 He Yan was one of the leading intellectual figures of the early third century, a trend setter on the cultural front, and one of the most influential in government. Wang Bi was very much a protégé of He Yan. A widely reported story, for example, has He Yan declaring that Wang Bi was one of those rare individuals with whom one could discuss the most profound truths about the cosmos and human affairs (e.g., see Sanguo zhi [Records of the Three States] 28).