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Yan Guang [Biographies of Noble Scholars]
Yan Guang, Emperor Guangwu’s old classmate, hid as a fisherman after the emperor took power. He treated the emperor and ministers casually, rejecting the official post of remonstrator. He farmed and fished at Fuchun Mountain and declined later summons till his death at eighty.
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The Slaughtered Ox and the Sigh: The Rise and Fall of Dong Zhuo
In 189 AD, Dong Zhuo, the Governor of Bing Province, accepted the invitation of He Jin and Yuan Shao, and marched from Chang’an to Luoyang to eliminate the powerful eunuch faction known as the Ten Attendants. He Jin and Yuan Shao had schemed meticulously, intending to use Dong Zhuo as a tiger to devour…
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Wang Ba [Biographies of Noble Scholars]
Principled Wang Ba quit officialdom under Wang Mang. Summoned in Eastern Han, he refused to address the emperor as his lord. A slander halted Hou Ba’s plan to yield his post to him. Wang retreated to a humble cottage and declined all later imperial summons.
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Min Gong [Biographies of Noble Scholars]
Upright scholar Min Gong valued dignity above all. He quit Hou Ba’s service for being ignored on state affairs and rejected later imperial summons. Declining local officials’ meat supply to avoid burdening townsfolk, he spent his final years in Pei County.
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Xiang Chang [Biographies of Noble Scholars]
Daoist recluse Xiang Chang mastered Dao De Jing and I Ching, rejecting Wang Mang’s official summons. After marrying off his children, he cut off family chores and roamed the Five Sacred Peaks with his friend Qin Qing, vanishing without a trace.