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Li Hong [Biographies of Noble Scholars]
Li Hong’s moral conduct harmonized his neighborhood. Summoned as magistrate, he delayed departure for a month then fled to avoid office. Scholar Yang Xiong admired his balanced stance, neither extreme reclusiveness like Boyi nor over-accommodation like Liuxia Hui.
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Zheng Pu [Biographies of Noble Scholars]
Zheng Pu, a virtuous Western Han hermit, declined official offers from powerful General Wang Feng. Farming under Yan Stones, he won wide fame and high praise from scholar Yang Xiong. Locals erected a stone stele and shrine to honor him for generations.
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Han Shun [Biographies of Noble Scholars]
Scholar Han Shun declined official summons and hid in Zhongnan Mountains amid late Wang Mang turmoil. Warlord Wei Xiao sent lavish gifts to invite him as tutor, yet Han insisted Wei visit him in mountains. While Wei’s faction perished, Han lived purely in seclusion till death.
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The Old Man of Pengcheng [Biographies of Noble Scholars]
The unnamed Daoist Old Man of Pengcheng lived secluded over ninety years. He mourned Gong Sheng, who starved himself rather than serve Wang Mang, lamenting fame brought the scholar’s premature death, seeing such martyrdom contradict Daoist self-preservation.
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Yan Zun [Biographies of Noble Scholars]
Daoist hermit Yan Zun earned a living by divination in Chengdu and declined official offers. He argued true wealth lies in inner peace rather than material gains, rejecting a rich man’s aid and claiming fortune and fame harm one’s spirit.
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Zhang Zhongwei [Biographies of Noble Scholars]
Zhang Zhongwei and Wei Jingqing studied Dao De Jing and lived in seclusion without official posts. Skilled in astronomy, nature studies and writing, he dwelt in a shabby grassy cottage, shunning fame. Only his friend Liu Gong appreciated his wisdom.