In Chinese history, there are seven figures who are considered to be the closest to gods, of which Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen are among them. Zhuge Liang was the prime minister of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period, famous for his outstanding talent, known as "magic calculation", and was even respected as the Tianshu god in Taoism. Despite this, he is not the highest ranked among the seven figures. Liu Bowen, as the founding father of the Ming Dynasty, assisted Zhu Yuanzhang to seize the throne, and was known as the "Zhuge Wuhou" of the Ming Dynasty by the people, and even had the saying that "Zhuge Liang of the world is divided into three parts, and Liu Bowen of the country is unified".
He dabbled in a wide range of natural mysteries, human geography, astronomy and meteorology, divination and the art of war, and used it freely, turning things around for Zhu Yuanzhang at critical moments and laying the foundation of the Ming Dynasty. In addition, one of his "Song of Baked Cakes" made him known as a "half-immortal" by the folk. Zhuge Liang called himself "Mr. Wolong", and after Liu Bei visited the thatched house, he went out of the mountain to assist Liu Bei in the Quartet, and made great achievements for the revival of the Han Dynasty. His talent is reflected in many fabulous events, such as the borrowing of arrows from grass boats, the borrowing of the east wind, the empty city plan, and the battle of Chibi, etc., showing his superb knowledge of astronomy and geography and outstanding wisdom.
In addition, as an inventor, he also created many well-known inventions, among which his invention of the Eight Arrays is the most mysterious. In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Zhuge Liang's resourcefulness trapped Lu Xun, the governor of Eastern Wu, and became a legendary story, so it was praised by Du Fu as "covering three parts of the country and becoming famous as an eight-array map". In fifth place was Zhang Liang, who was highly praised under Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, and later generations called him "seeking the saint". Liu Bang once praised Zhang Liang for surpassing him in strategic planning, demonstrating Zhang Liang's outstanding strategic talent. In the process of founding the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu, and Zhang Liang's strategy could not be ignored.
He is especially famous for helping Liu Bang get out safely at the Hongmen banquet. At that time, Xiang Yu's advisor Fan Zeng planned an assassination, but with the help of Zhang Liang, the assassination attempt failed, and Liu Bang was able to get out safely, and at the same time created a gap between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang. Zhang Liang's great wisdom was fully demonstrated in this incident. The fourth was Li Chunfeng, an astronomer and Yi scholar of the Tang Dynasty. As the first person in the world to rate the wind, he showed extraordinary intelligence. At the age of 25, he had a unique insight in the field of astronomy, and after an in-depth study of Fu Renjun's "Wuyin Yuan Calendar", he put forward 18 opinions.
These proposals were very reasonable, and Li Shimin adopted seven of them and promoted him to work in the Taishi Bureau. In his research at the Taishi Bureau, he made remarkable achievements in astronomy, calendar, arithmetic, and astronomical instruments. The new armillary sphere he built was able to determine the latitude and longitude of the ecliptic, the equator, and the horizon, and made great contributions to astronomical research in China. In addition to astronomy, he also made achievements in the field of mathematics, and the ten arithmetic classics he compiled and annotated were later used as mathematics textbooks by the Guozi Jian School of Mathematics in the Tang Dynasty. His mathematical theories and methods far exceeded the ideological level of the time, and had a profound impact on the development of mathematics in China after the Tang Dynasty.
In third place was Yuan Tiangang, a renowned metaphysician in the late Sui and early Tang dynasties. When he was young, he began to learn Taoism due to his family's poverty. He was good at face-to-face, and was recruited by Tang Taizong into the palace as a think tank. How effective is his fortune-telling?Yuan Tiangang, a highly admired scholar in ancient times, it is said that his fate was unfulfilled. Du Yan, Wang Qi, Wei Ting and others have all asked him for a look. He prophesied that they would soon be in office, but they were destined not to keep it for long, and that they would meet again. Sure enough, the three were demoted to Junzhou due to a coup d'état soon after, and met Yuan Tiangang again. Not only can he see the fate of others, but he can also predict his own lifespan.
It is said that in the nineteenth year of Zhenguan, someone asked him about his future official position, but he replied: "In April this summer, my life will come to an end." Sure enough, in April of the same year, he died in Huojing County. His magical prophetic abilities are said to be a good story, and people revered him as "a generation of demons". Another highly respected celebrity is Guiguzi, who lived during the Warring States period and is a famous master of the art of war, known as the originator of the Zongheng family. The ideas of the Guigu sect he founded were fruitful. His book "Guiguzi" concentrates on the various manifestations of power intrigue and power tricks, and is still regarded as a must-read book by business and political circles, and is known as "the forbidden fruit of wisdom, the book of the world".
Guiguzi's advanced thinking, his mastery of oratorical skills, military strategy, and diplomatic negotiations, was a genius to be able to produce such profound and remarkable writings during the Warring States period. The last introduction is Jiang Ziya, a famous strategist and military strategist in the late Shang and early Zhou periods. In the ancient mythological story "Fengshen Bang", although he was not canonized as a god, his original god still maintained the guardian duty of the god list and was worshiped by the incense of the gods. To be able to hold the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Gods both during his lifetime and after his death is a testament to his extraordinary ability and contribution.
In addition to the legends in mythological stories, Jiang Ziya's contribution to the Zhou Dynasty in history is also very significant. He suggested that Ji Chang overthrow the Shang Dynasty with virtue and politics, and persuaded the princes to pay tribute to the Shang Dynasty on time to ease the vigilance of the Shang Dynasty. After secretly training soldiers and horses, the martial king Ji Chang was able to cut down, and most of this was achieved by using scheming and tricks, which is enough to show its extraordinary. After the Zhou Dynasty established power, Jiang Ziya also assisted many generations of emperors to consolidate the country and expand the territory, all of which were inseparable from his hard planning. After his death, his book "Liutao" is still studied by many people.
Jiang Ziya's thoughts were broad and profound, and he was studied by ancient celebrities such as Zhuge Liang and Guiguzi, so he deserved the reputation of "Hundred Masters", which undoubtedly made him one of the seven people closest to God in Chinese history. However, to truly praise these transcendental personalities, rankings are just a formality, and more importantly their superhuman intelligence. It is because of their wisdom that our society continues to improve, and this contribution is far from being evaluated by a simple ranking. Therefore, Jiang Ziya does deserve to be at the top.