Riding the wind of rebirth

This couplet is far inferior to the couplets at the Wuhou Temple. It may be because in ancient times, due to the inconvenience of transportation, great scholars were too lazy to travel such a long distance to indulge in nostalgic sentiments.

The couplet on the left reads, "Where are the dragons and phoenixes sent by Heaven? They forever bring tears to the eyes of heroes." This couplet appears to be a collection of lines from different ancient poems, requiring skill to match and complement each other. While the second line is familiar to everyone, the first line is not from any poem, and the parallelism itself is not very strong, making it less than a masterpiece.

The couplet on the right, "Knowing the fallen phoenix would save the late emperor, I willingly yield the sleeping dragon to serve as an old minister," uses a rather good allusion. The first line tells of Pang Tong's horse stumbling, and Liu Bei exchanging his own horse for it. Upon reaching the pass, Liu Zhang's ambush troops, mistaking "the one riding the white horse must be Liu Bei," shot him with arrows. Pang Tong was killed by the arrow, while Liu Bei escaped, ultimately leaving Zhuge Liang to assist two emperors, devoting himself to the utmost.

The three couplets are not particularly beautiful in terms of wording. Compared to the exquisite couplets of Wuhou Temple in Zhouzhi, the people who come here to build a temple and worship seem to be a level below in cultural level.

However, the temple here is a stone and wood structure made from local materials, with stone walls, stone pillars, stone curtains, stone corridors and stone windows, which makes it look simple, honest and solemn. In addition, the restoration is not as exquisite as that of the Wuhou Temple. Combined with the ancient cypress road, it appears ancient and desolate, which has a different charm compared to the Wuhou Temple in the bustling city.

The shrine houses statues of Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang, and the rear corridor contains more than thirty steles from various dynasties.

The inscriptions show that Pang Tong Temple has also gone through many vicissitudes. At the end of the Chongzhen era, Sun Kewang, a general under Zhang Xianzhong, burned down Pang Tong Temple during the Battle of Baima Pass. In the 30th year of the Kangxi era, the Sichuan governor Nengtai rebuilt it. It was subsequently repaired or renovated during the Yongzheng, Qianlong, and Jiaqing eras. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it underwent a major renovation and finally became what it is today.

The last building in the ancestral temple is the Qifeng Hall. Unlike the Ershi Hall, this is a separate place to worship Pang Tong. The two couplets at the entrance are well done, which can be considered to have salvaged some points for the Pang Tong Ancestral Temple in Zhouzhi.

The first picture reads: "A true Confucian scholar does not seek fame through literature; a great man should be ready to die on the battlefield."

The second painting reads: "The Creator dislikes having too many talents; how can dragons and phoenixes be allowed to reside in one room? If you, sir, had not died, the land might not have been granted three parts."

The second line of this couplet also reflects the thoughts of countless fans of the Three Kingdoms. Although it may not conform to the actual situation during the Three Kingdoms period, it certainly conforms to the plot setting of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

For example, every time Zhou Zhi reads the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, when he gets to the part where the phoenix falls at Baima Pass, even though he knows it's not historically accurate—not to mention Pang Tong, even among historical figures of that time, there were many whose actual abilities rivaled Zhuge Liang—he can't help but sigh with regret because Luo Guanzhong's novel characters and plot designs are so brilliant.

Behind Qifeng Hall is Pang Tong's tomb. However, it is said that this is only a cenotaph, and the real tomb that Pang Tong died at Luofeng Slope is the one that Liu Bei personally chose for him.

The cenotaph here contains the blood-stained clothes worn by Pang Tong when he died from an arrow wound, so it is also called the "Blood Clothes Tomb".

The tomb of Pang Tong was erected in the 30th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign when Nengtai, the governor of Sichuan, rebuilt the Pang Tong Ancestral Hall. The tomb as a whole resembles a huge general's helmet, with a stone-carved openwork treasure top and an octagonal phoenix tail underneath. The tomb body is a solid stone-hooped cylindrical structure, and the stone tablet in front of the tomb is inscribed with "Tomb of Pang Shiyuan, Marquis of Jing of Han".

Pang Tong's death deeply saddened Liu Bei. Therefore, after becoming emperor, he first posthumously conferred upon Pang Tong the title of Marquis of Guannei. Later, when Liu Shan succeeded to the throne, he posthumously honored Pang Tong as Marquis Jing and built a shrine in front of his tomb to worship him. This is the origin of the Pang Tong Shrine and Tomb. The four people paid their respects to Pang Tong here, and after leaving the Pang Tong Shrine, they toured along the Jinniu Ancient Road.

It's another four kilometers from here to Luofengpo. Along the way, there are historical sites such as Zhang Fei's Command Platform, Bagua Valley, Huanmagou, Luofengpo, Daowan Ancient Town, and Wuding Valley. With Zhou Zhi as our free guide, we weren't just rushing to see the scenery; we also heard stories along the way, which was quite interesting.

Zhang Fei's command platform was actually a relatively flat high platform with a large flat area in front of it. It could be said that it was used for troop deployment, but it could also be an ancient tomb site that was later embellished by later generations.

"Did Zhang Fei come here too?" Li Laosan asked, recalling the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" he had read.

"Historically, Liu Bei's entry into Shu was divided into two routes: one was led by Liu Bei himself with Huang Zhong and Wei Yan, and the other was led by Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun to take over Western Sichuan."

"Yes, I still remember that part, the part where he righteously released Yan Yan."

"After Liu Bei's entry into Sichuan was blocked at Baima Pass, he summoned Zhuge Liang, who was still in Jingzhou at the time, for assistance. Zhuge Liang ordered Zhang Fei to lead the vanguard and join forces with Liu Bei. They took Ba Commandery along the way. The story of releasing Yan Yan out of righteousness happened on that march. Afterwards, all the Shu troops were persuaded to surrender by Yan Yan. Zhang Fei's arrival here was greatly accelerated, which surprised and delighted Liu Bei and boosted the morale of his army. Later, Liu Zhang asked Zhang Lu for help. Zhang Lu ordered Ma Chao, who had just joined him, to come to his aid. Zhang Fei went north to Jiameng Pass and fought a night battle with Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang then used a counter-espionage strategy to persuade Ma Chao to surrender. Ma Chao went to the city and announced that the reinforcements had surrendered to Liu Bei, which greatly demoralized Liu Zhang's army. After losing several generals, they had no choice but to surrender. Liu Bei then took over Ba and Shu."

"However, in the novel, Zhang Fei guarded the throat of Jiannan Road and did not actually participate in the battle to take over Shudu. Later, he went to guard another important road, Langzhong, the entrance to Ziwu Road. There, he could also guard the throat of the Three Gorges, which was also a great responsibility."

"I remember now." Li Laosan's mind went through Zhou Zhi's explanation: "I was wondering why I didn't remember any part about Zhang Fei conquering Chengdu. It turns out that after he mustered his troops here, he went north to fight Ma Chao!"

"I learned about what happened later. It's the Zhang Fei Temple in Yunyang! We visited it when we were doing our Three Gorges research."

Bagua Valley is actually a natural secluded valley, filled with ravines and strange rocks. Locals have associated it with the Bagua formation set up by Zhuge Liang. There is also a legend that after Sima Yi learned of Zhuge Liang's death, he led his troops to this place. As soon as he entered the valley, he got lost and thought he had fallen into Zhuge Liang's trap again. He was so frightened that he dared to retreat the way he came.

However, in Zhou Zhi's opinion, while it was certainly secluded, it was somewhat absurd to call it a battlefield, even if it was just an ambush.

However, Daowan Ancient Town outside Bagua Valley is a real ancient battlefield with authentic records.

This was also the last battle of Shu Han. Back then, Deng Ai's surprise attack on Yinping was successful. Zhuge Zhan, the son-in-law of Shu Han, led Zhang Zun (grandson of Zhang Fei), Huang Chong (son of Huang Quan), and Li Qiu (nephew of Li Hui) with the last remaining troops of Shu to fight a bloody battle against the invading Wei army. (End of this chapter)