Liu Bowen

Liu Ji, styled Bowen, was a native of Qingtian County, Zhejiang Province, who passed the imperial examination during the late Yuan dynasty. He later served Zhu Yuanzhang—the future Hongwu Emperor—in unifying the realm, participating in top-secret military and political deliberations and earning the emperor’s praise as 'my Zhang Liang' (a reference to the legendary Han-dynasty strategist). Profoundly versed in the classics and history, skilled in astronomy and military science, Liu played a pivotal role in establishing the Ming calendar system and codifying state laws; he rose to the post of Censor-in-Chief and was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Chengyi. Folklore credits him with foreknowledge spanning five hundred years into the past and five hundred into the future; apocryphal works attributed to him—such as the 'Baked Bun Song'—enjoyed wide circulation, and practitioners of geomancy and fate calculation revere him as their founding master. His ancestral home in Nantian, Wencheng County, houses the Liu Ji Temple, where incense offerings have burned continuously for centuries, and he is venerated as the embodiment of wisdom and loyal strategic counsel.