Third, Laozi was the Grand Historian and astrologer Lao Dan ( " Old Long-ears "), who lived during the reign ( 384-362 BC ) of Duke Xian ( 獻公 ) of Qin ).

By traditional Chinese historiography, no Three Kingdoms era officially existed, since in a legal sense the Mandate of Heaven was passed legitimately from the Han Emperor Xian to Cao Wei, and then on to the Jìn Dynasty.

Lü Bu's men deserted him, Yuan Shu's forces never arrived as reinforcements, and he was bound by his own subordinates Song Xian and Wei Xu and executed on Cao Cao's order.

Xian was persuaded by Cao Cao ( 155 – 220 CE ), then Governor of Yan Province in modern western Shandong and eastern Henan, to move the capital to Xuchang in 196 CE.

The " Yang Hui's triangle " was known in China in the early 11th century by the Chinese mathematician Jia Xian ( 1010 – 1070 ).

The emperor Xianzong died during the fighting and was succeeded by Modi ( Li Xian ), the last of the Tangut rulers.

Dou Xian (; Wade-Giles: Tou Hsien, d. AD 92 ) was a prominent Chinese general and statesman of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

For example, Prince Gong of the Qing Dynasty was posthumously named Zhong ( 忠 ), and thus is referred to as Prince Gongzhong ( 恭忠親王 ); Prince Chun was posthumous named Xian ( 賢 ), hence is referred Prince Chunxian ( 醇賢親王 ).

During the 1936 Xian Incident, in which Chiang was taken prisoner by his own general, Zhang Xueliang, Wang favored sending a " punitive expedition " to attack Zhang.

He Yingqin, a pro-Japanese senior general in the Kuomintang, was preparing to lead military forces to Xian from the KMT capital, Nanking at the time of the incident.

The Xian Incident is seen as turning point for the Chinese Communist Party as before the incident the party itself was facing a new round of assaults by Kuomintang forces.

Chinese nationalism had been roused by the Japanese invasion, but potential Chinese resistance was strengthened by Xian Incident leading to the United Front of Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party.

While the country was reeling in confusion, they contacted the CPC and requested a delegation be sent to Xian to discuss Chiang ’ s fate and that of the whole of China.

In 2008 an exhibit was held containing seventeen original soldiers of the Terracotta Army of the Chinese city of Xian.

In terms of seafaring abroad, arguably one of the first Chinese to sail into the Indian Ocean and to reach Sri Lanka and India by sea was the Buddhist monk Fa Xian in the early 5th century ( although diplomatic ties and land trade to Persia and India was established during the earlier Han Dynasty ).

Fa Xian was the first of the Chinese pilgrims who visited India during the reign of Gupta emperor Chandragupta II.

Fa Xian was pleased with the mildness of administration.

# In name, Guan Yu submits to the Emperor Xian ( who was actually a puppet ruler in Cao Cao's control ) and not to Cao Cao.

Sun Ce is said to have then plotted to attack Xuchang under the banner of rescuing Emperor Xian, who was a figurehead held under Cao Cao's control.

Upon hearing this news at Cao Cao's headquarters at Yecheng, Cao Pi hastily declared himself the new Prince of Wei and issuing an edict in the name of his mother, Princess Bian, before receiving an official confirmation from Emperor Xian of Han, of whom he was still technically a subject.

The former Emperor Xian was created the Duke of Shanyang.

Of particular note is the composer, Xian Xinghai, who was active during this period, and composed the Yellow River Cantata which is the most well-known of all of his works.

In his 1341 poem, The Iron Cannon Affair, one of the first accounts of the use of gunpowder artillery in China, Xian Zhang wrote that a cannonball fired from an eruptor could " pierce the heart or belly when it strikes a man or horse, and can even transfix several persons at once.

** Students from Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, and Nanjing begin protesting in Tiananmen Square.

The mounting pressure from repeated defeat on the southern frontline against Sun Jian's forces drove Emperor Xian and later Dong Zhuo himself west to Chang ' an in May 191.

In 200, Dong Cheng, an imperial relative, received a secret edict from Emperor Xian to assassinate Cao Cao.

When Cao Pi, King of Wei, usurped the throne from Emperor Xian, the Han Dynasty ceased to exist.

Emperor Xian fled from Chang ' an in 195 CE to the ruins of Luoyang.

Mural from the tomb of the prince Li Xian ( Tang Dynasty prince ) | Zhanghuai, 706 AD.

* Zhao / Jo / Cho ( 趙 ) clan's Ying family, accept from King Xiao of Zhou in Xian

Another version of the story, Ye Xian, appeared in Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang by Duan Chengshi around 860.

Cao Cao rescues Emperor Xian from Dong Zhuo's followers and establishes the new imperial court in Xuchang.

During September 2005, Colin Davis conducted an orchestra which combined students from the Juilliard and London's Royal Academy of Music at the BBC Proms, and during 2008 the Juilliard Orchestra embarked on a successful tour of China, performing concerts as part of the Cultural Olympiad in Beijing, Suzhou, and Shanghai under the expert leadership of Maestro Xian Zhang.

* 399-414: Fa Xian travels from China to India, then returns to translate Buddhist works into Chinese.

Tension between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao started to build up since Cao Cao received Emperor Xian from the old capital Luoyang, a move that Yuan Shao had considered but not acted upon, much to his regret.

He allied himself with Yuan Shu in 190 when warlords from eastern China formed a coalition to oust Dong Zhuo, a tyrannical warlord who held the puppet Emperor Xian in his power.

In decisive action, Grand Empress Dowager Wang seized power back from Emperor Ai's male favorite and likely lover Dong Xian ( who was the commander of the armed forces by this point ) and summoned Wang Mang back to the imperial government.

Sun Ce sent a letter to Yuan Shu trying to dissuade him from doing so, declaring his loyalty to the Han Emperor Xian, but his counsel fell on deaf ears.

In 195, after the death of the warlord Dong Zhuo, Xu Huang followed Yang Feng to escort Emperor Xian from Chang ' an back to Luoyang, which by then was much dilapidated.

The Grand Empress Dowager acted quickly to seize his seal and to take power back from Dong Xian, reinstating Wang Mang as the regent.

Ke Chen also invited Reverend Di Xian from Tian Tai mountain to come and lecture on Buddhism in a magnificent ceremony.

* On June 6, 1994, China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 broke up in mid-air and crashed near Xian, en route to Guangzhou from Xian.