He Ning
When He Ning was 16 (914) — by which time Tang had fallen, and He Ning's home territory was under the rule of Tang's successor state Later Liang — he was set to submit to the imperial examinations in the "Mingjing" class. When he went to the capital Daliang to do so, however, he dreamed of a man who gave him a number of five-colored pens, and stating to him, "You, son, have such great talent; why do you not submit yourself for the "Jinshi" class?" ("Jinshi" was a more prestigious class of imperial examinations than "Mingjing".) It was said that after that dream, He became even more impressive academically, and in 916, at age 18, he passed the imperial examinations in the "Jinshi" class.