Cai Yong, polite name Bojie. Is a poet, proser, calligrapher and player for old zither in East Han. He was from Jixian Town in Henan Province. Cai Yong had a complete understanding in history, literature and poetry. Besides, he was expert in Zhuan and Ni calligraphy style. He was especially famous for his Ni calligraphy style. He had composed the famous work Xiping Stone Sutra. He was also good at astronomy, mathematics, geography and music. He was a prominent leader of literature in Luoyang City.
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Cao Cao, courtesy name Mengde, nickname Ah Man，Emperor Wu of the Kingdom of Wei. The statesman, strategist and poet in the three kingdoms period. At the close of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he gradually expanded the military forces through the suppression of the Yellow Scarves Risings. After the War of Guandu, he defeated the warlord Yuan Shao and gradually unified the northern China. In the thirteenth year of the reign of Jian An, he was promoted as the prime minister of the Han Dynasty. He led the troops to the south and defeated the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei in Chibi. Later he was offered the King of Wei. His posthumous title was Emperor Wu after his son Cao Pi declared himself the emperor.
Cao Pi, courtesy name Zihuan, the second son of Cao Cao. A writer, also the founder of the Kingdom of Wei in the three kingdoms period. He came to the throne of Wei after the death of Cao Cao. Soon he declared himself the first emperor, with the capital in Luoyang, the title of the kingdom Wei. During his ruling, he implemented the system of nine grades of rank and established the political privilege of the gentry. Interested in literature, he has got achievements in both writing and theory with his masterpiece A SONG OF THE YAN COUNTRY, the first seven-character poem in China.
Cao Zhi, courtesy name Zijian, the son of Cao Cao, the brother of Cao Pi, King Si of Chen. He was most noted for his poems. More than ninety poems remain today, most of which are five-character poems. His poems best represent the achievement and characteristics of the Jian’an style and contributes to the development of five-character poems. His literary works is Collection of Cao Zijian.
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Du Fu, a famous poet in Tang Dynasty, his Zi was Zimei. There are over 1400 poems now. They deeply reflect the society of over 20 years before and after insurrection by an Lushan and Shi Siming. The poems recorded Dufu’s life experience vividly. They connected the reality with his individual life, making his ideology and artistic form united. They also represent the highest achievement of Tang poems. Thus he was called the Poem Sage.
Bai Juyi, alias: Letian, named himself Retired Scholar of Xiangshan Mount. Succeeding Tupu, he is another outstanding realistic poet with the most enormous production among poets in Tang Dynasty. His poems have a greatest characteristic of common and smooth language. His poemsSong of the Lute Player and Poem of Everlasting Sorrow are the Chinese famous works of eternity.
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Li Shangyin, polite name Yishan, He was a prominent poet in late Tang Dynasty. He and Du Mu were called Xiaolidu. He had been striving in the conflicts between the factions. He suffered a lot and had lived through his life poorly. He spent his last life in Zhengzhou until he died of illness. Most of his poetries were criticisms toward the politics, in regardless of the usurpation by the numerous the eunuchs. They were famous for its verse, which were meaningful. They were written of full literary grace and distinctive characteristics.
Han Yu, also named Han Tuizhi, was a litterateur as well as a philosopher in Tang Dynasty. He made great contributions in political and literatural field all his life, but his main achievements were made in literature. He was against Pianwen which started from Wei and Jin Dynasty and advocated the the classical Chinese literature. He had struggled strongly for a long time and was the top in “8 best litterateurs in Tang and Song Dynasty .”
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Yue Fei, alias PengJu, born poor, was recruited as “brave sodier”at the age of 20. Being tolerated in numerous battles and distinguished himself in the war, Yue was a famous general against Jin invaders in the early Southern Song. In the 10th year of Shao Xing period(A.D. 1140), he led Yue Army defeated the Jin Army to rout in Yancheng, then headed to Zhu Xian Town, and prepared to cross the river to recover the Central Plains. But the royal government enforced a surrender strategy and order him withdraw. Afterwards, he was killed by Zhao Gou and Qin Hui on some trumped-up charge.
Xu Zhuang, with the family Chen and given name Hui, was a great sutra translator in Chinese history. He opened a new era for the sutra translation history in China. At the same time he gave sermon actively. Bound up in Buddhism education, he had a lot of eminent students. Xuanzang’s sutra translation and missionizing made Chang’an the center of Buddhism in the era. Xuanzang was not only the teacher connecting the culture between China and India, he also made the countries in eastern Aisa drunk in the Chinese and Indian culture.
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Zhang Heng, also named Zhang Pingzi, was a great astrologer in Eastern Han Dynasty. He created the first armillary sphere rotating by water leaking that could perform astronomical phenomena comparatively accurately. At the same time, he created the first machine to measure the earthquake －－ the seismograph moving by wind. He not only made indelible contributions to the development of astronomy in our country, but also demonstrated his outstanding ability and extensive knowledge in mathematics, geography, painting, literature and other fields.
“What can eliminate my melancholy? Only Dukang.” Du Kang is a person who is just like a mystery in Chinese history. There are various kinds of legend about his identity and the time he lived. All the liquor makers respect Du Kang and consider him as an immortal. Gradually, Du Kang has already become a household name for good liquor.
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Zhuge Liang, also named Zhuge Kongming, was an outstanding stateman as well as a strategist in the period of Three Kingdoms. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, he retreated in Longzhong. When Liu Bei went to look for him in his house, he advised Liu Bei to cooperate with Sun Quan to beat Cao Cao. Thus the country was then trisected. When Zhuge Liang was the prime minister of Shu State, he aroused his all efforts to make the country prosperous. He judged everybody strictly on his merits. The policies carried out by him had hugely intensified the economical and cultural development.
The Empress of Tang Gao Zong, Li Zhi, the female politician of Tang Dynasty, the only female Emperor in China. After Wu crowned herself, she encouraged the development of imperial examination system and brook routes to choose talents; she rewarded farming and developed the economy; she observed and made good use of talents and welcomed advices from them. During her reign for nearly half century, the society remained stable and the economy developed, which led to a golden period of the Chinese feudal dynasty-----Kai Yuan prosperous period.
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