‘Eighteen Scholars’ was the name bestowed upon the circle of eminent men whom Li Shimin, later Emperor Taizong, drew to his side in the early Tang dynasty.

In the fourth year of Wude (621 CE), Prince Qin Li Shimin 李世民, ennobled as Grand General of Heavenly Strategy and permitted to appoint his own officers, founde...

Zhang Chang (张敞, ?- 48 BCE) and his wife grew up in the same village. When they were both children, Zhang Chang once threw a pebble at his future wife and, unfortunately, the scratch left a scar on one of her eyebrows. Later, Zhang became a civil servant and learned that the girl he once hit with a pebble was unmarried b...