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When defeated by his foe Yuan Shao, Three Kingdoms-era general Gongsun Zan committed suicide by setting himself on fire after killing nearly his entire family. Was this jaw-dropping act a sign of insanity or does this have some precedent or meaning behind it?

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When defeated by his foe Yuan Shao, Three Kingdoms-era general Gongsun Zan committed suicide by setting himself on fire after killing nearly his entire family. Was this jaw-dropping act a sign of insanity or does this have some precedent or meaning behind it?	232