Zhu Xi
Zhu Xi, whose family originated in Wuyuan County, Huizhou (in modern Jiangxi province), was born in Fujian, where his father worked as the subprefectural sheriff. After his father was forced from office due to his opposition to the government appeasement policy towards the Jurchen in 1140, Zhu Xi received instruction from his father at home.Many anecdotes attest that he was a highly precocious child. It was recorded that at age five he ventured to ask what lay beyond Heaven, and by eight he understood the significance of the Classic of Filiality (Xiaojing). As a youth, he was inspired by Mencius’ proposition that all people could become a sage. Upon his father's death in 1143, he studied with his father's friends Hu Xian, Liu Zihui, and Liu Mianzhi. In 1148, at the age of 19, Zhu Xi passed the Imperial Examination and became a presented scholar. Zhu Xi's first official dispatch position was as Subprefectural Registrar of Tong'an (同安縣主簿), which he served from 1153 - 1156. From 1153 he began to study under Li Tong, who followed the Neo-Confucian tradition of Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, and formally became his student in 1160.
Mo Xi
Mo Xi (), also called Mei Xi 妹喜, was the concubine of Jie 桀, the last ruler of the legendary Xia dynasty 夏 (trad. c. 2070 – c. 1600 BCE). According to tradition, Mo Xi, Da Ji 妲己 (the concubine of the last ruler of Shang) and Bao Si 褒姒 (the concubine of the last ruler of Western Zhou) are each blamed for the fall of these respective dynasties. According to the "Wu Yue chunqiu" 吳越春秋 (Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue) “Xia fell because of Mo Xi; Yin (Shang) fell because of Da Ji; Zhou fell because of Bao Si” (夏亡以妹喜，殷亡以妲己，周亡以褒姒). Neither Mo Xi nor the Lake of Alcohol, with which she is associated, is mentioned in the story of Jie and the fall of Xia in the "Shiji" 史記 (Records of the Grand Historian).