execution

  • The fall of a Confucian idealist – Kong Rong [Three Kingdoms]

    Kong Rong (153–208 CE), the twentieth-generation descendant of Confucius, was born into a family steeped in scholarly and political prestige. His seventh-generation ancestor, Kong Ba, had served as tutor to Emperor Yuan of Han, and his father, Kong Zhou, held the post of Commandant of Taishan. Orphaned at thirteen, Kong Rong displayed exceptional moral…

  • The Fall of Lü Bu [Three Kingdoms]

    In the year 198 AD, the turbulent struggle for dominance in central China reached a critical juncture with the collapse of Lü Bu’s short-lived power in Xuzhou (Xu Province). Once a feared warrior who had twice driven Liu Bei from Xuzhou and nearly toppled Cao Cao in Yan Province, Lü Bu now faced the…

  • Sharp Knife

    During the last years of the Ming Dynasty, there were many bandits in the territory of Jinan, Shandong Province. Troops in the various counties were reinforced and they killed all they arrested.