Traveler Reviews

Read "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" before visiting
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Sep 30, 2008


Like so many tourist attractions in China, the significance of the Wuhou Memorial Temple will be lost to you if you aren't familiar with your Chinese history, in this case the famous tale of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", for this temple and its grounds commemorates the virtuous Prime Minister/Premier of the Kingdom of Shu, one of the three kingdoms, 221-263 AD. (The name "Wuhou" in Chinese means "Premier".) The name of the virtuous Premier was Zhuge Liang. The temple, like many Chinese temples, is constructed on a N-S axis, with the main entrance facing south. There are five main buildings covering a huge area of approx. 37,000 square meters with several inner courtyards (plan on a 2-hour visit to see it all): The Front Gate, the Second Gate, Liu Bei's Hall (Liu Bei was the Emperor of Shu), Zhuge Liang's Hall, and then Liu Bei's tomb. If you are familiar with the heroes of R3K, you'll be interested in knowing that the statues surrounding the Emperor Liu Bei in his hall are the famous generals Zhang Fei and Guan Yu as well as Liu Zhan, the emperor's grandson. Originally, there were two separate temples, one each dedicated to the Emperor Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang, but they were merged into one during the Ming Dynasty. That temple was later destroyed and the temple you see today was reconstructed during the Qing Dynasty, the traditional date being 1672, Do look for the English-language map of the temple complex upon entering to help you find your way. There are also courtyards of crafts for sale, particularly large stone sculptures and musical instruments. Of interest might be some ancient drums which appear to be Dongsan bronze drums.