刘琨

After the Western Jin lost the north, he held 晋阳, today's Taiyuan, for nearly a decade against 刘渊 and 石勒. He then joined the Xianbei leader 段匹磾, who had him killed in 318.

culture

He and his friend 祖逖 are the pair behind 闻鸡起舞, and his fear that Zu Ti would get ahead of him gave 着先鞭. A couplet from his last poem, 何意百炼钢，化为绕指柔, 'who would have thought steel tempered a hundred times could turn soft enough to wind round a finger', became a saying.