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Panggong (Lord Pang) [Biographies of Noble Scholars]
Recluse Panggong lived humbly on Mount Xian, treating his wife with full respect. He turned down Governor Liu Biao’s official offers, arguing seclusion brings lasting peace to descendants. Later he took his family to Mount Lumen to gather herbs and never came back.
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Ren An [Biographies of Noble Scholars]
Scholar Ren An secluded himself in mountains, shunning fame and official offers, hailed as “Master Ren”. Inspired by Lu Lian’s story in *Records of the Grand Historian*, he upheld purity and inner peace, rejecting office all his life and revered as Summoned Scholar Ren.
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Zheng Xuan [Biographies of Noble Scholars]
A towering erudite of late Eastern Han, Zheng Xuan mastered classics, math and calendars. Pressured to visit General He Jin, he met him in plain commoner’s attire, left overnight, and turned down over ten official summonses all his life.
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Guan Ning [Biographies of Noble Scholars]
Fleeing Han chaos, scholar Guan Ning took refuge in Liaodong. Foreseeing Gongsun Yuan’s revolt, he returned home and declined ten imperial summons. For fifty-five years, he maintained proper sitting manners, wearing plain clothes and revered as a sage by locals.
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Jiang Gong [Biographies of Noble Scholars]
Erudite Jiang Gong cherished profound fraternal love with his brothers and taught thousands of disciples. He declined countless official summons. Seeing the court controlled by corrupt factions, he fled by sea to evade appointment and died at seventy-seven at home.