King Wu of Zhou (Chinese: 周武王, pinyin Zhōu Wǔ Wáng, Wade Chou Wu Wang) was the first king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. The chronology of his reign is debated, but it probably began in 1046 and ended with his death in 1043 BC.

King Wu was the second son of King Wen of Zhou, but his older brother Boyi Kao predeceased his father. Upon his succession, Wu worked with Jiang Ziya to accomplish his father's unfinished task: overthrowing the Shang dynasty.

In 1048 BC, Wu marched down the Yellow River to the Mengjin ford and met with more than 800 dukes.^{[citation needed]} In 1046 BC, King Wu took advantage of Shang disunity to launch an attack along with many neighboring dukes. The Battle of Muye destroyed Shang's forces and King Zhou of Shang set his palace on fire and burned himself to death.

Wu followed his victory by establishing many feudal states under his 16 younger brothers and numerous allies, but his death three years later provoked several rebellions against his young heir King Cheng and the regent Duke of Zhou, even from three of his brothers.

Xu Shang (徐商), courtesy name Yisheng (義聲) or Qiuqing (秋卿), formally Viscount of Dongguan (東莞子), was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Yizong of Tang.

It is not known when Xu Shang was born. He was a fifth-generation descendant of Xu Yougong (徐有功), a famed judge during the reign of Wu Zetian. His family claimed to be originally descended from mythical Xia Dynasty judge Gao Yao and traced its ancestry through a line of officials of Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty, Cao Wei, Jin Dynasty (265-420), Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang Dynasty, Chen Dynasty, and Tang Dynasty. His father Xu Zai (徐宰) served as a judge at the supreme court (大理寺, Dali Si). Xu Shang had at least one younger brother, Xu Gong (徐宮). By Xu Zai's time, the family was living in Xinzheng (新鄭, in modern Zhengzhou, Henan). In Xu Shang's youth, he was a hermit in the Zhongtiao Mountains (中條山), but he later came out of the hermit living and passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi class.

Zhou Yu (175–210) was a military general and strategist who served his close friend, the warlord Sun Ce, during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. After the death of Sun Ce, another prominent warlord, Cao Cao, led a massive force southward with the intention to conquer the Jiangdong region, Zhou Yu was assigned by Sun Ce's brother and successor, Sun Quan, to be the naval commander for the defensive forces and he defeated Cao Cao's forces at the decisive Battle of Red Cliffs in 208. The subsequent Battle of Jiangling, which had Lieutenant General (偏將軍) Zhou Yu serving as the commander-in-chief of Sun Quan's forces, solidified the survivability of the future Eastern Wu regime. Thus, Zhou Yu was praised by Sun Quan to be the sole person who enabled him to become an emperor years after Zhou's death.

Zhou Yu was born in Lujiang Commandery in an influential family with many members who served in high ranking positions in the government. Zhou Jing (an elder cousin of Zhou Yu's father) and Zhou Jing's son Zhou Zhong both took the post of Grand Commandant in the Han imperial court. Zhou Yu's father, Zhou Yi, was the Chief of Luoyang, the capital. When the coalition against Dong Zhuo was formed, Zhou Yi led his family to migrate to Lujiang. There, Sun Jian's son Sun Ce and Zhou Yu studied together and became lifelong friends. Zhou Yu's uncle later became the governor of Danyang under the warlord Yuan Shu , Zhou went visit his uncle and stayed there, while his best friend, Sun Ce, was planning to establish independence over the soil of Jiangdong.

 Martin Luther (help·info) (10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German monk, priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. His refusal to retract all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Emperor.

Luther taught that salvation is not earned by good deeds but received only as a free gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin. His theology challenged the authority of the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood. Those who identify with Luther's teachings are called Lutherans.

Zhou Tai (died ca. 223), style name Youping (幼平), was a military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history.

Zhou Tai was a native of Jiujiang Commandery, and was depicted as a pirate around the area in Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but it is hard to tell if he really practiced piracy because historic records only suggest he was of an obscure origin. Zhou Tai joined Sun Ce's forces as one of Sun's personal retainers, alongside Jiang Qin. When Sun Ce entered Kuaiji, Zhou Tai was appointed Major with a Separate Command, and was given troops to command. It was at this time that Sun Quan took a liking to Zhou Tai's character, and requested for Zhou to be transferred to under his command.

Several times throughout his career, Zhou Tai saved Sun Quan from danger by risking his own life. Once, while Sun Ce was out fighting Shanyue rebels from the caves within the six prefectures of Jiangdong, Sun Quan was left in Xuan with less than a thousand guards. Out of negligence, he did not set up defence posts. Several thousand of Shanyue rebels attacked. By the time Sun Quan mounted his horse, the bandits managed to surround him already. Their weapons, hitting here and there, slashed Sun Quan's saddle, causing great panic all around. Only Zhou Tai, with spirits roused, defended Sun Quan with his body, emboldening those near him and making them able to fight again. When the bandits were finally dispersed, Zhou Tai was found unconscious with 12 deep wounds, which took a long time to heal. Had Zhou Tai not been there on that day, Sun Quan would have surely perished. This deed was greatly appreciated by Sun Ce, who added the title of Chief of Chunju Prefecture to Zhou Tai.