What would compel an elderly Chinese woman to bow to a statue of League of Legend’s Garern outside an internet cafe in China?
Initially broken by Shanghaiist.com, these photos of a woman kneeling befor eand before and burning joss sticks to a glass-caged statue of Garen, the pride of the Demacian military. But why?
Speculation as to why has come in the form of public opinion that the woman was most likely confusing the statue of the digital character with that of Guan Yu. Guan Yu was an actual historical figure who was a Chinese general greatly responsible for the fall of the Han Dynasty, and died in 220 AD. Now many years after his death, Guan Yu is today worshipped as a guardian deity by some followers of Taoism and other religions.
Though what the photos of actual Guan Yu statue show, he is known widely for his defining red race and flowing beard. When compared with what the statue of Garen looks like, the color of his hair could be mistaken for red, but he neither encompasses the red face, nor does he have a beard. As tho this misleading, the internet public has further expressed that it could quite possibly be due to bad eyesight that the woman has mistaken the two idols -let’s face it, some people play League of Legends enough to the point of worship.
An even more underlying speculation that has been brought up by public responders is that the woman was most likely going through family woes, which is a popular root cause behind why people seek counsel with Guan Yu idols. This ultimately has been a cause for some to feel compassion for the elderly lady in the photos. For those who have not felt a similar sympathy, they have for the most part taken on the whole situation with great amusement.
As for myself, I have initially seen the whole seen the whole situation as a sort of life imitating art situation. I’m firm believer in that whether we fully realize it or not, we choose to worship the things most cherished in our lives. This woman here knew exactly who she was worshiping; even though she was most likely mistaken. Or was she? What I’ll retort, and end my article with is a second question, and it is: so then, what was the person who took this photo doing in that cafe at that moment?
