During the Three Kingdoms period, the Zhuge family produced three prominent figures: Zhuge Jin, Zhuge Liang, and Zhuge Dan. Zhuge Jin served as a grand general for the Kingdom of Wu. Zhuge Liang assisted Liu Bei in establishing the Shu Han regime, contending with Cao Cao and Sun Quan. Zhuge Dan served as the Governor of Yangzhou for the Kingdom of Wei.

Historical records famously commented on these three, saying that the Kingdom of Shu obtained a dragon (referring to Zhuge Liang), the Kingdom of Wu obtained a tiger (referring to Zhuge Jin), while the Kingdom of Wei only obtained a dog (referring to Zhuge Dan).