Chu-Ko Liang

Zhuge Liang

 or Chu-ko Liang

(born AD 181, Yangdu, Shandong province, China—died August 234, Wuzhangyuan, Shaanxi province, China) Celebrated adviser to Liu Bei, founder of the Shu-Han dynasty of the Six Dynasties period. Liu was so impressed with Zhuge that on his deathbed he urged Zhuge to take the throne himself if his own son proved incapable. A genius in mechanics and mathematics, Zhuge is credited with inventing a bow for shooting several arrows at once and with perfecting the Eight Dispositions, a series of military tactics. Supernatural powers were often ascribed to him, and he is a favourite character in Chinese plays and stories, notably Sanguozhi yanyi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms). In 1724 he was made a Confucian saint.

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Chu-Ko Liang 

Born 181; died 234. Chinese military and state figure of the Three Kingdoms period.

Chu-ko Liang was the son of a small-scale landowner. In 207 he joined the service of Liu Pei, who was fighting Ts’ao Ts’ao for power in China. In 221, Liu Pei founded the Shu kingdom and made Chu-ko Liang his chief counselor. As such, Chu-ko Liang waged war against the Wei kingdom while maintaining friendly relations with the Wu kingdom. He subjugated several south-western tribes. The military accomplishments of Chu-ko Liang are celebrated in the classic Chinese novel The Three Kingdoms (14th century).