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Under the influence of artificial intelligence's creative power, netizens have fallen in awe of the portraits of Gia Cát Lượng.
Gia Cát Lượng (181 – 234), known as Kong Ming, styled as Ngọa Long, served as the Prime Minister, founding statesman, diplomat, military commander, educator, and a renowned technical innovator of the Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period in China.
He assisted Liu Bei in establishing the Shu Han, played a key role in shaping the landscape of the Three Kingdoms, and formed an alliance between Shu and Wu against the Wei. Regarded as one of the greatest strategists of his time, he has been compared to another brilliant Chinese strategist, Sun Tzu. However, his campaigns against Cao Wei were unsuccessful, and he eventually succumbed to illness in his camp, leaving behind a mysterious death.
The folk tales immortalize the image of Gia Cát Lượng, later popularized through Luo Guanzhong's novel 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms,' one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. In this work, Gia Cát Lượng is portrayed as a virtuous and talented prime minister with the ability to foresee the future and outsmart his opponents, symbolizing loyalty, righteousness, and intellectual brilliance (Liu Bei represents benevolence, Cao Cao represents cunning, and Kong Ming represents wisdom).
Gia Cát Lượng is an exceptional figure in Chinese history, showcasing talents in various fields such as politics, military, diplomacy, law, education, feng shui, literature, and technological innovation. Rarely does history witness individuals with such comprehensive abilities across diverse domains.
During the Three Kingdoms period, there were many skilled strategists like Tuân Úc, Giả Hủ, Quách Gia, Pháp Chính, Lỗ Túc, but none possessed the versatile talents of Gia Cát Lượng. Even in terms of appearance, Gia Cát Lượng surpassed the ordinary.
In modern cinema, Gia Cát Lượng is portrayed as a graceful man with a long, refined beard, speaking eloquently with a charismatic presence, always holding a feathered fan.
Audiences are overly familiar with the on-screen portrayal of Gia Cát Lượng, yet this image is constructed based on artistic descriptions or the intentions of directors/writers.
In historical records, there is very little information about the physical appearance or demeanor of Gia Cát Lượng. Only one sentence in the official history 'Records of the Three Kingdoms' by Trần Thọ provides a clue.
Historian Trần Thọ describes Gia Cát Lượng 'with a distinguished air, standing at eight thước tall, possessing a noble and majestic appearance distinct from ordinary people.'
From this, it can be inferred that Gia Cát Lượng had a height of approximately 1.90 meters (calculated using the standard of 1 thước equal to 23.75cm in the Three Kingdoms era), a tall and imposing figure exuding the aura of a powerful hero, with a handsome face that was anything but ordinary.
It is evident that Gia Cát Lượng in films somewhat resembles the historical descriptions.
However, under the influence of artificial intelligence (AI), netizens were 'astonished' by the AI-generated portraits of Gia Cát Lượng based on ancient paintings.
Unlike cinematic portrayals, Gia Cát Lượng, through the 'skillful hands' of AI, appears somewhat 'aged and less vibrant,' even mistakenly interpreting his hat as hair. Just from the portrait, it's apparent he doesn't have a height close to 1.90 meters, and his appearance doesn't match the handsome and striking description from history.
In this image, Gia Cát Lượng is deemed to look 'better' compared to the previous one. AI successfully distinguishes between the hat and hair of the prime minister. Additionally, facial features and contours are clearer, conveying the charisma of a person possessing both wisdom and brilliance during the Three Kingdoms era.
Source: Weibo, Toutiao
