Notable people
9 peopleFigures with the most linked events, works and records.
Campaigners
Strategists
Advisers and strategists who planned for rulers and commanders
30people
Mural guide
Inside a tent at dusk, a low table holds a board of faint map-like lines with scattered black and white stones beside a feather fan, a lit lantern, an iron teapot and rolled bamboo slips, while one person sits with their back turned at the open flap, facing a river valley at sunset.
Strategists are people who devised plans for rulers or commanders, such as counsellors, persuaders and military advisers. They shaped campaigns and politics through schemes and advice without necessarily leading troops themselves. They differ from commanders in not directing battle in person, and they appear in the biographies of the Records of the Grand Historian and other standard histories and in military treatises.
People in this role
- Jiang ZiyaDates unknown; late Shang to early Zhou
- Cao GuiDates unknown; active c. 684–671 BCE
- Zhao ShuaiBirth unknown–622 BCE
- Xian ZhenBirth unknown–627 BCE
- Sun Wu (Sun Tzu)Dates unknown; late Spring and Autumn period
- Wen ZhongDates unknown; Yue minister, late Spring and Autumn period
- Fan LiDates unknown; late Spring and Autumn period
- Wu ZixuBirth unknown–484 BCE
- Sun BinDates unknown; Qi strategist of the mid-Warring States
- Wei LiaoDates unknown; came to Qin in 237 BCE
- Feng XuanDates unknown; active under King Min of Qi (c. 300–284 BCE)
- Fan JuBirth unknown–c. 255 BCE
- Yao JiaDates unknown; served King Zheng of Qin
- Fan Zeng277 BCE–204 BCE
- Zhang LiangBirth unknown–186 BCE
- Chen PingBirth unknown–179 BCE
- Li ZuocheDates unknown; active c. 204 BCE
- Hou YingDates unknown; active in 33 BCE
- Deng Yu2 CE–58 CE
- Lu Su172 CE–217 CE
- Fa Zheng176 CE–220 CE
- Pang Tong179 CE–214 CE
- Zhuge Liang181 CE–234 CE
- Ma Su190 CE–228 CE
- Zhong Hui225 CE–264 CE
No people in this role for that dynasty.