The layout of Liu Bei’s Hall
Behind the second gate of the Wuhou Temple is the Hall of Liu Bei, the emperor of the Shu Kingdom. In the middle of the hall is enshrined the gilded sitting statue of Liu, flanked by his grandson. The statue of Liu Bei, three meters high, wears a crown and yellow gown, looking very solemn. Two attendants stand on each side, holding a jade seal and a sword respectively. In the wing halls are enshrined the statues of General Guan Yu who has a red face, and General Zhang Fei with a black face. The east and west corridors where the colorful clay figures of twenty-eight officials and generals stand, are connected with the wing halls.
Liu Bei was born in ZhuoZhou of Heibei Province with a literary name Xuan De. At the age of twenty-four, he summoned Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to take part in the campaign against the Yellow-Towed Uprising of peasants. Liu Bei was ambitious, honest and courteous to his subjects. He called on Zhuge Liang at his thatched cottage three times, and entreated him to be his military counselor. After more than 20 years of arduous battles the finally occupied Yizhou( today’s Chengdu), where he proclaimed himself emperor in 221 A.D.
In the east chamber of Liu Bei’s Hall are the statues of Guan Yu, his sons GuanPing and Guan Xing, as well as those of Zhou Cang and Zhao Lei. Guan Yu was a tough and stocky general known to every household in China. The statue of Guan Yu is two meters high, dressed like an emperor in a golden gown, holding an ivory slip in his hands. Guan Yu was also known as Guan Yunchang. Guan and Zhang followed Liu Bei on his expedition from the very beginning. And they treated each other like brothers. Legend has it that they became the sworn brothers in the Peach Garden and treated each other like brothers ever since. In the Annals of the three Kingdoms written by Chen Shou, he was portrayed as "haughty to officials but kind to soldiers". His arrogance and underestimating the enemy resulted in his tragic failure.
The statues of Zhang Fei and his descendants are enshrined in the west chamber. Zhang Fei is characterized by his stalwart and ferocious manner. Zhang Fei styled himself Zhang Yide. In his early years, he began to assist Liu Bei in contending for the throne. Valiant at fighting, he was as equally famous as Guan Yu. The Annals of the Three Kingdoms acclaims him as a man who "paid tribute to superiors but spared no pity for humble people." Zhang Fei was apt to fly into a rage and whip his subordinates. Ironically, he was beheaded by his subordinates Fan Qiang and Zhang Da, who intended to present his head to the King of Wu Kingdom for money and their promotion. On the way they heard that the Shu and Wu had reached a compromise to end the war, they threw the Zhang’s head into the Yangtze River. A fisherman took the head out of the water and buried it in Yunyang. Zhang’s body was buried later in Langzhong, another place of Sichuan Province.
Please write you comment here