zhōng lí 钟离

### Zhongli Chun She lived during the Warring States period and was a well - known ugly woman in history. Her forehead protruded forward, her eyes were sunken, her nostrils were upturned, her head was quite large, her hair was sparse, her Adam's apple on the neck was even bigger than that of a man, and her skin was dark red. Although she was ugly in appearance, she had lofty aspirations and profound knowledge. At that time, King Xuan of Qi, who was in power, was corrupt in politics, the state affairs were in a mess, he was irritable in temper and fond of flattery. In order to save the country, Zhongli Chun risked beheading and personally listed out King Xuan's misdeeds one by one. She also pointed out that if the king did not change his ways, the city would be broken and the country would perish. After hearing this, King Xuan was greatly touched and regarded Zhongli Chun as a mirror for self - improvement, family management and state governance. Later, this king, who was surrounded by beautiful women, even made Zhongli Chun his queen. ### Zhongli Mei He was a general of Xiang Yu during the Han Dynasty and had a good relationship with Han Xin. After Xiang Yu's death, he fled to Han Xin, the King of Chu. Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, got the news that Han Xin was plotting a rebellion. He discussed with Chen Ping and ordered Han Xin to arrest Zhongli Mei. Someone told Han Xin that if he beheaded Zhongli Mei and went to see Emperor Gaozu, he would surely be safe. So Han Xin summoned Zhongli Mei to discuss the matter. Zhongli Mei said, "Emperor Gaozu doesn't attack the State of Chu because I'm here. If you arrest me to curry favor with him, I'll die today and you'll perish tomorrow." After saying that, he drew his sword and committed suicide. Han Xin went to see Emperor Gaozu with Zhongli Mei's head. Emperor Gaozu immediately ordered the warriors to arrest Han Xin. Han Xin said, "When the cunning rabbits are dead, the good hounds are cooked; when the flying birds are gone, the good bows are put away; when the enemy states are destroyed, the strategists are killed. Now that the world is settled, it's natural for me to be cooked." ### Zhongli Quan His alias was He Guzi and also Zhenyangzi. He was a person of the Tang Dynasty. He was born with something extraordinary, with a handsome appearance, a long beard and a height of more than eight Chinese feet. It is said that he met an old man who taught him the immortal formulas, and then met the True Man of Huayang and the Immortal King Xuanfu. He was initiated into the art of immortality and entered Kongtong Mountain. Later, he became one of the Eight Immortals. In the folk, he is known as Han Zhongli. ### Zhongli Jin His courtesy name was Gongyu. He was from Hefei, Luzhou during the Song Dynasty. He passed the imperial examinations. Initially, he served as the judge of Jianzhou and the assistant prefect of Yizhou. Later, he served as the magistrate of Dehua. When he was going to marry off his daughter, he bought a maidservant who turned out to be the daughter of the previous magistrate. So he married her off just like his own daughter. One night, he dreamed that a doctor in green clothes came to thank him and said, "I've pleaded with God to let your descendants enjoy official salaries for generations." During the reign of Emperor Renzong, he was promoted to the position of Waiting - in - attendance at the Dragon - Picture Pavilion. He was promoted to the judge of Kaifeng Prefecture, and then was sent to supervise the criminal cases in Zhejiang. Later, he was transferred to be the deputy transport commissioner of Huainan. He successively served as the transport commissioner in Jingxi, Hedong and Hebei, and then was changed to be the commissioner in charge of the Jianghuai area. In March 1030 (the eighth year of Tiansheng), he was appointed as the Waiting - in - attendance at the Dragon - Picture Pavilion and the acting prefect of Kaifeng. Within a month, he fell ill and died in office. ### Migration and Distribution The double - surname "Zhongli" and the single - surname "Zhong" originally came from the same family. Those with the double - surname "Zhongli" lived in a place called Zhongli, which is today's Fengyang area in Anhui Province; while those with the single - surname "Zhong" originated in Yingchuan, which is now in Henan Province. According to the "Record of the Words and Deeds of Famous Clans", the Zhong family is the descendant of Weizi of the State of Song. Bo Zong, the great - grandson of Duke Huan, served as an official in the State of Jin. He had a son named Zhou Li, who served as an official in the State of Chu and was granted the fief of Zhongli. So he took Zhongli as his surname, and his descendants have both the double - surname Zhongli and the single - surname Zhong. In the State of Chu, there were Zhong Yi, Zhong Jian, and Zhong Ziqi, who was a friend of Boya. Xiang Yu's general was Zhongli Mei. Zhongli Mei's son, Jie, took the single - surname Zhong and lived in Changshe, Yingchuan. According to the "General Catalogue of Clans in the Comprehensive Gazetteer", the Zhongli surname is the descendant of Bo Zong of the State of Jin. Bo Zong was a worthy official of Jin. Because he was slandered and killed by the Que family, his son, Bo Zhouli, fled to the State of Chu and settled in Zhongli, which is Haozhou. His descendants took the name of the fief as their surname. The prominent families with the double - surname Zhongli are distributed in Kuaiji (the southern part of today's Jiangsu Province and the western part of Zhejiang Province) and Yingchuan (the area around today's Xuchang, Henan Province).