Prominently at the top of the Beigu Hill in Zhenjiang with breathtaking scenery and grandeur, Ganlu Temple is eminently known for the story of “Joust for a Spouse at Ganlu Temple”. Legends pass on that Ganlu Temple was where Wu Guotai, Sun Quan, and Qiao Guolao held the banquet to receive Liu Bei. The Hen Rock, resembling a hornless goat, was said to be beheaded by Liu Bei with a sword. The trail in the northwest of the mountain was said to be the “Zou Ma Gully” where Liu Bei and Sun Quan raced their horses. Duojing Tower, one of the three famous towers along Yangtze River, was believed to be the boudoir of Sun Shangxiang, Sun Quan’s younger sister. Lingyun Pavilion in the southeast of the mountain was where Sun Shangxiang held memorial ceremonies for Liu Bei, for which it is also known as Jijiang Pavilion.
One of the most convincing historical facts among these relics from the Three Kingdoms must be the Hen Rock, second only to the Tieweng Cheng (Iron Vat City). According to Volume 21 of Zhi Shun Zhenjiang Chronicles from the Yuan Dynasty, which cites Yu Di Chorography by Gu Yewang from the Southern Dynasties: “Shiyang Alley that sits in the south of the city was a tunnel of Sun Quan during the reign of Wu State. Liu Bei visited Sun Quan for a hunt together. They both bagged only a goat because of drunkenness.” Luo Yin, a poem from Tang Dynasty annotated in his poem Story from the Stone Goat before Miaoshan Temple in Runzhou: Legend has it that the two warlords, Sun Quan of Wu State and Liu Bei of Shu State, used to meet here. Su Dongpo wrote in the foreword to Poem of Ganlu Temple: “The Temple is guarded by a stone goat called Hen Rock. Zhuge Liang and Sun Quan used to sit on this rock to discuss their strategies against Cao Cao.” This demonstrates that the Hen Rock existed in Beigu Hill long before the Southern Dynasties, making it convincing evidence of the stories from the Three Kingdoms.
Regarding Liu Bei’s Jousting for a Spouse, Chapter 54 of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms titled “Wu Guotai Sees the Bridegroom at Taifo Temple; Liu Bei Holds a Wedding with a New Wife” paints a vivid picture. The story goes that after the Battle of the Red Cliff, Sun Quan took Zhou Yu’s advice to marry his young sister to Liu Bei in order to recapture Jingzhou occupied by Liu Bei, so that when Liu Bei visited Zhenjiang, he would be taken hostage, and if Liu Bei refused to hand back Jingzhou, he would kill him. But they did not expect that Zhuge Liang saw through their plot right away. Zhuge Liang turned their trick to his own use and proposed three schemes that managed to fulfill the marriage deal. Liu Bei not only married Sun Quan’s younger sister, Sun Shangxiang, but also brought her out of Wu State. When Sun Quan and Zhou Yu later sent troops to catch them, Zhuge Liang ambushed these troops. This is the well-known saying “give one's enemy a wife and lose one's soldiers as well”. Liu Bei’s marrying the beauty and managing to get out of the trap are known as a proverb in Zhenjiang “Rowing dragon boats right after eating rice dumplings, what a blessing!”
Although Liu Bei’s Jousting for a Spouse is more or less fictional, the main characters and events in the story are based on historical records. According to ancient books and records including The History of the Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou from the Western Jin Dynasty, Notes on History of the Three Kingdoms by Lu Bi from the Republic of China era, History as a Mirror by Sima Guang from the Northern Song Dynasty and Zhi Shun Zhenjiang Chronicles from Yuan Dynasty, Liu Bei did visit Zhenjiang and Sun Shangxiang was indeed the daughter of Sun Jian, Yu State’s general, and her maiden name was Renxian. As the first lady of Jiangdong, she was valiant and agile, much resembling her brothers. In the “Biography of Former King” Volume of The History of the Three Kingdoms, it is recorded that in the 14th year of Jian’an (A.D. 209), shortly after the Battle of the Red Cliff, Liu Qi died of illness, “the officials elected Liu Bei as the governor of Jingzhou with administration over Gong’an County. Sun Quan grew afraid of him, so he thought of marrying her younger sister to Liu Bei to form an alliance by marriage. Liu Bei visited Sun Quan in Jingkou. The two got along in a respectful and friendly manner.” In the winter of the 14th year of Jian’an (A.D. 209), when Liu Bei went on an expedition into Sichuan, Sun Quan slyly declared his mother ill, and “sent fleets to force his younger sister to return to Wu State. From then on, Liu Bei and his wife were separated and unable to reunite.” In A.D. 222, Sun Shangxiang fell into despair when she heard Liu Bei had died in the Battle of Guo Ting. She later rode to the riverside, jumped into the river and drowned herself as she cried looking to the west.
Historical novels are based on partly history and partly fiction. The dispute over Jingzhou between Wu State and Liu Bei and Liu Bei’s visit to Jingzhou are both historical facts. However, the “lending” of Jingzhou and the alliance by marriage together are not causally related, but recreation by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms based on actual events.
As the Romance of the Kingdoms went on to become a classic, the world began to know Ganlu Temple. Ganlu Temple, an ancient temple in Zhenjiang, was palatial during its heyday in late Ming Dynasty. Built upon the tradition of Chinese Buddhist temples, Ganlu Temple is fully fledged and well equipped, consisting of the Main Shrine Hall, Hall of Heavenly Kings, Guanyin Shrine, Hall of Samgha-arama, Depository of Buddhist Sutras, Bell Tower, Sanyuan Shrine, Wusheng Shrine, Hall of Patriarch, Great Buddha Hall, Maitreya Hall, and Haimeng Hall, Zen Hall, Shuilu Hall, Leiyin Hall, Huchi Hall, Guest Hall, Zunsheng Hall, and Iron Tower, and the Pond of Release, in addition to 128 rooms for monks. On its periphery were 21 structures including the Guanyin Nunnery, Taiping Nunnery, and Huilian Nunnery.
