Longzhong

Overview

About

The Longzhong scenic area on the outskirts of Xiangfan, Hubei, covers 209 km² in five parts: Old Longzhong, Shuijing Manor, Cheng’en Temple, Qili Hill and Hezi Valley, with historic sites among low hills.

Old Longzhong, the core, is where Zhuge Liang, later chancellor of Shu in the Three Kingdoms, farmed in retirement before he entered public life. Liu Bei’s three visits to the thatched cottage and the “Longzhong Plan” took place here. Luo Guanzhong described it in Romance of the Three Kingdoms: “the hills not high but graceful, the water not deep but clear, the land not broad but level, the woods not large but luxuriant; gibbons and cranes keep company, pines and bamboos share their green.”

At the mouth of the valley stands a three-gate stone archway carved “Old Longzhong”. On the eastern ridge of Longshan is the Wuhou Shrine dedicated to Zhuge Liang.

The ten sights are the Thatched Cottage Pavilion, the Ploughed Field, the Hall of Three Visits, the Little Rainbow Bridge, the Hexagonal Well, the Wuhou Shrine, Half-Moon Stream, the Old Dragon Cave, Liangfu Rock and the Knee-Hugging Stone.

The Longzhong Plan

Zhuge Liang’s reply to Liu Bei: “Since Dong Zhuo, heroes have risen everywhere, holding provinces and commanderies beyond counting. Cao Cao, set against Yuan Shao, was small in name and few in numbers, yet he overcame Shao, turning weakness to strength: not only by Heaven’s timing but by human planning. Now Cao holds a million men and commands the lords in the emperor’s name; with him you cannot contend. Sun Quan holds the lands east of the river for three generations; the country is strong and the people attached, the able serve him: he may be an ally but not a target. Jingzhou guards the Han and Mian to the north, reaches the southern sea for profit, joins Wu and Kuai to the east and Ba and Shu to the west, a land for arms; its lord cannot hold it, and Heaven seems to offer it to you. Will you take it? Yizhou is a natural fortress with a thousand li of fertile fields, the storehouse of heaven, from which the founder of Han built his empire. Liu Zhang is dim and weak, Zhang Lu presses from the north; the people are rich and the state wealthy, yet he does not care for them, and the wise long for an enlightened lord. You are of the imperial house, your good faith is known in the four seas, you gather heroes and thirst for the worthy. If you hold Jing and Yi, guard their passes, make peace with the Rong to the west and soothe the Yi and Yue to the south, ally with Sun Quan without and govern well within, then when the realm changes, send a general with the army of Jingzhou toward Wan and Luo while you lead the host of Yizhou out through the Qin valleys: who among the people will not welcome you with baskets of food and jars of drink? Do this, and your hegemony will be achieved and the house of Han restored.”