Qu Yuan

◍ Open on the globe

Chen Hongshou · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Chinese poet and minister

c. 340 BC – 278 BC · 62 years · Ying (State of Chu) · Asia

China's first known named poet, author of Li Sao; the Dragon Boat Festival commemorates him.

Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 4th century BC

Portrait: Chen Hongshou · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Contemporaries around the world

Europe

Aristotle — ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, 44 years older
Pytheas — Greek navigator and geographer, 10 years older
Olympias — queen of Macedon, mother of Alexander, 35 years older

Middle East

Alexander the Great — king of Macedon and conqueror, 16 years older

Africa

Euclid — ancient Greek mathematician, 15 years younger
Ptolemy I Soter — founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty, 27 years older
Arsinoe II — queen of Ptolemaic Egypt, 24 years younger

Asia

Mencius — Chinese Confucian philosopher, 32 years older
Chandragupta Maurya — founder of the Maurya Empire, born the same year
Ashoka — Maurya emperor, 36 years younger
Zhuangzi — Chinese Taoist philosopher, 29 years older

The world in their lifetime

331 BC Battle of Gaugamela — aged 9, Middle East
331 BC Founding of Alexandria — aged 9, Africa
323 BC Death of Alexander the Great — aged 17, Middle East
c. 322 BC Founding of the Maurya Empire — aged 18, Asia
c. 300 BC Maya script — aged 40, Americas
c. 285 BC Library of Alexandria — aged 55, Africa