Lu Bu
Hello, and welcome to my Lu Bu info page. For all who arn't nerds and don't know who he is, he was said to be the greatest warrior of all of china during the three kingdoms era. He is also in an excellant game called Dynasty Warriors 2. In it, he is the ultimate fighter, unmatched.
THE INTRODUCTION OF LU BU
Very little is written about Lu Bu’s childhood, but it is written by some
historians that Lu Bu was orphaned at an early age and lived in poverty for
quite some time. So, it may have been this dedication to his own survival
that spawned his unrivaled greed and ruthless lust for power.
Lu Bu first appears in the novel as a retainer for Ding Yuan, and during
that time, he fought alongside another great general, Zhang Liao. Shortly
after Dong Zhuo annexed the capital, one of his first choices was to
replace the young Emperor Bian with the even younger Prince Xian of Chenliu
(who happened to be a favorite of Dong Zhuo. Ding Yuan viewed this move as
an act of treason, so he decided to attack the palace and remove Dong Zhuo
from his post. At first, it appeared that Ding Yuan had the advantage due
to the power of Lu Bu. But Li Su, one of Dong Zhuo’s advisors, thought of
a clever way to get Lu Bu to rebel.
Since Li Su was from the same village as Lu Bu’s, he executed a plan in
which he stole away into Lu Bu’s camp and persuaded him to rebel through
flattery and cajolery. To consummate the deal, Li Su gave him the gift of
Red Hare, the fastest horse in all of China to match with the most powerful
man in all of China. Hence, the oft-used phrase:
"Among men, Lu Bu.
Among horses, Red Hare."
That night, Lu Bu sneaked into Ding Yuan’s tent and killed him. Presenting
Ding Yuan’s head in the Imperial Palace, Lu Bu began his reign of terror
under the service of the tyrant Dong Zhuo.
THE FALL OF DONG ZHUO
With Lu Bu as his loyal warrior, Dong Zhuo began to feel invincible, or at
least selfishly reckless. As expected, all of the most powerful warlords
in China combined together for an attempt to eliminate the rebel. A famous
battle occurred at Hu Lao (Tiger Trap) Gate when Lu Bu was sent to guard
the pass. It seemed as if nobody was physically able to match blows with
Lu Bu until Zhang Fei rode out to challenge him. Although Zhang Fei seemed
to be able to survive against Lu Bu in combat, he obviously needed help,
leading his sworn brother, Guan Yu, to aid him in the struggle. Now that
the two brothers’ strengths were in unison, the fight was finally on equal
ground. This was when the third brother, Liu Bei, rode out to assist his
brothers. Once Liu Bei arrived, the tide of the duel was turned, leading
Lu Bu to make a hasty retreat.
Unfortunately, due to an internal struggle between Sun Jian and Yuan Shu,
the capital of Luoyang was never taken by the Confederation. In an effort
to retreat to safety, Dong Zhuo committed the most atrocious act of all -
moving the capital to Chang An shortly after burning the Imperial City of
Luoyang to the ground. Nothing was left of the vicious conflagration other
than the rising frustration and anger towards Dong Zhuo’s despotic rule.
One advisor, Wang Yun, vowed to stop the awful tyranny.
Wang Yun devised an ingenious plan to separate Dong Zhuo from his trusted
bodyguard. To do so, he used his adopted daughter, Diao Chan, as a spike
to drive between the master and the servant. He first presented Diao Chan
to Lu Bu, offering her as a concubine, but only before offering her as a
handmaiden to Dong Zhuo as well. Diao Chan played her part brilliantly -
particularly in the Phoenix Pavilion, where she told Lu Bu what an animal
Dong Zhuo had been. Just as she planned, Dong Zhuo spied the two of them
together, leading him to chas after Lu Bu like a madman all throughout the
courtyard.
Through persuasion, Wang Yun finally convinced Lu Bu to rebel against Dong
Zhuo and take the capital for himself - all over the affections of his
daughter. So, at Meiwo, Lu Bu caught Dong Zhuo unawares, and promptly slew
him in front of his seemingly loyal retainers. Hence, Lu Bu murdered his
second master through treachery.
LU BU’S INDEPENDENCE
Shortly after Lu Bu had killed Dong Zhuo in betrayal, two of Dong Zhuo’s
retainers, Li Jue and Guo Si, gathered their forces and made a successful
reclamation of the capital. Lu Bu soon found himself without a home, but
he still sought greatness, and was simply waiting for a small advantage.
That time came when Cao Cao attacked the province of Xuzhou (it was a
matter of revenge for his dead father), leaving his province of Puyang
completely open for Lu Bu to attack. But, Cao Cao managed to reclaim the
city after pulling out prematurely from the Xuzhou attack.
Lu Bu was once again homeless, so he sought Liu Bei for refuge. Refuge was
granted to him, in addition to Lu Bu’s very own province of Xiaopei.
Eventually, through treachery and retaliation for Zhang Fei’s frequent
provocations, Lu Bu annexed Xuzhou, essentially forcing Liu Bei to swap
provinces with him.
Cao Cao still sought the defeat of Lu Bu, since he considered him to be the
greatest threat. Cao Cao forced an alliance with Liu Bei and devised a
scheme to trap Lu Bu at the smaller province of Xiapi (with the help of
Chen Gui and Chen Deng, two advisors who was secretly assisting Cao Cao and
Liu Bei under the false pretense of advising Lu Bu).
THE DEATH OF LU BU
Now that he was completely surrounded by enemies, but comfortable in terms
of supply storage, Lu Bu had grown increasingly depressed and weary of
fighting. Turning towards the bottle instead of the sword, he had spent
much of his time wasting his life with his wife and concubine. Only when
the situation grew desperate did he finally rise up and realize his foolish
and decadent lifestyle. In reparation for what had occurred, Lu Bu
instituted a permanent ban on all alcohol consumption among his soldiers.
Unfortunately, Hou Cheng, one of his officers, accidentally broke the rule
during a celebratory party, and was beaten severely for his mistake.
Dissension began to grow amongst his seemingly loyal officers, so many of
them plotted to rebel against him and seek service under Cao Cao. Hou
Cheng then stole Red Hare from Lu Bu and presented it to Cao Cao as a peace
offering, promising to assist in the final attack against his former lord.
It was at White Gate Tower where Lu Bu exhausted from fighting, decided to
take a nap. During his slumber, the rebelling officers bound him to his
chair and threw his "Lunar Halberd" out of the tower window as proof of his
defeat. Captured and without allies, Lu Bu was bound and dragged in front
of Cao Cao for the execution process. Lu Bu made a desperate attempt to
save his life by offering his services to Cao Cao. For a split second, Cao
Cao pondered the idea, but it was soon quashed when Liu Bei reminded of
Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo - two lords who also utilized Lu Bu’s power.
Therefore, Lu Bu, the greatest warrior in the history of China, finally
perished under the executioner’s blade in 198 A.D.
