Most legendary and eminent figures of chinese history, including monarchs, ministers, warriors and commoners who became heroes, lived (or are thought to have lived) in the period between the First Three Dynasties (Xia, Shang, Zhou) and the Warring States era. They incarnate values and ideologies still deeply rooted in contemporary chinese culture. The course focuses on such figures and analyzes them from the historical, literary and legendary point of view; it will be based both on classical historiographical and literary sources - ancient chinese texts and records - and on recent movies, fictions and documentaries on the topic entirely in chinese language.