shops and restaurants.