Dongfang Shuo
Liu Xiang's (c. 77-6 BCE) "Liexian Zhuan" ("Biographies of Exemplary Transcendents") has an early description of Dongfang Shuo. By the time of Emperor Zhao of Han (r. 87 – 74 BCE), "some people thought he was a sage; others found him ordinary. His behavior varied between depth and shallowness, brazenness and withdrawal. At times his words were full of loyalty, then again he made jokes. Nobody could figure him out." At beginning of Emperor Xuan of Han's reign (91 BCE), Dongfang resigned from his position, left his official residence, and went "drifting off to wherever chance might take him. … Among wise men some suspected that he was really an incarnation of the essence of the planet Jupiter."