Sanyi Temple, originally known as Sanyi Ci, is located within the Wuhou Shrine in Chengdu. It was initially constructed in the early years of the Qing Kangxi era by Sichuan’s military governor, Zheng Jiaolin, on Tidu Street in Chengdu. In 1998, due to urban construction requirements, Sanyi Temple was relocated to its current position within the Wuhou Shrine.
The temple now consists of a single-entry courtyard house with a main hall, a worship hall, and two side corridors. Inside the worship hall, there are two sets of black marble portrait stone carvings measuring 2.2×2.3 meters; the eastern wall features ‘The Oath of the Peach Garden,’ while the western wall features ‘The Three Heroes Fighting against Lu Bu.’ Behind the marble portraits, there are four bluestone portrait stones, each outlined in white.
On the east side, they are ‘Zhang Fei’s Chastisement of the Postmaster,’ ‘Guan Yu’s Execution of Wen Chou at Yanjin,’ ‘Guan Yu’s Release of Cao Cao Out of Loyalty,’ and ‘Liu Bei’s Ascension as the King of Hanzhong.’ On the west side, they are ‘Guan Yu’s Bone Scraping Treatment,’ ‘Guan Yu’s Single-Blade Meeting,’ ‘Liu Bei’s Clever Marriage to Lady Sun,’ and ‘Zhang Fei’s Release of Yan Yan Out of Loyalty. ‘The main hall has five bays, is 8.5 meters deep, and features a beam structure with no colored paintings on the ceiling, but with carved decorations on the eaves. In the middle of the hall, behind the rear wall, there is an altar with statues: Liu Bei in the center, 2.8 meters tall; Guan Yu to the east and Zhang Fei to the west, both 2.6 meters tall. The statues are modeled after the descriptions in ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms,’ depicting them as young, vibrant, and dressed in plain cloth, which aligns with the characteristics of the ‘Sanyi Temple’ as a folk temple commemorating their post-oath enterprise period. The opening hours and business status are subject to the temple’s daily operations.
