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People
Meng Tian was a general and calligrapher of the Qin, whose ancestors came from Qi and whose grandfather Meng Ao and father Meng Wu were both Qin generals. He led three hundred thousand men north against the Xiongnu, recovered the land south of the Yellow River and built the wall and a straight road. After the First Emperor's death he was ordered to die by Zhao Gao and Huhai's forged edict and took poison.[^wikidata][^zhwiki][^zhengshi]
People
Jin, of the Si clan and personal name Jin, also written Yin Jia, was the thirteenth ruler of the Xia dynasty in early Chinese antiquity and the son of Jiong. The Diwang shiji gives his reign as twenty years, and the Bamboo Annals say ten suns appeared in the sky in his time. He had no son and was succeeded by his cousin Kong Jia.[^wikidata][^zhwiki]
People
Liang Xing (died 212) was one of the Guanzhong warlords at the end of the Eastern Han. In 198 he helped kill Li Jue, who had fled to Huangbai city, and sent his head to Cao Cao. In 211 he joined Ma Chao, Han Sui and others in rising against Cao Cao, which led to the battle of Tong Pass, and in 212 he was killed in a campaign by Xiahou Yuan and Zheng Hun.[^wikidata][^zhwiki]
People
Lei Tong (died 218) was a general under Liu Bei at the end of the Eastern Han, defeated together with Wu Lan by Cao Hong's army and killed in the battle of Xiabian. The novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms also has a character of this name, a brave man short of strategy who falls into Zhang He's ambush and is cut down.[^wikidata][^zhwiki]
People
Kong Xiu is a fictional figure of Three Kingdoms storytelling; the Records of the Three Kingdoms contain no such person. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms he is Cao Cao's commander at Dongling Pass, who blocks Guan Yu for lack of a travel permit and is killed, the first of the six generals Guan Yu slays on his way through the five passes.[^zhwiki][^wikidata]
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People
Wang Zhi is a fictional character in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, set as the grand administrator of Xingyang under Cao Cao and in-law of Han Fu; the Records of the Three Kingdoms contain no such person. His plan to burn Guan Yu in his lodging at night is exposed by Hu Ban, and he is killed by Guan Yu in pursuit; Wikidata gives his death as 200.[^wikidata][^zhwiki]
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People
Wen Qin (died 258), courtesy name Zhongruo, was a man of Qiao in the state of Pei and a Cao Wei general and inspector of Yang Province. He rose with Guanqiu Jian at Shouchun against Sima Shi, fled to Wu after defeat, and was killed inside Shouchun by Zhuge Dan during Zhuge Dan's revolt. Wikidata gives 257 for his death, a year earlier than the account in the Records of the Three Kingdoms.[^zhengshi][^zhwiki][^wikidata]
People
Huan Fan (died 249), courtesy name Yuanze, was a man of Pei who became a Cao Wei official known as the 'bag of wisdom' and rose to minister of agriculture. In the coup at the Gaoping Tomb he left Luoyang to join Cao Shuang and urged him to take the emperor to Xuchang, was ignored, and was later executed with his clan.[^zhwiki][^wikidata]
People
Xin Xianying (191–269) was a daughter of Xin Pi of Cao Wei, an elder sister of Xin Chang and the wife of Yang Dan, known for her shrewd judgment of men and events. She saw misfortune in Cao Pi's joy at becoming heir, advised her brother to do his duty and leave the city with Lu Zhi during the coup at the Gaoping tombs, and foresaw that Zhong Hui would turn against the state on the Shu campaign, and warned her son Yang Xiu. She died in 269 at seventy-nine.
People
Fa Zhen (100–188), courtesy name Gaoqing, was from Mei in Fufeng and a great Confucian scholar of the Eastern Han, son of the Nanjun grand administrator Fa Xiong and grandfather of Fa Zheng of Shu Han. He knew the classics and charts inside and out and drew pupils from afar. He refused every office, including four summonses from Emperor Shun, and his friend Guo Zheng called him a teacher of a hundred generations and had a stele cut naming him Master Xuande. He died at eighty-nine in 188.
People
Yin Jiao, also written with a different second character (殷交), is a famed guardian deity of Daoism and said to be the leader of the sixty Tai Sui star lords. In Investiture of the Gods he is the crown prince of King Zhou of Shang, studies the Dao under Guangchengzi, and is sent down the mountain to help the Zhou, but is turned by Shen Gongbao, fights against the Zhou, is defeated by Jiang Ziya and Randeng Daoren, and dies by the plow. He is then made the Tai Sui spirit of the ruling year. His brother is Yin Hong.
People
Yin Hong is a character of Investiture of the Gods, said to be the second legitimate son of King Zhou of Shang by Empress Jiang and a younger brother of Yin Jiao, with the rank of commandery prince. He is rescued and taught by Chijingzi, but on going down the mountain to help the Zhou he is swayed by Shen Gongbao and fights for the Shang. His teacher captures him with the Taiji diagram and burns him to ashes, and he is later made the spirit of the star of the five grains. Daoism also honors him as a guardian deity, popularly called Little Marshal Yin.
People
Duan Zhixuan (598–642) was a general of the late Sui and early Tang and one of the twenty-four meritorious officials of the Lingyan Pavilion. He joined Li Yuan's rising, won merit at Tongguan and against Wang Shichong, and stood with Li Shimin in the Xuanwu Gate incident. Under Taizong he rose to general of the left valiant guard, was made Duke of Fan and later Duke of Bao, and died of illness in 642.
People
Lin Ruhai is a character in Dream of the Red Chamber and the father of Lin Daiyu. He comes from a noble house that has passed down its title for generations and is also a family of scholars. He passes the imperial examination as tanhua, serves as a grand master of the Lantai office, and is later posted out to Yangzhou as salt censor. His wife Jia Min is a daughter of the Lady Dowager. Their son dies at three, Jia Min dies when Daiyu is six, and he dies of illness when she is ten.
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People
Xue Lan (died 195) was a late Eastern Han figure who served as a Yan Province aide before joining Chen Gong and Zhang Miao in welcoming Lü Bu against Cao Cao. In 195 he was camped at Juye with Li Feng when Cao Cao's forces defeated and killed him.[^zhwiki][^wikidata]
People
Li Gui is a character in chapter 42 of Water Margin, a bandit in Yishui county of Yizhou who passes himself off as Li Kui. Li Kui, on his way down the mountain to fetch his mother, meets him. Li Gui lies that he has a ninety-year-old mother, is spared and given ten taels of silver, but later plots with his wife to poison Li Kui when he lodges at their house. The plot fails and Li Gui is killed. Today Li Gui, set against Li Kui, means a fake or counterfeit.
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People
Shi Zuan (died 264) was a Cao Wei general who served as Sima Zhao's chief clerk and later joined Deng Ai's invasion of Shu. He helped defeat Zhuge Zhan at Mianzhu, was given Yi Province after Shu fell, and was killed in 264 together with Deng Ai.[^zhwiki][^wikidata]
People
Han Fu is a fictional character in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, set as the grand administrator of Luoyang under Cao Cao; the Records of the Three Kingdoms contain no such person. In the passage of Guan Yu's five passes he wounds Guan Yu's left arm with a hidden arrow and is then killed by him.[^wikidata][^zhwiki]
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People
Xin Ming is a fictional character in Romance of the Three Kingdoms and a subordinate general of Yuan Shao. In the Guandu campaign, after Cao Cao's raid on Wuchao and a rumor he spread, Yuan Shao sent Xin Ming with 50,000 men to relieve Liyang.[^wikidata][^zhwiki]
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People
Huangfu Song (died 195), courtesy name Yizhen, was a Late Han general from Chaona in Anding and a nephew of the general Huangfu Gui. He helped suppress the Yellow Turban rising, killing Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao, and later survived Dong Zhuo's seizure of power before dying of illness during Li Jue's revolt.[^zhengshi][^wikidata]
People
Huang Tianhua is the eldest son of Huang Feihu in Investiture of the Gods and a disciple of the Perfected Lord of Pure Void. Taken as a pupil at three, he comes down the mountain at sixteen to help his father, kills the Four Generals of the Mo family with his heart-piercing nails, and becomes a commander of Xiqi. On the eastern campaign he is killed by Gao Jineng at Jinji Ridge, and after death is made Lord Bingling, in charge of the three mountains.
People
Huang Wenbing is a fictional character in Water Margin, an idle assistant prefect of Wuwei Army in Jiangzhou, capable but narrow-minded, fawning on the powerful and spiteful, nicknamed Wasp Sting. When he finds the rebellious poem Song Jiang wrote at Xunyang Tower he reports it eagerly, and he sees through the false letter carried by Dai Zong and urges that both men be executed, until the Liangshan band raids the execution ground and rescues them. Song Jiang then takes revenge, and Zhang Shun captures him alive and he is put to death.
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People
Zong Bao is a fictional character in Romance of the Three Kingdoms and an officer under Kong Rong, grand administrator of Beihai. When the remnant Yellow Turban leader Guan Hai attacked Beihai, Zong Bao rode out to fight and was cut down within a few bouts.[^wikidata][^zhwiki]
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People
Tang Bin (235–294), courtesy name Ruzong, was a man of Zou in the state of Lu and a general of Cao Wei and Western Jin. He took up bow and horse in youth and the classics later, served as vanguard under Wang Jun in the conquest of Wu, then commanded Youzhou, where he restored the old wall and pushed back the frontier. He died in office as governor of Yongzhou in 294 with the posthumous name Xiang.
People
Cheng Ji (died 222), courtesy name Jiran, was a man of Langzhong in Ba Commandery at the end of the Eastern Han. He once refused to lend troops to Pang Xi's suspicious scheme under Liu Zhang, later served Liu Bei, and died in 222 fighting pursuers after the defeat at Yiling.[^zhwiki][^wikidata]
People
Zhou Xingsi (died 521), courtesy name Zhizuan, was a man of Xiang in Chen commandery and an official and writer of the Liang. He went to the capital to study at thirteen, won Emperor Wu's notice with the Rhapsody on Peace and Rest, and was repeatedly commissioned to write inscriptions and proclamations, including the verse arrangement of one thousand characters from Wang Xizhi's writing, known as the Thousand Character Classic. He died in 521.
People
Zixu Shangren is a fictional Daoist in Romance of the Three Kingdoms who lives on Jinping Mountain in Yi Province and can foretell people's fates. When Liu Bei attacked Yi Province, Liu Gui and others consulted him on the way, and he wrote eight lines hinting at Pang Tong's death and Zhuge Liang's pacification of Yi.[^wikidata][^zhwiki]
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People
Si Xingfang is a character in the novel Water Margin, a subordinate of Fang Tianding, the crown prince of the rebel Fang La, and one of the four marshals of the southern realm with the title General Who Protects the State. He holds Hangzhou with Deng Yuanjue, Shi Bao and Li Tianrun, kills Lei Heng of Liangshan at Deqing, and is later defeated by Lu Junyi and Huyan Zhuo and drowns while pursuing across a stream.
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People
Liu Li, courtesy name Fengxiao, was a son of Liu Bei of Shu Han by a concubine and a half-brother of the Later Lord Liu Shan. He was made Prince of Liang in 221, re-enfeoffed as Prince of Anping in 230, and died in the seventh year of Yanxi (244) with the name Prince Dao. Wikidata's structured death year reads 224, but the Records of the Three Kingdoms and Wikidata's own description point to 244.
People
Liu Fu (2nd century – 238), also written Liu Pu, was censor-in-chief to Gongsun Yuan, the self-proclaimed King of Yan in Liaodong. He was sent with Wang Jian to ask Sima Yi to lift the siege and was executed by him. Wikidata gives his death as 239, one year later than Chinese Wikipedia.[^zhwiki][^wikidata]
People
Zhang Jie is a fictional character in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, an official of Cao Wei who holds the post of attendant gentleman of the yellow gate. When Sima Yan pressed Emperor Yuan of Wei, Cao Huan, to abdicate, he denounced Sima Yan as a usurper and was beaten to death by Sima Yan's soldiers. Wikidata records his death in 266.
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People
Liu Hongji (582–650), from Chiyang in Yongzhou, was a founding general of the Tang. He ran afoul of the law on the way to the Liaodong campaign at the end of the Sui, then served Li Yuan and Li Shimin at Taiyuan, recruited troops for the uprising and took part in the march on Chang'an. He was made Duke of Kui, died in 650, and was buried beside the Zhao Mausoleum with the posthumous name Xiang.
People
Wei Zi (died 190), courtesy name Zixu, was a Late Han man from Xiangyi in Chenliu who was recommended as filial and incorrupt. In 189 he helped Cao Cao raise troops with his own wealth, and he was killed in the fighting at Xingyang against Dong Zhuo.[^zhwiki][^wikidata]
People
Liu Guangshi (1086–1142), courtesy name Pingshu, was a general of the early Southern Song from Baoan Army and the second son of Liu Yanqing. He helped put down Fang La, held command posts across the Yangtze and Huai regions after the Song crossed south, and lost his troops in 1137 after Zhang Jun's impeachment. He died aged fifty-four and received the posthumous name Wuxi.
People
Zhang Shao is a character in Investiture of the Gods who sets up the Red Sand formation, one of the Ten Heavenly Lords of Golden Turtle Island. King Wu of Zhou goes in to break it himself and suffers for a hundred days inside before the Southern Pole Immortal rescues him. The Immortal fans away the red sand with the five-fire seven-bird fan, and the White Crane Boy gives Zhang Shao the fatal blow.
People
Zhang Gongjin (594–632), courtesy name Hongshen, was a man of Fanshui in Weizhou and an early Tang general. Before the Xuanwu Gate incident he urged the Prince of Qin to act rather than rely on divination, and during the coup he closed the gate alone against the Crown Prince's troops. As governor of Daizhou he set out six reasons to attack the Eastern Turks, served as Li Jing's deputy, and died in 632 as governor of Xiangzhou with the name Xiang.
People
Li Chunxiang is a fictional character in chapter 57 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the concubine of the attendant gentleman Huang Kui, who is secretly involved with Huang Kui's brother-in-law Miao Ze. At Miao Ze's urging she draws out Huang Kui's plan to kill Cao Cao and tells Miao Ze, who informs Cao Cao, and Huang Kui and Ma Teng are killed. Cao Cao despises Miao Ze for it and has him and Li Chunxiang executed together.
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People
Li Fu, courtesy name Sunde, was an official of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period. Wikidata records his birth in 195 and his birth place as Mianyang. After Liu Bei took Yi province he served as clerk, magistrate of Xichongguo and magistrate of Chengdu, and in the Jianxing years as grand administrator of Baxi and other posts. On orders he visited the ill Zhuge Liang and carried his last words back to the emperor. He died of illness not long after the first year of Yanxi.
People
Yue Yun (1119–1141), courtesy name Yingxiang, style name Huiqing, was a man of Tangyin in Xiangzhou and the eldest son of the Southern Song general Yue Fei. He joined the army at twelve, led the climb up the walls with two iron mallets in the recovery of the Xiangyang region, and rose to Left Martial Grand Master and defense commissioner of Zhongzhou. After his father was stripped of command in 1141, Qin Gui and Zhang Jun framed him and Zhang Xian, and he was executed with Zhang Xian.
People
Cao Xun (died 249) was a man of Qiao county in the commandery of Qiao, a son of Cao Zhen and younger brother of Cao Shuang in Cao Wei, enfeoffed as Marquis of Wansui Pavilion. Cao Shuang made him general of the guards while he held the regency. After the coup at the Gaoping tombs in 249 Cao Shuang and all his brothers were beheaded for treason, and Cao Xun's three clans were exterminated.
People
Cao Yan (died 249) was a man of Qiao county in the commandery of Qiao, a son of Cao Zhen and younger brother of Cao Shuang in Cao Wei. When Cao Shuang held the regency he made him an attendant at court. In 249 Cao Shuang accompanied Emperor Cao Fang on a visit to the Gaoping tombs and Sima Yi seized power. Cao Yan was dismissed and soon beheaded for treason, with his three clans exterminated.
People
Puxian Zhenren is a character of Investiture of the Gods, a disciple of the Primordial Heavenly Worthy and one of the twelve immortals of Kunlun, with his own cave on Mount Jiugong and the disciple Mu Zha. In the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation he subdues Lingya Xian, who reverts to a white elephant and becomes his mount. He later turns to the West and becomes the bodhisattva Puxian.
People
Cao E (130 – 143) was a filial daughter of the Eastern Han from Shangyu in Kuaiji. In the second year of Han'an her father Cao Xu drowned in the river during a rite, and his body was not found. At fourteen she wept along the river for seventeen days and then threw herself in. In the first year of Yuanjia the magistrate Du Shang reburied her and set up a stele, and she came to be honored as a water spirit.
People
Zhong Jin is a fictional character in Romance of the Three Kingdoms who does not appear in the standard histories. He is the younger brother of Zhong Yao, governor of Chang'an, and a commander under Cao Cao in the novel. When Ma Chao attacks Chang'an, he guards the west gate and is cut down by Pang De when he runs to put out a fire at night.
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People
Lady You is the wife of Jia Zhen and the legal mother of Jia Rong in Dream of the Red Chamber, the mistress who runs the Ningguo house, described as a gourd with its mouth sawn off. When her daughter-in-law Qin Keqing died she fell ill and Jia Zhen asked Wang Xifeng of the Rong house to manage the household. She tried hard to stop the marriage of You Erjie but failed. The sources give no personal name.
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People
Jieyin Daoren is a character of Investiture of the Gods and, with Zhunti Daoren, a head of the Western teaching, whose role is to lead immortals of the Chan and Jie teachings who have a bond with the West to the West. He is sixteen chi tall and wears his hair in a topknot, and his treasures are the sarira, the green-lotus banner, a whisk and the pouch of heaven and earth. In the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation he gathers into the pouch all who share that bond.
People
Wang Jin is the arms instructor of the eight-hundred-thousand imperial guards at Dongjing in the novel Water Margin, skilled in all eighteen weapons and above all in the staff. Having offended the grand commandant Gao Qiu, he flees by night with his mother, teaches and takes Shi Jin as a pupil at the Shi estate, then goes on to Yan'an, after which he does not appear in the book. The Chinese Wikipedia article says a historical person of this name also existed.
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People
Cihang Daoren is a character of Investiture of the Gods, corresponding to the Daoist goddess Cihang Zhenren. The novel makes her a disciple of the Primordial Heavenly Worthy, one of the twelve immortals of Kunlun with her own cave on Mount Putuo, who later joins the Western Buddhist teaching. The cited article notes that the novel merges her with the Buddhist Guanyin.
People
Su Yuanjing is a grand commandant of the court in the novel Water Margin, who fits a prophecy of the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens. Honest, loyal and upright, he strongly favors amnesty for Liangshan. The court sends edicts three times, and only the third, carried by him, succeeds. The Liangshan heroes also rely on his protection whenever they fall into danger.
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People
Ning Sui is a fictional character in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a Shu Han general serving as Jiang Wei's deputy. In the Wei conquest of Shu, the Wei general Zhuge Xu holds the Yinping bridgehead to cut off Jiang Wei's retreat, and Ning Sui proposes striking what the enemy must rescue: Jiang Wei should feign an attack on Yongzhou to draw Zhuge Xu back.
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