Which statue of Wuhou Temple in Chengdu is not a real historical figure of the Three Kingdoms?

Wuhou Temple is the most famous tourist attraction of the Three Kingdoms in Chengdu, Sichuan. At present, there are 50 statues enshrined here, all of which are capable ministers and military commanders of Shu and Han in the Three Kingdoms period, but one statue is not a real figure of the Three Kingdoms, and this sculpture is Zhou Cang.

Speaking of Zhou Cang, people's first impression is that he led Guan Yu's foot soldiers, and later he grew into a famous general of Shu Han. However, neither Chen Shou's History of the Three Kingdoms nor Pei Songzhi's Notes on the History of the Three Kingdoms in the Southern and Northern Dynasties has the name of Zhou Cang, nor does Sima Guang's Zi Tongzhi Jian. If Zhou Cang was really a general of Shu and Han in the Three Kingdoms period, it should be recorded in these official historical materials, but after reading them one by one, there is no such person. One truth prevails. Is that Zhou Cang is not a real person in the Three Kingdoms.

Since he is not a real person in the Three Kingdoms, why is there a statue of Zhou Cang in Chengdu Wuhou Temple? All this starts with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms written by Luo Guanzhong, a writer of the Ming Dynasty. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a novel book conceived by the author with the Three Kingdoms period as the background. Because this book has a great influence on later generations, many people think that the story in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a real historical event. In fact, many characters and events in the book were invented by Mr. Luo Guanzhong for the development of the plot, and Zhou Cang was the character written by Luo Guanzhong.

According to records, there were only eight Buddha statues in Wuhou Temple in the early Ming Dynasty. Later, the rulers increased the number of statues in the temple, and it was not until the number of statues in Wuhou Temple in the Qing Dynasty reached 50, that is, in this wave of increase in the Qing Dynasty, the statues of Zhou Cang were added. According to my analysis, the statue of Zhou Cang in Qing Dynasty was probably influenced by Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms.