Wuhou Temple is located in Wuhou Street, outside the old south gate of Chengdu, and it is the ancestral temple to commemorate Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu in the Three Kingdoms. Zhuge Liang was a marquis of Wuxiang before his death, but after his death he was loyal to Wuhou, and later generations honored him as Wuhou.
there is no information about the founding date of Wuhou Temple. However, judging from the poem "where is the temple of the famous Premier, Bai Sensen outside Jin Palace" in Du Fu's poem "Shu Xiang", at least in the Tang Dynasty, Wuhou Temple had been built in the southern suburb of Chengdu with dense cypress trees. According to some data, in the Tang and Song Dynasties, Wuhou Temple was adjacent to Liubei Temple. In the early Ming Dynasty, temples were merged into one. In the late Ming Dynasty, the temple was destroyed by war. The Temple of Wuhou, which we see today, was rebuilt on the old site in the 11th year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1672). During the reconstruction, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang were worshipped separately in the front and back halls, forming a unique pattern of the temple of monarch and minister. However, the craftsmen in the Qing Dynasty skillfully highlighted Zhuge Liang's position without violating the feudal etiquette system of respecting the monarch and ministers. At present, the plaque on the main entrance of Wuhou Temple impressively reads "Zhaolie Temple of Han Dynasty". Han is the title of Liu Bei's regime and Zhaolie is posthumous title after Liu Bei's death. However, people of all ages have always called Zhuge Liang "Wuhou Temple" out of admiration and love for him.
Wuhou Temple covers an area of about 56 mu, with green cypresses and red walls. The main building is located in the north and south, and it is arranged on a central axis. There are five gates, two gates, Liu Bei Hall, Guoting Hall and Zhuge Liang Hall, and the west side is Liu Bei Cemetery. Two groups of four-in-one building structures are formed from the second gate to the Liu Bei Hall and the East-West Corridor, and from the hall to the East-West Wing of Zhuge Hall. Both sides of the axis building are equipped with garden attractions and ancillary buildings. There are 47 clay statues of historical figures of Shu and Han dynasties, more than 5 steles, more than 6 plaques and more than 1 ding, stoves, bells and drums in the temple, which can be called a museum for studying the history of Shu and Han dynasties.
on both sides of the road from the main gate to the second gate, there are six tall stone tablets. One was carved in the Tang Dynasty, one in the Ming Dynasty and the other in the Qing Dynasty. Among them, the Tang Dynasty's "Monument to the Ancestral Temple of Zhuge Wuhou, Prime Minister of Shu and Han Dynasties" is the most famous, with a height of 3.67 meters. It was carved in 89, the fourth year of Yuanhe, Tang Xianzong, and Wu Yuanheng, our envoy of Jiannan Xichuan, led 27 people to worship Zhuge Liang in Wuhou Temple. Written by Pei Du, the famous prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, written by Liu Gongzhuo, the famous calligrapher (the brother of Liu Gongquan), and engraved by LuJian, the inscription made a key comment on Zhuge Liang's short and tragic life, highly praised his literary and political skills in governing Shu, and highly praised his spirit of devoting all his efforts to reunification. In the mid-Ming Dynasty, after touring Ronghua Temple in Sichuan, he wrote a postscript for the monument, praising Pei Du's "excellent style", Liu Gongzhuo's "vigorous brushwork" and LuJian's "excellent skills", so it was later called "Three Wonders Monument". The Qing tablet records the reconstruction and maintenance of the temple, while the Ming tablet focuses on the historical evolution of the temple.
when I entered the second gate, I saw 37 stone tablets on the wall of the corridor, each with a height of 63 cm and a width of 58 cm. The inscription was Zhuge Liang's "The Teacher's Watch" before and after, which was written in calligraphy by Yue Fei, a famous anti-gold general in the Southern Song Dynasty. It is said that he stayed at Wuhou Temple in Nanyang on the way to resist gold. At the request of Taoist priests, he wrote the "Model" before and after. At that time, he was full of passion and did it in one go.
cross the resplendent second gate, and you will see the tall and spacious Liu Bei Hall. In the middle of the temple, there is a gold-plated clay statue of Liu Bei, which is 3 meters high, wearing a crown of balance, wearing a yellow robe and holding a jade in the sky, with a wide face and big ears. On the left is his grandson Liu Chen. Liu Chen, the fifth son of Liu Chan, remonstrated with his father when Wei Wargo's army advanced on Chengdu, but Liu Chan wouldn't listen. He was so angry that he went to the ancestral temple and cried, then killed his wife and then committed suicide. The original image of Liu Chan on the right side of the image of Liu Bei was destroyed in the Song Dynasty because he could not keep his father's business, and he didn't know the shame of national subjugation. Since then, his image has not been reshaped. The temples on both sides are dedicated to Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others, and the east and west corridors connected with the temples are painted clay sculptures of 28 civil servants and military commanders in Shu. On the east side, the civil servant gallery is headed by Pang Tong; The military commander gallery on the west side is led by Zhao Yun. Then go around to the temples on both sides. In the east annex, there are statues of Guan Yu's father and son and Zhou Cang, and in the west annex, there are statues of three generations of Zhang Fei's grandparents and grandchildren.
Go through the Liubei Hall, cross the bridge corridor, and you will arrive at Wuhou Temple. This temple is close to the residential style, surrounded by bamboo and peak stones. The statue of Zhuge Liang in the temple is on the niche in the middle, with a feather fan and a gold robe, staring thoughtfully. On both sides of the statue are his sons Zhuge Zhan and Sun Zhuge Shang. According to legend, the bronze drums on three sides in front of the statue were made by Zhuge Liang when he led his troops to the south. They were used to cook during the day and call the police at night. They were called "Zhuge Drum" and had exquisite patterns on them. The lintel pillars of the temple are covered with plaques left by predecessors, all of which praise Zhuge Liang's achievements and personality. One of the most famous is the couplet hanging in the center of the temple, which wrote a book for Zhao Fan, a native of Jianchuan, Yunnan Province in the late Qing Dynasty, that is, "if you can attack the heart, you will be self-defeating, and you will know from ancient times that the soldiers are not belligerent; If you don't judge the situation, you will be wrong, and then you should think deeply about it. " This couplet is the top grade in the plaque couplet of Wuhou Temple, and it is also one of our country's name couplets, which makes an objective evaluation of Zhuge Liang's use of troops and administration. In the wings on both sides of the temple, woodcut poems are displayed. In the east wing, there are woodcut "Longzhong Dui" and "A Model", and in the west wing, there are 12 Mo Bao paintings by Mao Zedong, Dong Biwu and Liang Shuming.
Out of Zhuge Liang Temple, it is Sanyi Temple, which is named after offering sacrifices to Liu, Guan and Zhang, the three sworn brothers in Taoyuan. Sanyi Temple was built in the Kangxi period of Qing Dynasty, with four entrances and five halls, and now only the worship hall and the main hall are left, forming a quadrangle layout. This temple was originally located in the prefect street in the center of Chengdu, and was moved here in 1997 for the needs of urban construction. The main hall was originally sculpted with clay statues of Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, but it was later destroyed. After relocation, it was rebuilt on the temple. In addition, 1 line-drawing stone depictions of the story of the Three Kingdoms were added to the two walls of the gallery, all of which were taken from the version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms in the Ming Dynasty.
Go west out of Sanyi Temple, walk along the corridor on the west side of Wuhou Temple, and get to the red wall, which is called "Huiling" in the history books. According to historical records, Liu Bei died of illness in Baidicheng in April 223 and was transported back to Chengdu for burial. Liu Bei's late wives Gan and Wu were also buried in the tomb. Liu Bei's Tomb's enclosure is 12 meters high, surrounded by a 18-meter-long brick wall. In front of the tomb, there is a stone tablet of "The Tomb of Emperor Zhaolie of Han Dynasty" and a sleeping hall. Wuhou Temple not only reminds people of the distant smoke of history, but also appreciates the sadness that "but before he could conquer, he was dead often makes heroes cry".