Lü Fan
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| Lü Fan | |||
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| Traditional Chinese: | 呂範 | ||
| Simplified Chinese: | 吕范 | ||
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Lü Fan, styled Ziheng (子衡) (d. 228) was an officer serving Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms era of China.
Lü Fan was a man from Runan Commandery in Yang province. He was married to a woman of the Liu clan. He first served Yuan Shu, but later changed allegiance to Sun Ce. He was integral to the military progress of Wu and contributed much to the state's welfare until his death in 228.
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[edit] Service under Yuan Shu and Sun Ce
Lü Fan began his career as a minor official in the service of Yuan Shu, one of several warlords during the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was there that he met Sun Ce, one of Yuan Shu's young generals. They became close friends, and Lü Fan participated in all of Sun Ce's battles under Yuan Shu from then on.
It is said that Lü Fan recommended himself through a game of Go - Sun Ce made a bad opening move, and Lü Fan capitalized upon it, pointing out Sun Ce's mistake. Sun Ce was suitably impressed and offered Lü Fan a post. Rather than accept a high and lofty position, however, Lü Fan insisted upon remaining in a low and humble one where he could more effectively manage troops. This also impressed Sun Ce, and the two became inseparable. The game of Go in question, called the "Sun-Lü Game", is purported to be the first Go game to be recorded move for move, but many scholars doubt its authenticity. After this, Lü Fan was appointed as Chief Controller.
At one point during the beginning of Sun Ce's career, Lü Fan 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 Fan as a spy and torture him, but some retainers freed him, and he was able to successfully rescue Sun Ce's family. Lü Fan became so trusted by Sun Ce that he was treated the same as a member of Sun's own family, given food and drink before Sun's own mother, Lady Wu.
Lü Fan was third only to Cheng Pu and Xu Kun in terms of merits, following Sun Ce in every battle. His unit defeated and killed Yan Baihu's subordinate, Chen Mu. Later, when Yuan Shu declared himself emperor, Sun Ce declared his independence, and Lü Fan 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 Shu, secretly plotted to destroy Sun Ce from within, but Sun foresaw this and sent Lü Fan to destroy him. Lü Fan 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 Ce submitted a memorial to the emperor, naming Lü Fan as designated Grand Administrator of Guiyang (an area within Liu Biao's jurisdiction) among other things.
In 200, Sun Ce died of injuries sustained during an assassination attempt, and his brother, Sun Quan received his command and seal.
Lü Fan served as Sun Ce's chief strategist historically, while in popular culture, that role is often fulfilled by Sun's close friend, Zhou Yu. However, Zhou Yu was absent for many of Sun Ce's campaigns, whereas Lü Fan was at each one.
[edit] Service under Sun Quan
Lü Fan served as one of Sun Quan's most trusted civil officers. Initially, before Sun Ce's death, Sun Quan and Lü Fan had had some disagreement - being young and foolhardy, Sun Quan often took money for personal interests and asked Lü Fan to fix the books. Lü Fan, however, remained honest, thus causing Sun Quan to dislike him. After his brother's death, however, Sun Quan matured greatly and admired Lü Fan's earlier honesty, thus valuing him highly.
In 208, Cao Cao led a fleet down to the Battle of Red Cliffs 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 Fan participated in the battle, serving as a subordinate to Zhou Yu.
After the victory at Red Cliffs, 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 Bei. The resulting diplomatic mess would culminate in open hostilities between Liu Bei and Sun Quan a decade later.
In 223, Cao Wei generals Cao Xiu and Zang Ba launched an attack on Dongkou. Lü Fan commanded the defense, leading men such as Sun Shao and Xu Sheng into battle. Things went poorly for Wu from the start: a heavy wind came and destroyed much of Lü Fan's fleet, and Cao Xiu attacked viciously. To further add to Eastern Wu's troubles, Sun Quan's younger brother, Sun Lang, accidentally burnt Lü Fan's supplies of food and weaponry. Miraculously, Sun Shao and Xu Sheng were able to counterattack, and it was through their hard work that the battle was won.
Afterwards, Lü Fan was appointed as governor of Yang province and even Commander-in-Chief. However, he died shortly after his appointment in 228. It is said that Sun 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 Eastern Wu general, Sun Lin, and when his part in the plot was discovered, he committed suicide before he could be imprisoned and executed.
[edit] See also
- Three Kingdoms
- Personages of the Three Kingdoms
- Records of Three Kingdoms
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms
[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.
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