It turns out Zhuge Liang's last name is not 'Zhuge', the secret is revealed through this saying

Zhuge Liang, courtesy name Kongming, was a famous figure during the Three Kingdoms period. Normally, if he were called Zhuge Liang, his family name would be Zhuge, but in 223 AD, after Liu Bei passed away, Liu Shan said a sentence that revealed the mystery of Zhuge Liang's background.

There is a specific story behind Liu Shan’s words and it is recorded in the book “ Wei Luoc ”. According to the rules at that time, the year the emperor died could not change the era name. That is, the year 223 was the 3rd year of Zhang Wu, the new era name would start from the year 223 set by the new king. Liu Bei had just passed away in April, in May, Liu Shan changed the era name to Jianxing Yuannian.

Although this was disrespectful to the deceased emperor, Liu Shan still insisted on doing it. The ministers could not object and had to comply, only Zhuge Liang did not agree. Therefore, Liu Shan said to Zhuge Liang: " It is because of Ge, I am the one who has the last name ". According to this saying, Zhuge Liang's surname is Ge, but Zhuge Liang also had an older brother, Zhuge Jin, and a younger brother, Zhuge Jun, all three of whom had the last name Zhuge. So what is the truth?

It turns out that Zhuge Liang's last name is not 'Zhuge'.

According to historical records, Zhuge Liang was from Langya, a descendant of Han Dynasty's Sili Commander Zhuge Feng. According to history, Zhuge Liang's ancestors were from Langya Yangdu (now Linyi, Shandong, China).

Lang Nha had a famous general in the pre-Qin period, named Ge Ying. In Sima Qian's " Historical Records - The Family of Chen Xie ", there is a sentence recorded: " Ge Ying went to Dongcheng and established Xiang Wang as King of Chu. When he arrived at Chen, the King of Chen executed Ge Ying ." Because of his great contributions, Ge Ying was murdered by Chen Xie. However, after the Han Dynasty was established, Liu Bang still remembered his contributions and appointed Ge Ying as Marquis of Jiaxian.

Since then, when introducing themselves, the descendants of Cat Anh often called themselves " Gia Huyen Chi Cat " (the Cat family came from Gia district) to distinguish themselves from other Cat families in Duong Do. Over time, the descendants of Cat Anh simply called themselves "Gia Cat". And Zhuge Liang was the descendant of Cat Anh.

According to official history, Liu Shan was originally a person who liked to read history books, not a fool like in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" or "The Annals of Gaozu". Moreover, Zhuge Liang had followed Liu Bei and Liu Shan for so many years, so Liu Shan must have known Zhuge Liang's family name. Therefore, Liu Shan wanted to show his respect for Zhuge Liang, so he deliberately said " It is you, Ji, who is in charge of the sacrifices ", meaning to tell Zhuge Liang " You take care of governing the country, I take care of the sacrifices ".

In fact, Liu Shan had long been oppressed by Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang. It was only after Liu Bei passed away that he got to taste power, so of course he wanted to show off his status. Therefore, the hidden meaning in Liu Shan's words to Zhuge Liang was actually " Your new master is me, not Liu Bei ."

Quoc Thai (Source: 163)

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