The Temple of Great Virtue, 13km/8 miles west of the town, dates from the Han period and is therefore more than 2000 years old. However, the original buildings were destroyed and rebuilt in the 15th c.
The complex comprises five late 15th c. pagodas standing on a base structure. In the centre, 17m/56ft high, is the round Sumptuous Pagoda of the Buddha (Duobao Fuota, 2nd half of the 15th c,), Lamaist in character and ringed by four smaller, hexagonal buildings.
On Mount Longzhongshan, among scenic surroundings 15km/9Mt miles west of Xiangfan, will be found the buildings in which Zhuge Lian, a great academic and military strategist, lived from 198 to 207. In 207 his fame reached the ears of Liu Bei, the ruler of the Shu kingdom, who thereupon journeyed here three times in order to bestow on Zhuge Liang the office of Grand Chancellor. The latter gave Liu Bei some good military advice and was consequently held to be the very embodiment of wisdom. After his death the academic was posthumously awarded the title of count.
There are many buildings on Mount Longzhongshan in memory of Zhuge Liang; most of them date originally from the Tang period (618-907) but were rebuilt during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).
The Temple of the Count (Wohou Ci) contains some of Zhuge Liang’s literary works.
The Palace of the Three Visits, so called to commemorate the meetings between Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang, contains a stela which is engraved with the advice on military policies which the sage gave to the emperor.
The Pavilion of the Thatched Hut, built on the very spot where the meetings between Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei took place, houses a stone tablet baring an inscription dated 1540.
Discovered in 1978, this tomb lies on the southern edge of Suxian, about 100km/60 miles south-east of Xiangfan. It is the last resting place of Count Yi from the state of Zeng, who lived in the early part of the Warring Kingdoms era (475-221 b.c.).
