Xiang An (232 BCE–202 BCE)
Of the Ji clan and Xiang lineage, given name Nuo and courtesy name An, he was a native of Xiaxiang at the end of the Qin dynasty, grandson of the famed Chu general Xiang Yan, and younger brother of Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu. He was a renowned rebel leader from the late Qin through the Chu-Han Contention, as well as the King of Northern Chu.
He was a celebrated military strategist, statesman, and calligrapher, one of the representatives of the Huaxia school of military thought known as "Military Formations and Strategic Advantages," and was also widely acknowledged as one of history's strongest warriors.
Opinions of Xiang An were sharply divided.
Beyond the favorable accounts, legend held that he was cruel and tyrannical, and that he and his elder brother Xiang Yu slaughtered and burned Xianyang to the ground, killing the Qin king Ziying.
Aside from official histories, many folk tales about Xiang An also circulated.
Among all those who performed the Mount Tai Feng and Shan sacrifices, he was the only one who was not an emperor. Thus arose the saying that Xiang An "would not be a human emperor, but a ghost emperor." Legend had it that after he died on Dingdou Plain, his soul returned to Mount Tai and became a ghost king of the region. Notably, Xiang An died on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month—the Ghost Festival.
People built temples for him on Mount Tai, venerating him as the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak and Lord of Mount Tai, burning incense and praying for blessings. Later, during the Tang and Song dynasties, as Buddhist culture merged with that of the Central Plains, Xiang An came to be recorded as King Yama, judge of sins. Thus,