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.