Some sources report that the 3rd-century Chancellor ( China ) Zhuge Liang of the Kingdom of Shu in China invented a land mine type device.

* Zhuge Liang, known as the greatest strategist during the period of the Three Kingdoms

* An early type of hot air balloon used for military signalling, known as the Kongming lantern was said to be invented by Zhuge Liang.

* Some sources report that Zhuge Liang invented a primitive land mine type device.

* Zhuge Shang, son of Zhuge Zhan, grandson of Zhuge Liang ( d. 263 )

* Sima Yi, strategist of Wei and rival of Zhuge Liang ( b. 179 )

* Zhuge Ke, son of Zhuge Jin, nephew of Zhuge Liang, officer of the Wu Kingdom ( b. 203 )

Many famous personages in Chinese history were born during this period, including Hua Tuo and the great military strategist Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang of the Shu Han kingdom, in the Three Kingdoms era ( 220 – 280 AD ) used airborne lanterns for military signaling.

* Zhuge Jin, minister of the Chinese Kingdom of Wu, older brother of Zhuge Liang ( b. 174 )

* Zhuge Liang, Chancellor of Shu Han, embarks on his last Northern Expedition against Cao Wei.

* Wei Yan is executed for treason after refusing to accept orders from Zhuge Liang.

* Zhuge Liang of the Shu Kingdom in China ( on the Wuzhang Plains in a battle against the Kingdom of Wei ) ( b. 181 )

Shu chancellor Zhuge Liang invented the wooden ox, suggested to be an early form of the wheelbarrow, and improved on the repeating crossbow.

* Zhuge Dan, relative and cousin of Zhuge Liang who rebelled against the Wei Kingdom

* Zhuge Shang, son of Zhuge Zhan, grandson of Zhuge Liang ( b. 245 )

* Zhuge Zhan, general of Shu, son of Zhuge Liang ( b. 227 )

For example, he correctly trusted the faithful Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin, so much so that he made a duplicate imperial seal and left it with Lu Xun ; whenever he would correspond with Shu's emperor Liu Shan or regent Zhuge Liang, he would deliver the letter to Lu Xun first ( as Lu's post was near the Shu border ), and then if, in Lu's opinion, changes were needed, he would revise the letter and then restamp it with Sun's imperial seal.

In 234, in coordination with Zhuge Liang's final northern expedition against Wei, Sun Quan personally led a major attack against Wei's border city Hefei, while having Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin attack Xiangyang, with the strategy of trying to attract Wei relief forces and then attacking them.

That year, he also recognized how his head secretary Lü Yi ( 呂壹 ) had been falsely accusing his officials, and had Lü executed ; he then further confirmed his trust in the high level officials by personally writing an emotional letter to Zhuge Jin, Bu Zhi, Zhu Ran, and Lü Dai, blaming himself for the recent problems with his administration while urging them to speak out honestly whenever they saw faults in him.

After his escape, Lu Xun acknowledged that he could never better Zhuge Liang in terms of intelligence, and then ordered a withdrawal because he feared that Wei might take advantage of the situation to attack Wu.

" Liu Bei then ordered his son, Liu Shan, to administer state affairs together with Zhuge Liang and regard Zhuge as his father.

In 228, Zhuge Liang launched his Northern Expeditions against Wei, Ma Su also proposed a plot to remove Sima Yi from command by causing discord within Wei by spreading rumors that Sima Yi intended to rebel and Cao Rui then removed him from command.

Sima Yi then told an aide that Zhuge Liang would not last long.

He then traveled back to Zhuge Liang who rewarded him with the first grade of merit for his attempt.

He then sent someone to Yang Yi and the others, and discovered that the various encampments were returning, according to Zhuge Liang's plan to retreat.

He also told Liu Bei about his classmate Zhuge Liang, and mentioned that Zhuge Liang is more capable then himself.

" Zhuge Liang then marched towards Dian Lake in triumph.

Zhuge Liang then returned north, not stationing any soldiers, only requiring the locals to pay tribute.

In folklore, Zhuge Liang became ill from the marshes but then recovered.

Locals informed him that the barbarians would sacrifice 50 men and throw their heads into the river to appease the river spirit and allow them to cross ; Zhuge Liang, however, did not want to cause any more bloodshed, and instead ordered buns shaped roughly like human heads — round with a flat base — to be made and then thrown into the river.

A barbarian lord informed him, in olden days, the barbarians would sacrifice 50 men and throw their heads into the river to appease the river spirit and allow them to cross ; Zhuge Liang, however, did not want to cause any more bloodshed, and instead killed the cows and horses the army brought along, and filled their meat into buns shaped roughly like human heads-round with a flat base-to be made and then thrown into the river.

Zhuge Liang's successor, Yang Yi, then turned around, pretending to strike in full scale by devastating the vanguard of Wei.

He then followed Prime Minister Zhuge Liang on the Northern Expeditions against the rival state of Wei.

Cao Zhen then made use of his better trained soldiers to defeat Zhao, who was only given weaker troops by Zhuge, forcing the latter to retreat, but gave up pursuit on the latter.

He then proposed a shift from defensive to offensive stance, with a multi-pronged attack on Hanzhong, primary base of Zhuge Liang's intrusions.

Writing later in the 11th century, the Song Dynasty ( 960 – 1279 ) scholar Gao Cheng wrote that the small wheelbarrow of his day, with shafts pointing forward ( so that it was pulled ), was the direct descendent of Zhuge Liang's wooden ox.

Zhuge Jin, one of the generals leading the campaign, began to panic and wrote to Lu Xun, seeking advice on how to retreat ; Lu Xun did not reply, but instead spent his time playing chess and planting beans.

When the Battle of Yiling broke out, Zhuge Jin wrote a letter to Liu Bei, asking him to abort the operation, but Liu Bei refused.

When Sun Deng had his secretary Hu Zong ( 胡綜 ) write a commentary about his advisors in 229, Hu wrote that Zhuge was the most intelligent and skillful of his generation.

Knowing that he had to submit to the senior Lu Xun, Zhuge wrote back and apologized.