Zhuge Liang

Zhuge Liang (諸葛 亮) was one of the greatest strategists of post-Han China. His courtesy name is Kongming (孔明). Zhuge is an uncommon two-character compound family name.

He advised Liu Bei, who was leading an army around Szechuan, to form a union with Sun Quan to resist the powerful warlord Cao Cao in the north. Later he helped Liu Bei found the Kingdom of Shu. In legend, he joined Liu Bei only after Liu personally visited him three times.

His union with Sun Quan broke down when Guan Yu made a surprise attack on the Kingdom of Wu. After the death of Liu Bei, he became prime minister under Liu Chen and reunited with Sun Quan. He convinced Jiang Wei, a general of Kingdom of Wei, to switch sides to the Kingdom of Shu.

In the last years of his life, he tried to attack Wei seven times, but failed. On the seventh time, he died of overwork and illness in an army camp in Wu Zhang Yuan.

His name is synonymous with wisdom in Chinese. He was believed to be the inventor of the landmine and a mysterous automatic transportation device described as a "wooden cow and floating horse" (木牛流馬). He is also credited for inventing the wheelbarrow.

He had a brother Zhuge Jin (諸葛謹) who served as a high official in the Kingdom of Wu.

See also: Three Kingdoms