Ge Hong

Ge Hong was born near Jurong county in AD 283, as the third son into a well-established family originally from Eastern Wu.

In the second year of Tai'an in the Western Jin Dynasty (AD 303), Ge Hong was promoted due to his contributions in calming the peasant uprising led by Shi Bing in Yangzhou.

In the first year of Guangxi (AD 306), Ji Han (嵇含), the newly promoted governor of Guangzhou, recommended Ge Hong to join the ranks as an army official.

Later, Ge Hong became a disciple of Bao Liang (鲍靓), then prefect of Nanhai, from whom he learned alchemy and received the Sanhuangjing.

In the second year of Jianxing of Emperor Min (AD 313), Ge Hong returned to his hometown, but still lived in seclusion and did not work as an official.

In the first year of Xianhe (AD 326), he was called by Wang Dao to serve as under the position of "Zhubo" (主簿), later promoted to "consulting general" (咨议将军).

In the 7th year of Xianhe, he heard that Jiaozhi County (present-day Vietnam) produced cinnabar, and asked Emperor Cheng to serve as the magistrate of Gouti (句屚) (near present-era Hà Sơn Bình province).

When he arrived in Guangzhou, he was asked to remain, so Ge Hong once again lived in seclusion in Mount Luofu to refine elixirs.

The latter method inspired the works of the Chinese malariologist and pharmaceutical chemist Tu Youyou, which led to the discovery of artemisinin extracted from the same plant, part of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.