Zhuge Liang
Chinese statesman and military strategist (181–234)
Zhuge Liang () (23 July 181 AD – 8 October 234 AD), courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman and strategist who lived through the collapse of the Eastern Han dynasty and became the principal architect of the Shu Han state. He served as chancellor under its founding emperor Liu Bei from 221 and as regent to the young emperor Liu Shan after 223 until his death.
Orphaned early, Zhuge Liang followed his uncle to Jing Province and later lived in seclusion at Longzhong, where his intellect and ambitions earned him the sobriquet "Sleeping Dragon". Liu Bei sought him out three times, after which Zhuge Liang proposed the Longzhong Plan: securing Jing and Yi provinces, allying with Eastern Wu, and resisting Cao Wei. He subsequently served as Liu Bei's chief strategist and played a key role in the alliance that led to Cao Cao's defeat at the Battle of Red Cliffs.
After helping found Shu Han, Zhuge Liang exercised near-total authority over both civil and military affairs. He governed with strict discipline and clear laws, emphasizing meritocratic appointments, agricultural development, and administrative integrity. His political thought blended Confucianism with Legalism, advocating benevolence alongside firm institutions and impartial rewards and punishments. Militarily, he pacified the southwest and led repeated northern expeditions against Cao Wei, including the Battle of Mount Qi. His Chu Shi Biao, an address of loyalty and statecraft to Liu Shan, is regarded as a masterpiece of Chinese prose.
“Zhuge Liang” enters the record as chinese statesman and military strategist (181–234). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Zhuge, Liang and Chinese can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q198211. VIAF identifies the subject as 116860427. The Library of Congress control number is n80017873. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Zhuge Liang” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.