Wolonggang Wuhou Shrine 卧龙岗武侯祠

About Wolonggang Wuhou Shrine

The shrine was first built in the Wei-Jin period and grew under the Tang and Song. Nanyang identifies Wolong Gang as the place where Zhuge Liang farmed in seclusion and where Liu Bei made his three visits to the thatched cottage; that identification is the Nanyang tradition rather than a settled historical fact. The site was listed as a national key protected cultural heritage unit in 1996, and it also operates as a second-grade national museum. It covers 120,000 square metres and retains 267 rooms.

The approach is through a stone archway inscribed 'Qiangu Renlong', nine metres high and 13.5 metres wide, built as a three-gate four-pillar tower and covered with carving. Inside, ten named features are grouped as the Ten Scenes of Wolong: the thatched cottage, the Old Cypress Pavilion, Yeyun'an, the Gonggeng Pavilion, Banyue Terrace, Xiaohong Bridge, Liangfu Rock, Baoxi Stone, Laolong Cave and the Gonggeng field. The shrine's other distinction is its stone inscriptions: more than three hundred stelae from the Han dynasty onwards, cut in regular, cursive, clerical and seal scripts.

What to look for

• The stone archway inscribed 'Qiangu Renlong' in front of the shrine, nine metres high with three gates and four pillars
• The Ten Scenes of Wolong, including the thatched cottage, the Gonggeng Pavilion and the Gonggeng field
• The collection of more than three hundred stelae from the Han dynasty onwards, in four scripts
• The cursive-script stele of the 'Chu Shi Biao', which a colophon attributes to Yue Fei writing it out at the shrine in 1138
• Laolong Cave and Baoxi Stone among the named rock and garden features on the ridge

Location & getting there

Getting to Wolonggang Wuhou Shrine

Check which interiors and courtyards are accessible. Active places of worship and protected monuments may have different visitor rules.

• Search for 卧龙岗武侯祠 with 南阳市 and 卧龙区.