Liu Ji

Liu Ji (1 July 1311 – 16 May 1375), courtesy name Bowen, better known as Liu Bowen, was a Chinese military strategist, philosopher, and politician who lived in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. He was born in Qingtian County (present-day Wencheng County, Wenzhou, Zhejiang). He served as a key advisor to Zhu Yuanzhang, the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dynasty, in the latter's struggle to overthrow the Yuan dynasty and unify China proper under his rule. Liu is also known for his prophecies and has been described as the "Divine Chinese Nostradamus". He and Jiao Yu co-edited the military treatise known as the Huolongjing (Fire Dragon Manual). Liu Bowen initially aided Zhu Yuanzhang in his ascent to power, but later on Li Shanchang and Hu Weiyong fought with Liu, forcing Liu to resign. Liu Bowen was told Zhu that Hu was not suitable for position of prime minister. Zhu and Hu Weiyong then poisoned Liu to death as part of the Four Major Cases of the early Ming dynasty. Career Liu served under Zhu Yuanzhang's rebellion against the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, which had ruled all of China proper since the conquest of the Southern Song in 1279. He dabbled in many fields of statecraft, philosophy, scholarly works, and technology. His philosophical outlook was that of a skeptical naturalist, and he became interested in astronomy, calendrical science, magnetism, and fengshui. He was known to be a friendly associate of the mathematician and alchemist Zhao Yuqin, and collaborated with the contemporary general and scholar Jiao Yu to edit and compile the military-technology treatise of the Huolongjing, which outlined the use of various gunpowder weapons. He was very interested in the latter, and once said that "thunder is like fire shot from a cannon".