早年

管輅生于209年,他在八九歲的時候，就很喜歡抬頭望天看星星，遇到不認識的星星就問人，最敬業的是他「夜不肯寐」。這又是一奇。他父母怕耽誤他的睡眠，於是就禁止他看星星。但是管輅還是不肯睡，他說：「我雖年小，然眼中喜視天文，家雞野鳥都知道天時，更何況人呢？」他常常在地上畫日月星辰，說出的話非常人所能言。就連學問很深的人都認為他是一個「大異之才」。

管輅十五歲時，琅琊郡太守單子春請管輅喝酒，並且辯論五行、鬼神之事，結果太守和士人都不能難倒管輅。大家都稱他為神童。

管輅長大成人以後，精通《周易》，天文地理，占卜面相，風水堪輿，無不精微。「體性寬大，多所含受；憎己不仇，愛己不褒，每欲以德報怨。」這種性格很完美，寬容，律己，都是很難得的品質。管輅談到自己的志向時說：「知我者稀，則我貴矣，安能斷江漢之流為激石之清？樂與季主論道，不欲與漁父同舟，此吾志也。」季主是管輅的好朋友。從這裡可以看出，管輅的志向是追求「道」。管輅常說：「忠孝信義，人之根本，不可不厚。」所以他特別孝順父母，篤愛兄弟，也愛護士友。當時喜歡品評人物的人最後都很佩服他。

根據文獻記載，管輅容貌醜，沒有威儀，喜愛飲酒。儒家思想主導的社會要求的主流男人形象是：有威儀，不苟言笑，中規中矩，慎言慎行，擇友而事，凡事中庸，總之，就是一副道貌岸然的樣子。而管輅恰恰相反，「無威儀而嗜酒」，喝酒的時候，還經常講講笑話，不管是非，不加選擇，「故人多愛之而不敬也」。看起來，大家都喜歡管輅，但是不怕他。這在古代社會，尤其是儒家色彩濃厚的主流社會，是比較獨特的。

事蹟

堪輿

管輅的堪輿非常有名，管輅曾經隨軍西行，經過毌丘儉父毌丘興的墳墓，他「倚樹哀吟，精神不樂。」有人問他為什麼？管輅說：「林木雖茂，無形可久；碑誄雖美，無後可守。玄武藏頭，蒼龍無足，白虎銜屍，朱雀悲哭，四危以備，法當滅族。不過二載，其應至矣。」兩年後，毌丘儉起兵反對司馬師事敗，被夷滅三族（但部分子孫因逃到東吳得以倖免）。

相術

管輅相術神妙，通過觀察相貌形態，能預測人的生死。管輅有次在族兄管孝國家裡，與兩位客人相會。客人走後，管輅對管孝國說：「此二人，天庭及口耳之間，同有凶氣，異變俱起，雙魂無宅，流魂於海，骨歸於家，少許時當並死也。」十多天後，二人喝酒喝醉了，夜裡坐著牛車回家，牛受驚，牛車掉進漳河，二人都淹死了。

管輅最著名的相命，就是預言大名士何晏不久即死。當時何晏是曹魏的禮部尚書，屬於大將軍曹爽一派的精英人物，與司馬懿為代表的河內士族政治集團明爭暗鬥。當時是十二月二十八日，何晏宴請管輅，當時另一曹爽派精英人物鄧颺也在坐。何晏說：「聞君算卦神妙，試為作一卦，知位當至三公不？最近接連夢見青蠅數十隻，飛到鼻子上，驅之不肯去，有何意故？」管輅說：「現在君侯位高權重，而懷德者少，害怕你的人多，這並不是多福啊！鼻子是天中之山，越高就越能長守富貴。今青蠅是逐臭的東西，而雲集鼻子之上，盛衰禍福，不可不慎。謙惠慈和，非禮不覆，上追文王，下思孔子，然後三公可決，青蠅可驅也！」鄧颺聽了這話，大不以為然地說：「此老生之常談！」管輅回答說：「夫老生者見不生，常談者見不談（我這個老生，將要看到你們「不生」，而常談的事情中，卻能發現別人「不談」的東西）。」這是隱語，預言了他們再不知收斂將死。何晏聽後心裡也不大高興，但礙於身分不便表現出來，只說：「過歲更當相見（過年後再見面，是送客之意）。」管輅回到家把預言說給舅舅聽，他的舅舅嚇得不得了。管輅說：「與死人語，何所畏邪！鄧颺行步，筋不束骨，脈不制肉，起立傾倚，若無手足，這是鬼躁之相，將為風所收；何晏神情，魂不守舍，血不華色，精爽煙浮，容若槁木，這是鬼幽之相，將為火所燒。」舅舅聽了大怒，罵他胡說八道。過年之後，司馬懿發動高平陵之變，誅殺曹爽、何晏、鄧颺等人，夷滅三族。此時他舅舅才服了。

卜卦

管輅的卜卦也非常神準，管輅的父親管理利漕，利漕有郭恩三兄弟，都有兩腳殘廢不能行動的疾病，請管輅幫他們卜筮。管輅說：「卦中顯示，有一座你們本家的墳墓，墳中有女鬼，不是你們的伯母就是叔母，過去飢荒的時期，你們為了幾升米的利益將她推下井，還用石頭打破她的頭，她的魂魄痛苦，自訴於天。」郭恩三兄弟哭泣服罪。郭恩，字義博，有才學，善《周易》、《春秋》，懂天文。管輅曾就郭恩求學，後管輅造詣超過他，郭恩反隨管輅問難。

信都縣令家的婦女都得了怪病，請來管輅。管輅說：「你家房子北堂的西頭，有兩個死男子的墳墓，一個男子拿著弓箭射胸部，所以心痛而不想吃飯；一個男子拿著長矛刺頭部，所以頭痛而驚恐不已。」於是把墳墓的骸骨移走，「家中皆愈」。

清河人王經辭官回家，與管輅相見。王經說：「我最近有一怪，心裡不爽，請先生作卦！」管輅說：「好卦，你晚上在堂上，有一流光飛入你的懷中，你內神不安，讓婦人解開衣服找。」王經大笑說：「實如君言，那這是什麼兆頭呢？」管輅說：「吉祥啊，這是升官的兆頭啊，馬上就要喜事臨門了！」不久，王經被任命為江夏太守。王弘直在家的時候，突然颳起三尺高的飄風，反復旋轉，良久才息。管輅就說：「東方當有馬吏至，恐父哭子，如何？」第二天，膠東的官吏快馬加鞭來彙報說，王弘直的兒子已經死掉。後來有一隻雄雞，飛到王弘直家的木柱上，王弘直心中大不安。當時正是三月，管輅說：「到五月必然升遷！」五月的時候，王弘直被升遷為渤海太守。管輅曾經和自己的弟弟管季儒一同應徵，坐馬車經過武城西邊的時候，管輅自己占了一卦，以問吉凶。他對弟弟說：「當在故城中見三狸，我們這次必然成功啊！」到了河西故城邊的時候，「正見三狸共踞城側，兄弟並喜，正始九年舉秀才。」

廣平劉奉林的妻子病危，已經買了棺木棺器，當時是正月，請管輅占卜，管輅說：「命在八月辛卯日日中之時。」劉奉林不相信，後來果然如管輅所預言。

管輅去見安平太守王基，王基請他卜卦，管輅說：「有一個地位低下的婦人，生了男孩，一下地就走到灶裡頭死掉。另外，床上有一隻大蛇銜著一枝筆，過一會兒就離開了。另外，有烏鴉飛進屋內，和燕子打架，燕子死，烏鴉飛走。有這三件怪事。」王基大為吃驚，問管輅這些事的吉凶。管輅說：「房子時間久了，就會有一些魑魅魍魎作怪。有小孩子生了就會走，走進灶中死亡，這是宋無忌做的。大蛇銜筆就像老書佐罷了，烏鴉與燕子鬥，就像老鈴下罷了。卦象中沒有凶險，沒有值得憂慮的。」後來果然沒有發生什麼災禍。

正元二年管輅的弟弟管辰問管輅：「大將軍（司馬昭）對你很好，有希望得到富貴嗎？」管輅說：「老天不給我年壽，恐怕只能活到四十七、四十八歲之間，來不及看到兒女婚嫁。如果不是這樣，讓我做洛陽令，可以使路不拾遺，枹鼓不鳴。可惜我只能到太山去治鬼，不能治理活人。無可奈何。」那年的八月，管輅任少府丞，隔年二月過世，年四十八歲。

三國演義

《三國演義》稱其為「神卜管輅」，並且被曹操召去占卜于定軍山之戰，可預測到夏侯淵戰死，魯肅病死，許昌火災等等之事，無不應驗。事實上，定軍山之戰發生時，管輅只有8歲，甚至還把管輅的壽命增壽了，以及被其算卦的那些人給增壽了，例如：王基、郭恩、諸葛原等等的人物。

Stories

Putting the dead to rest

At one time, Wang Ji heard of Guan Lu's fame and invited him to visit him. One of Wang Ji's other guests said that his wife was suffering from severe headaches while his son felt pain in his heart. Wang Ji then asked Guan Lu to find out why. Guan Lu used the casting lots method and told them that there were two dead bodies buried in the west corner of the main hall and that a wall had been built across them. One of them held a spear while the other carried a bow and arrows. The spearman died from a gash in his head while the archer died after being stabbed in the heart. Wang Ji then ordered his men to start digging and they found two badly decomposed bodies fitting exactly the description given by Guan Lu. Guan Lu then instructed them to rebury the bodies three miles outside the walls. After that, the woman and the boy recovered from their headaches and heart pains.

Extending Zhao Yangs lifespan

In another story, Guan Lu once saw a youth plowing a field, approached him and asked for his name. The youth, named Zhao Yang, was only 19 years old then. Guan Lu sensed an aura of death around Zhao Yang and predicted that he would die within three days, so he advised him on how to avoid his unfortunate fate. He said, "Tomorrow, go to the forest in the south. You will see two men sitting on boulders beneath a lofty tree playing chess. The sinister-looking one will be wearing white and facing south. The other man, who looks kind, will be wearing red. They will be so deeply engrossed in their game that they will not notice anyone approaching. You must then kneel down and humbly present them food and wine. After they have accepted your offerings, you must prostrate yourself and tearfully beg them to grant you an extension on your lifespan. You will then gain an increased span of life. Above all things, you must not tell them that I told you to do this." The following day, the man in red replaced the number 9 with the number 1, which meant that he had altered Zhao Yang's fate to allow him to live until the age of 99. The two men, who were apparently deities in charge of deciding people's lifespans, then told Zhao Yang to go back to Guan Lu and warn him that if he attempted to meddle with the ways of fate again, he would suffer punishment from Heaven.

Predicting the future for Deng Yang and He Yan

Guan Lu also cast lots to predict the lives of Deng Yang and He Yan, two officials who served in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. He told them, "Gaoxin and Gaoyang aided Shun; the Duke of Zhou aided the young King Cheng of the Zhou dynasty. They were kindly, modest and happy. You, Sirs, enjoy high prestige and power, but there are many who fear you and few who respect you. You are not careful to walk in the way of good fortune. Now the nose is an eminence. If an eminence retains its characteristic, thereby it remains in honour. But is it not that blue flies gather to foul objects and the lofty fears a fall? I would wish you to give of your abundance for the good of the poor and avoid walking in the wrong road. Then indeed may you reach the highest dignity, and the blue flies will disperse".

After discussing this conversation with his uncle, Guan Lu then said: "Deng Yang's gait is that of one whose sinews are loosed from his bones, and his pulse is unsteady. When he would stand, he totters as a man without limbs. This is the aspect of a disembodied soul. He Yan looks as if his soul was about to quit its habitation. He is bloodless, and what should be solid in him is mere vapor. He looks like rotten wood. This is the aspect of a soul even now in the dark valley. Both these men will certainly soon die a violent death, and none need fear them".

Soon afterwards, both Deng Yang and He Yan met their ends in the aftermath of the Incident at Gaoping Tombs in 249, just as Guan Lu predicted. As a result, Guan Lu became famous for being one of the most skilled diviners in his time, but there were others who saw him as a mad man.

Works

Guan Lu wrote a number of texts, including:

• "A method of contacting spirits using the Yi Jing" (周易通靈決)

• "Summary of a method of contacting spirits using the Yi Jing" (周易通靈要決)

• "A classic on destroying manias" (破躁經)

• "Winnowing divination" (占箕)

These texts were lost over time in the Three Kingdoms period; only their titles were recorded in history.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Guan Lu appears as a character in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which romanticises the events in the late Eastern Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms period. In Chapter 69, around the year 217, Cao Cao summons Guan Lu and orders him to use his divination skills to predict the future. Guan Lu predicts that Xiahou Yuan will be killed in action at the Battle of Mount Dingjun, Lu Su will die of illness, a fire will break out in Xuchang, etc. All his predictions came true. Historically, however, Guan Lu was only around eight years old in 217.