Wishing there was somebody as capable as Zhuge to end the war and the suffering of the people, Du made a special visit to the Temple of Marquis Wu the following spring, writing the poem Shu Premier with the following lines:

Looking for the temple

To Zhuge Liang I find it

Outside the city under

Cypresses; green grasses

Among the paving stones

Reminding of spring, little birds

Hidden among the branches all twittering; and I think of how

Three times Liu Bei called

Zhuge Liang to serve him, how then

Two reigns gave this statesman

Room to plan; sad that he had

To die before he gained victory,

Leaving great men of

Succeeding generations

Wetting sleeves with tears.

Liu Xiang's last words "The war of resistance against Japan will be fought to the end, and the Sichuan army will swear not to return home until the enemy withdraws from Chinese territory" were recited by Sichuan soldiers on the front line during their morning flag-raising ceremony to encourage them in the fight against the invaders.

In February 1938, the Kuomintang government ordered a state funeral for Liu Xiang, and the tomb site was selected to the west of the temple's cultural relics area. Construction of the tomb was finished in early 1940.

Moved by his patriotism, visitors to the tomb place chrysanthemums there.

Contact the writers at huangzhiling@chinadaily.com.cn