Lü Fan

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Lü Fan (呂範), styled Ziheng (子衡) (d. 228) was an advisor and general serving Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period.

Lü was a man from Ru'nan Commandery in Yangzhou Province. He was married to a woman of the Liu clan. He first served Yuan Shu, but later changed allegiance to Sun Ce and Sun Quan. He was integral to the military progress of Wu and contributed much to the state's welfare until his death in 228.

Contents 1 Service under Yuan Shu and Sun Ce 2 Service under Sun Quan 3 Descendants and Legacy 4 References

[edit] Service under Yuan Shu and Sun Ce

Lü began his career as a minor official in the service of Yuan Shu, one of several warlords during the Han Dynasty. It was there that he met Sun Ce, one of Yuan Shu's young generals. They became close friends, and Lü participated in all of Sun's battles under Yuan Shu from then on.

It is said that Lü Fan recommended himself through a game of Weiqi - Sun Ce made a bad opening move, and Lü capitalized upon it, pointing out Sun's mistake. Sun was suitably impressed and offered Lü a post. Rather than accept a high and lofty position, however, Lü insisted upon remaining in a low and humble one where he could more effectively manage troops. This also impressed Sun, and the two became inseparable. The Weiqi game in question, called the "Sun-Lü Game," is purported to be the first Weiqi game to be recorded move for move, but many scholars doubt its authenticity. After this, Lü was appointed as Chief Controller.

At one point during the beginning of Sun's career, Lü was sent to bring Sun's family from Guangling to Qu'a. The governor of Xu Province, Tao Qian, despised Sun Ce and sought to imprison Lü as a spy and torture him, but some retainers freed him, and he was able to successfully rescue Sun's family. Lü became so trusted by Sun that he was treated the same as a member of Sun's own family, given food and drink before Sun's mother, Lady Wu.

Lü was second only to Cheng Pu and Xu Kun in terms of merits, following Sun in every battle. His unit defeated and killed Yan Baihu's subordinate, Chen Mu. Later, when Yuan Shu declared himself emperor, Sun declared his independence, and Lü remained with his forces, and even participated in battle against his former master. Chen Yu, a man appointed by Cao Cao to supposedly aid Sun Ce in the war against Yuan, secretly plotted to destroy Sun from within, but Sun foresaw this and sent Lü to destroy him. Lü decisively defeated Chen Yu, and as a result, Chen Yu fled to Yuan Shao in the north, never to be heard from again.

Upon his victory over the leader of the remnants of Yuan Shu's forces, Liu Xun, as well as Huang Zu and Liu Biao at Shaxian, Sun submitted a memorial to the emperor, naming Lü as designated Grand Administrator of Guiyang (an area within Liu Biao's jurisdiction) among other things.

Then, in 200, Sun Ce died of injuries sustained during an assassination attempt, and his brother, Sun Quan received his command and seal.

It should be noted that Lü served as Sun's chief strategist historically, while in popular culture, that role is often fulfilled by Sun's close friend, Zhou Yu. It should be noted, however, that Zhou was absent for many of Sun Ce's campaigns, whereas Lü was at each one.

[edit] Service under Sun Quan

Lü served as one of Sun Quan's most trusted civil officials. Initially, before Sun Ce's death, Quan and Lü had had some disagreement - being young and foolhardy, Quan often took money for personal interests and asked Lü to fix the books. Lü, however, remained honest, thus causing Quan to dislike him. After his brother's death, however, Quan matured greatly and admired Lü's earlier honesty, thus valuing him highly.

In 208, Cao Cao led a fleet down to Chi Bi in hopes of destroying his weakened rival, Liu Bei, and sought Sun Quan's assistance in the matter. At the request of Zhou Yu and others, however, Sun Quan instead opposed Cao Cao and allied with Liu Bei. Lü participated in the battle, serving as a subordinate to Zhou.

After the victory at Chi Bi, Lu Su suggested ceding the southern part of Jing province to Liu Bei. Zhou Yu and Lü Fan protested against such a plan, but after Zhou Yu's death of illness in 210, Sun Quan agreed to Lu Su's plan instead, even allowing additional concessions to Liu. The resulting diplomatic mess would culminate in open hostilities between Liu and Sun a decade later.

In 223, Wei generals Cao Xiu and Zang Ba launched an attack on Dongkou. Lü commanded the defense, leading men such as Xu Sheng and Sun Shao into battle. Things went poorly for Wu from the start: a heavy wind came and destroyed much of Lü's fleet, and Cao Xiu attacked viciously. To further add to Wu's troubles, Sun Quan's younger brother, Sun Lang, accidentally burnt Lü's supplies of food and weaponry. Miraculously, Xu Sheng and Sun Shao were able to counterattack, and it was through their hard work that the battle was won.

Afterwards, Lü was appointed as governor of Yangzhou and even Commander-in-Chief. However, he died shortly after his appointment in 228. It is said that Quan wept heavily upon his death, crying out his style name at all hours.

[edit] Descendants and Legacy

Lü was succeeded by two sons, the first of which had died young. The third, Lü Ju, succeeded his father's noble rank and was a talented general in his own right. However, in 252, he was part of a plot to overthrow the tyrannical Wu general, Sun Lin, and when his part in the plot was discovered, he committed suicide before he could be imprisoned and executed.

[edit] References

• Chen Shou (2002). San Guo Zhi. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 7-80665-198-5. 
• Lo Kuan-chung; tr. C.H. Brewitt-Taylor (2002). Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 0-8048-3467-9. 
• Dr. Rafe de Crespigny (1990). Generals of the South. National Library of Australia. ISBN 0-7315-0901-3.