8 Trigrams of the Yijing
A divination tool originally developed from casting yarrow stems, the eight trigrams (八卦) represent every configuration possible from combining two types of line - broken and unbroken - in sets of three.
12 Beauties of Jinling
One of the titles considered for the Hong Lou Meng (Dream of Red Mansions), "The 12 Beauties of Jinling" refers to twelve principal female characters in the novel. In an early dream sequence, the male protaganist Baoyu is shown poetic records of the twelve in question via a registry, with their fates foreshadowed in riddle form.
4 Books of Zhu Xi
Zhu Xi (1130-1200) was a Confucian scholar of the Southern Song (1127-1276). Incredibly learned and prolific, he ushered in a Neo-Confucian revival. His commentaries on the Four Books, which he singled out as the core classics of the Confucian canon, became prescribed reading for government officials.
3 Sworn Brothers of the Peach Garden
The Han Empire is dying, beset by insurrection from marauding Yellow Turbans. Three noble men meet by chance and find common purpose in resisting the threat of tyranny and ruin. Amidst peach trees, the men swear an oath to unite unto death in the service of the downtrodden. So begins the celebrated Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the fictionalised account of the real life founder and generals of the Shu Kingdom.
