- 陈谷子烂芝麻 chéngǔzilànzhīma old trivialitiesstale topics of conversation; old, trivial matters that are no longer important or relevant
- 鬼谷子 guǐgǔzǐ GuiguziGuiguzi or the Master of Ghost Valley; a mysterious philosopher from the Warring States period who founded the School of Diplomacy and was said to be the teacher of the strategists [[苏秦|蘇秦|su1 qin2]] and [[张仪|張儀|zhang1 yi2]]