 Xu Gan (170–217 CE) might be considered the last major philosophical figure of the Han period. He was one of a group of scholars active in during the Jian An reign period (196–220 CE) in the late Han, during which the Han emperor was a mere puppet and figurehead, and the region was torn in warfare between competing warlords such as the famous Cao Cao (whose son would establish the Wei state in 220 CE), Liu Bei (who established a new state also named Han, today referred to as Shu Han, in the same year), and Sun Quan (who founded the state of Wu). Known as the “Three Kingdoms”, these states would vie for supremacy for almost a century, until the reunification by the Jin Dynasty in 280 CE. This was one of the most famous periods of Chinese history, immortalized by the fourteenth century CE writer Luo Guanzhong’s classic novel Sanguo Yanyi (“Romance of the Three Kingdoms”). Xu Gan was one of the scholars known as the “Seven Masters of Jian An”. Five of the seven died in the plague of 217 CE, including Xu Gan, only 47 years old at the time.