Zhuge Ke (203 – November or December 253),[a] courtesy name Yuanxun (元逊), was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China.

[7] Among his four attendants, Sun Deng favoured and trusted Zhuge Ke and Gu Tan the most, and he regarded them more highly than others such as Fan Shen (范慎), Xie Jing (謝景) and Yang Hui (羊徽).

[10] Around 234, Zhuge Ke submitted a plan to Sun Quan to suppress the indigenous Shanyue tribes and recruit about 40,000 locals to serve as soldiers in Danyang Commandery (丹陽郡; around present-day Xuancheng, Anhui).

The Shanyue, deprived of food supplies, were inevitably left without any alternative options but to ultimately surrender to Zhuge Ke, who treated them kindly and earned their respect.

Sun Quan was so impressed with Zhuge Ke that he promoted him to General Who Awes the North (威北將軍) and awarded him the title of a Marquis of a Chief District (都鄉侯).

[13] In 243, Zhuge Ke planned to launch a major attack on Shouchun (壽春; around present-day Shou County, Anhui), a strategic location in Eastern Wu's rival state, Cao Wei.

After he positioned his forces in preparation for the attack, the Wei general Sima Yi showed up with his troops to defend Shouchun and counterattack Zhuge Ke.

Instead of allowing Zhuge Ke to engage Sima Yi, Sun Quan ordered him to retreat back to Wu.

Despite his withdrawal, Zhuge Ke became famous among the Wu people for willing to stand up to Sima Yi, who had a huge reputation in Wei.

The Wu general Lu Xun was concerned about Zhuge Ke's recklessness so he wrote a letter to him, urging him to be more cautious in the future.

Before Zhuge Ke left Wuchang, the senior Wu general Lü Dai told him, "What you will be doing is a difficult task.

During his short tenure as regent, Zhuge Ke relaxed some of the strict laws enacted in Sun Quan's reign and reduced tax rates.

In late 252, Zhuge Ke gave orders to rebuild the dam at Dongxing (東興; in present-day Chaohu, Anhui), which was constructed earlier in 230 but had been destroyed in 241.

His plan was to create a reservoir near the Chao Lake and use it as a defensive structure against potential invasions from Wei, as well as to construct two castles nearby to serve as forward attack mechanisms for Wu ships.

In response, the Wei regent Sima Shi sent three separate forces to attack Wu, with the main one focusing on the Dongxing dam.

An anecdote goes that sometime in Zhuge Ke's childhood or adolescence, he attended a banquet hosted by the Wu emperor Sun Quan.

Impressed by the subtle flattery, Sun Quan instructed Zhuge Ke to serve wine to the other guests present at the banquet.

When Zhuge Ke came to Zhang Zhao, the latter refused to drink and said, "This isn't the proper form for a ceremony to pay respect to an elder."

Zhuge Ke then returned to Zhang Zhao and said, "Long ago, the great strategist Jiang Ziya, at the age of 90, went to battle holding a signal flag and carrying a battleaxe; he never considered himself old.

In the Record of Wu (《吴录》), Chinese author Zhang Bo noted that Zhuge Ke was a loud spoken man and was about 182–184 cm tall, and that he had a crooked nose, wide forehead, large mouth, with little facial hair and eyebrows.