Guan Yu, courtesy name Yunchang, was a general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on most of his early exploits. Guan Yu played a significant role in the events leading up to the end of the Han dynasty and the establishment of Liu Bei's state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. While he is remembered for his loyalty towards Liu Bei, he is known for repaying Cao Cao's kindness by slaying Yan Liang, a general under Cao Cao's rival Yuan Shao, at the Battle of Boma. After Liu Bei gained control of Yi Province in 214, Guan Yu remained in Jing Province to govern and defend the area for about seven years. In 219, while he was away fighting Cao Cao's forces at the Battle of Fancheng, Liu Bei's ally Sun Quan broke the Sun–Liu alliance and sent his general Lü Meng to conquer Liu Bei's territories in Jing Province. By the time Guan Yu found out about the loss of Jing Province after his defeat at Fancheng, it was too late.
He was subsequently executed. 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 story telling, 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 mainland China, Tibet, Hong Kong and among many overseas Chinese communities. In religious devotion he is reverentially called the "Divus Guan" or "Lord Guan", he is a deity worshipped in Chinese folk religion, popular Confucianism and Chinese Buddhism, small shrines to him are ubiquitous in traditional Chinese shops and restaurants. His hometown Yuncheng has named its airport after him; the authoritative historical source on Guan Yu's life is the Records of the Three Kingdoms written by Chen Shou in the third century.
During the fifth century, Pei Songzhi annotated the Sanguozhi by incorporating information from other sources to Chen Shou's original work and adding his personal comments. Some alternative texts used in the annotations to Guan Yu's biography include: Shu Ji, by Wang Yin. No explicit descriptions of Guan Yu's physical appearance exist in historical records, however the Sanguozhi recorded that Zhuge Liang once referred to Guan Yu as having a "peerless beard". Traditionally, Guan Yu is portrayed as a red-faced warrior with a lush beard; the idea of his red face may have been derived from a description of him in Chapter 1 of the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, where the following passage appears: "Xuande took a look at the man, who stood at a height of nine chi, had a two chi long beard. He had a dignified air and looked quite majestic." Alternatively, the idea of his red face could have been borrowed from opera representation, where red faces represented loyalty and righteousness.
In illustrations of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu is traditionally depicted wearing a green robe over his body armour. Guan Yu's weapon was a guan dao named Green Dragon Crescent Blade, which resembled a podao, glaive, or naginata and was said to weigh 82 catties. Guan Yu was from Xie County, Hedong Commandery, present-day Yuncheng, Shanxi, his original courtesy name was Changsheng. He was interested in the ancient history book Zuo zhuan and could fluently recite lines from it, he went to Zhuo Commandery. When the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out in the 180s, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei joined a volunteer militia formed by Liu Bei, they assisted a colonel Zou Jing in suppressing the revolt; when Liu Bei was appointed as the Chancellor of Pingyuan State, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were appointed as Majors of Separate Command, each commanding detachments of soldiers under Liu Bei. The three of them were as close as brothers and they shared the same room. Zhang Fei and Guan Yu stood guard beside Liu Bei when he sat down at meetings.
They protected him from danger. Liu Bei and his men followed Cao Cao back to the imperial capital Xu after their victory over Lü Bu at the Battle of Xiapi in 198. About a year Liu Bei and his followers escaped from Xu under the pretext of helping Cao Cao lead an army to attack Yuan Shu. Liu Bei went to Xu Province, killed the provincial inspector Che Zhou, seized control of the province, he left Guan Yu in charge of the provincial capital Xiapi. In 200, Cao Cao defeated him and retook Xu Province. Liu Bei fled to northern China and found refuge under Cao Cao's rival Yuan Shao, while Guan Yu was captured by Cao Cao's forces and brought back to Xu. Cao Cao treated Guan Yu respectfully and asked Emperor Xian to appoint Guan Yu as a Lieutenant-General; that year, Yuan Shao sent his general Yan Liang to lead an army to attack Cao Cao's
Hoge Kempen National Park is the first National Park in Flanders, Belgium. It is located in the East of the Province between Genk and the Meuse River Valley, it includes the elevated ground that defines the watershed between that river and the low ground of the drainage basin of the Demer river that covers most of Belgian Limburg. It was opened on Sunday 29 March 2006. Covering 67 square kilometres, it forms part of the Natura 2000 network; the area is heathland and pine forest. It was first established in 1990 within the Regionaal Landschap Kempen en Maasland as part of a progressive policy to advance nature reserves in Flanders. In May 2011 it was placed on UNESCO's Tentative List for consideration as a World Heritage site. On 23 March 2012, the nine municipal councils, the Province of Limburg and the Flemish government signed a letter of intent to support the application of the Hoge Kempen National Park for recognition as UNESCO World Heritage; the national park has revealed plans to expand it's territory to more than 100 square kilometres.
The park is in the province of Limburg, covering territory in the municipalities of As, Dilsen-Stokkem, Lanaken and Zutendaal. As well as extensive woodlands, it includes existing protected natural areas such as the Mechelse Heide, Zipebeek Valley, Bog under the Mountain and the Neerharer Heide; the Hoge Kempen is a large area of scree formed from rocks that were deposited in the Ardennes by the Meuse during the last Ice Age in the south east of Limburg and covered with sand blown by sea winds. Over time a deep valley was eroded by the Grensmaas; the slope of the plateau to the west of the Maas valley is steep and rises 45 metres to form a step of sorts. This step runs 20 kilometres from Opoeteren at Maaseik near Lanaken in the north to Gellik in the south. Over half of this step lies within the park and the height of land above this reaches 102 metres; the area is crossed by several major highways that presented a challenge as to how to maintain eco-diversity across the fragmented parkland. Construction took place of the Kikbeek eco-velo-duct over the E314 near Maasmechelen and near Zutendaal.
The Toeristiche Weg built 60 years ago on the Mechelse Heide was closed to road traffic as part of the park planning. This paved road will become part of the Limburg cycling network. West of the Kikbeek eco-dcut will be a eco-valley and another eco=duct over the E314. Another element to aid the recovery of the park was the restoration of the source of the Kikbeek at Opgrimbie; this resulted in the upper course of the brook being redesigned with a controllable flow that helped restore the natural water level in the area. Due to years of excavation of white sand evidenced by the many craters, the water level had fallen. Inside the boundaries of the park there are still some enclaves where there are some residences and sand quarries and industrial zones; the Government of Flanders owns 85% of the land in the park. The habitat is coniferous trees and heath land. There are some deciduous trees, marshes, dry valleys, gravel pits and former mine spoil heaps. Typical flora and fauna include juniper; the park is open to the general public and each municipality has its own gateway to the park.
These are: Connecterra: The gateway at the border between the municipalities of Maasmechelen and Dilsen-Stokkem acts as the main gate of the national park. Kattevennen: This is the gateway in Genk and is themed on the cosmos. Here is a recreation area. Mechelse Heide: The gateway in Maasmechelen leads to the Mechelse Heide nature reserve, a vast purple heath land. Pietersheim: The gateway in Lanaken is located in the Pietersheim castle, a Romanesque castle ruin at the Pietersembos; the Lieteberg: The gateway in Zutendaal has the theme of the insect world. The visitor center is located in an old gravel pit, once a mating station for bees. Station As: The gateway in As has the theme of the industrial past of the region; the lookout tower at the former As station resembles a coal drilling tower typical of a century ago. There is a 200km network of hiking trails within the national park; some 40 loop-shaped walks were designed with a length between 14 km. The start of these hiking trails is at one of the 6 entrance gates.
The cycle paths in the national park form part of the node of the cycle route network of the Kempen and Maasland Regional Landscape. In addition, within the national park there is a 140 km network of unpaved bridleways and paths that connects the rider and heart of the Limburg Kempen; these are organized via a node system similar to the cycle node network. Support from the European Union has meant that there are a number of Rangers on hand to help all visitors. In April 2008, project manager Ignace Schops received the Goldman Environmental Prize in San Francisco. Schops and his RLKM project group got this prestigious award for the original way they managed to protect a large area of valuable nature in a densely populated area, it recognized the concept of integrating nature, agriculture and tourism. On 7 May 2008 he was honored in the European Parliament as an example project where public authorities and private initiatives cooperated successfully. Kempen known as De Kempen, a region in Belgium and the Netherlands called Kempenland or Campine.
Hoge Kempen
Henry Clay Myers was an early mayor, city marshal and forest ranger of Missoula, Montana. Myers was born in Ohio to Eliza Hershey and Jacob Myers. In 1853, at the age of 17, he crossed the plains to California, he first visited Montana in June 1863 or 1865, staying a short time in Big Hole in modern-day Beaverhead County, before going back to Idaho. In 1866 he followed the old Elk City trail and the Bitter Root Valley to arrive in Missoula, where he stayed the rest of his life. In 1881 he married Mary Elliott, he was elected city marshal in 1883, served 11 months as the second mayor of Missoula, from May 23, 1884 until he was replaced by Thomas C. Marshall on April 13, 1885. After his brief time as mayor, Myers continued to stay active in the regional government, he was part of the 1889 boundary line commission appointed to establish boundary lines between Silver Bow, Deer Lodge and Missoula Counties. In March 1891, he was nominated by President Benjamin Harrison to be postmaster of Missoula