Kong Rong (153–208) was a politician, scholar, and minor warlord of the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was also a 20th generation descendant of Kong Qiu (Confucius). As he was once the chancellor of Beihai Commandery (present-day Weifang, Shandong), he was also known as Kong Beihai. He was defeated by Yuan Tan in 196 and escaped to the capital Xuchang. For being a political opponent of Cao Cao and humiliating him on multiple occasions, Kong Rong was eventually put to death on various charges.

Famed for his quick wits and elaborate literary style, Kong Rong was ranked among the Seven Scholars of Jian'an, a group of representative literati of his time. However, most of his works had been lost. Those that survived can be found in compilations from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

A well-known story commonly used to educate children even nowadays on the values of courtesy and fraternal love involves a four-year-old Kong Rong giving up the larger pears to his older and younger brothers. This story, commonly known as "Kong Rong giving up pears" (孔融讓梨), is also mentioned in the Three Character Classic, a text used for elementary education since the Song Dynasty.

Stella is the stage name of Stella Huang (Chinese: 黃湘怡; pinyin: Huáng Xiāng Yí; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: N̂g Siong-î), born December 17, 1980, as Stella Ng, a singer-actress and former model who has become a pop star in much of the Chinese-speaking world, including Hong Kong and Taiwan. Stella was educated at Crescent Girls' School, Anglo-Chinese Junior College, and the National University of Singapore. Though born in Singapore, in recent years, she has primarily resided and worked in Taiwan.

Apart from her duties as a recording artist, she also acts for a variety of television serials in Taiwan and Singapore. Some of her serials have included a lead role as Sam in MediaCorp's Beautiful Trio with award-winning veteran actresses Huang Biren and Ivy Lee, and a role in the China action film Kung Fu Girls, where she also performed the theme song of the soundtrack to the film. She starred as the lead character in the 2002 television series Marmalade Boy, for which she also sang the theme song, "溫室的花 Wēnshì de Huā (Greenhouse Flower)".

Liu Bei (Mandarin pronunciation: [ljoʊ peɪ]; 161 – 10 June 223), also known as Liu Xuande, was a warlord, military general and later the founding emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. Despite having a later start than his rivals and lacking both the material resources and social status they commanded, Liu Bei overcame his many defeats to carve out his own realm, which at its peak spanned modern day Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan, part of Hubei and part of Gansu.

Culturally, due to the popularity of the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, Liu Bei is widely known as the ideal benevolent, humane ruler who cared for his people and selected good advisors for his government. His fictional character was a salutary example of a ruler who adhered to the Confucian set of moral values, such as loyalty and compassion. Historically, Liu Bei was a brilliant politician and leader whose skill was a remarkable demonstration of a Legalist. His political philosophy can best be described by the Chinese idiom "Confucian in appearance but Legalist in substance (Chinese: 儒表法裡; pinyin: rú biǎo fǎ lǐ," a style of governing which had become the norm after the founding of the Han Dynasty.

Taishi Ci (166–206) was a military general during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He served several warlords, including Kong Rong, Liu Yao, and Sun Ce.

Taishi Ci was born in Huangxian of Donglai commandery (東萊, present day Shandong) where he studied hard, looked after his mother and was known throughout the province for his fealty, bravery, loyalty, and ingenuity. According to the Records of Three Kingdoms, he was an excellent archer with a beautiful beard and long arms, his height was about 178 cm. When Taishi Ci was 21, he served as a low ranking official in Donglai. In 186, the Administrator of Donglai, Taishi Ci's superior, was at odds with his own superior, the provincial office of Qing Province (青州). Both sent letters of complaints to Luoyang, the imperial capital, to directly voice their discontent against each other. However, the Han government by that time was so corrupt and weak that it was no longer capable of conducting a thorough and unbiased investigation on its own. Instead, the imperial court often made the decision based on whoever sent the news to the imperial court first, as the incompetent court assumed that the first one was usually the good one. The Administrator of Donglai learned that the provincial office had already sent his envoy to the imperial capital and he was obviously anxious, so the others recommended Taishi Ci to deliver their own letter of complaint to Luoyang, even if their adversary's envoy reached the capital first.

Yuan Tan (died 205) was the oldest son of the warlord Yuan Shao during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. After Yuan Shao's death, Yuan Tan split with his youngest brother Yuan Shang over the successorship to their father's realm. Yuan Tan sought help from the warlord Cao Cao and defeated Yuan Shang. The alliance, however, eventually broke and Yuan Tan was defeated and killed by Cao.

In order to test his sons, Yuan Shao ordered Yuan Tan to leave Ye to station at Pingyuan to oversee the affairs in Qing Province. However, when Yuan Tan arrived Qing Province, the Yuan forces only controlled one city within the province, and Yuan Tan's position was only a commandant. Still, Yuan Tan soon attacked Kong Rong in the east, and expelled Tian Kai in the north to expand his domain in the province. Yuan Tan was quite successful on his expansion, and was welcomed by the common people of Qing Province. Although adept in military, Yuan Tan was inept at civil matters – the officials he picked plundered the countryside and accepted bribery, and the taxes that were collected was below one third of the estimated tax revenue.