History of Zhangfei Temple

A Brief Introduction to Zhangfei Temple

Zhangfei Temple was originally located on the Feifeng Mountain which is on the south bank of Yangtze River in Yunyang County of Chongqing. It was firstly built in the late Three Kingdoms Period to memorize the great general Zhangfei the State of Shu. With a history of more than 1700 years, Zhangfei Temple presents the past battles and vicissitudes of history to visitors. With a long history and profound cultural connotations, it draws numerous visitors from home and abroad. On the 5th of June in 2001, Zhangfei Temple was listed as one of the national key units to be protected.

Historical Legend of Zhangfei Temple

Zhangfei is a very strong and upright general of the State of Shu. He made great contributions to the State of Shu which is leaded by Liu Bei,a royal descendant of Han Dynasty. So he is deeply respected and revered by people. He was born in Hebei Province died in Langzhong, Sichuan Province.

According to the legend, after Guan Yu, another general of the State of Shu was killed by enemy, fiery-tempered Zhangfei arbitrarily decided to revenge for Guan Yu. He ordered his soldiers that they had to finish all the preparation works over one night and he declared that violators would be killed. Since the work was too difficult and it was impossible to complete, two of the soldiers, Zhang Da and Fan Jiang killed Zhangfei to protect themselves. Then they went to the enemy for shelter, bringing the head of Zhangfei with them. When they reached Yunyang, they heard that Zhuge Liang had settled the dispute with the enemy. So they threw the head into the Yangtze River and fled.

It is said that the loyal Zhangfei did not want to enter enemy's territory, so he told one fisherman in the dream to bury him there. In the next day, the fisherman really refloated Zhangfei's head and a jar of gold. So he built Zhangfei Temple there.

Moving History of Zhangfei Temple

Because of the Three Gorges project construction, Zhangfei Temple was moved 30 meters up the Yangtze River on the 8th of October in 2002. 126 ancient trees in the temple were also moved. It was the only cultural relic unit which was moved as a whole from a long distance. The moving work was finished and reopened on the 19th of July in 2003. Although the site of Zhangfei Temple is changed, its original shape remains sound.