001 Architecture Wuhou Shrine In the third year of the Zhangwu reign of Shu Han (223), Liu Bei was buried in the Huiling Mausoleum in Chengdu; the Temple of the Former Sovereign founded under the Southern Qi and the Wuhou Shrine that appeared during the Northern and Southern Dynasties thereafter stood separately beside the tomb. In the twenty-fourth year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming (1391), Zhu Chun, Prince Xian of Shu, abolished the separate shrine to Marquis Wu and moved Zhuge Liang into the Temple of Emperor Zhaolie of Han; after the rebuilding in the Kangxi reign of the Qing, Liu Bei came to occupy the front and Zhuge Liang the rear. The main gate still bears the plaque “Temple of Emperor Zhaolie of Han,” while the whole joint mausoleum-temple of sovereign and minister is popularly known as the “Wuhou Shrine.” Shu Han Wuhou District, Chengdu, Sichuan Province Wuhou Shrine · Chengdu Wuhou Shrine · Temple of Emperor Zhaolie of Han →
002 Architecture Foguang Temple Foguang Temple lies in Wutai County, Shanxi, and takes its name from an auspicious response of "Buddha's light." In the fifth year of the Dali era of the Tang, the monk Facao saw several beams of white light to the temple's south; during the Yuanhe era there was a memorial reporting that "auspicious clouds appeared beside Foguang Temple." The Dunhuang Record of a Journey to Mount Wutai describes its seven-bay great Buddha hall and its three-story, seven-bay Maitreya pavilion; after the Huichang persecution the monk Yuancheng "sought out Foguang Temple anew" and rebuilt it step by step. The East Hall that survives today is a relic of that reconstruction. Tang Dynasty Wutai County, Shanxi Province Foguang Temple · Great Foguang Temple · Wutai County →