Lu Ji

Historical Record

Lu Ji, styled Gongji, was a man of Wu County in Wu Commandery. His father Lu Kang had served as Administrator of Lujiang in the late Han ^c:4031. Lu Ji was clever from childhood; at only six years old he met Yuan Shu at Jiujiang. Yuan Shu gave him tangerines, and as Lu Ji left he inadvertently dropped three tangerines that he had tucked in his bosom. Seeing this, Yuan Shu teasingly asked Lu Ji why, being a guest, he had concealed tangerines, and Lu Ji answered, kneeling: "I wished to bring them home for my mother." Hearing this, Yuan Shu marvelled greatly at his filial heart ^c:4031.

After Sun Ce occupied the Southland, eminent men such as Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, and Qin Song were all honored guests, together discussing how, the realm being unsettled, it must be pacified by force. At the time Lu Ji was young and seated in the lowest place, yet he spoke up from afar: "Long ago Guan Zhong aided Duke Huan of Qi, nine times assembling the lords and once setting the realm right, without resorting to war chariots. Confucius too said, 'If distant peoples do not submit, then cultivate civil virtue to draw them in.' Now you gentlemen do not attend to the arts of virtue and conciliation, but exalt force alone; though I am young and ignorant, I privately think these words ill-considered." Zhang Zhao and the others, hearing this, were all astonished ^c:4031.

Lu Ji was of imposing appearance, broadly learned, and conversant with astronomy, the calendar, and mathematics. He enjoyed deep friendships with the eminent men of the day, Yu Fan and Pang Tong ^c:4032. After Sun Quan came to power, he recruited Lu Ji as Clerk of the Memorials Section. Lu Ji was upright and, because of his frank speech, was held in awe; he was later sent out as Administrator of Yulin, with the additional rank of General of the Vanguard and an assignment of two thousand troops. However, Lu Ji suffered from a lame leg, and his ambition lay in elegant scholarship and writing; military office was not what his heart desired. Even bearing military responsibility, he never set down his brush, composing the *Diagram of the Celestial Sphere*, annotating the *Book of Changes*, and expounding the study of the *Xuan*; his works all circulated in the world ^c:4032.

Foreknowing that he would not be long for the world, Lu Ji composed a valediction: "There was a man of resolve of Han, Lu Ji of Wu Commandery, who in youth was steeped in the *Odes* and *Documents*, and in maturity savored the *Rites* and *Changes*; receiving the command to campaign south, he met with illness and hardship, and encountering an unlucky fate — alas, what grief at this parting!" He also said: "From this time on, sixty years hence, the chariots will share one gauge and the writing one script; I regret I shall not live to see it." Lu Ji died at the age of thirty-two. He had two sons: the elder, Lu Hong, rose to be Commandant of the Southern Section of Kuaiji; the younger, Lu Rui, rose to be Colonel of the Long Waters. A daughter born to Lu Ji during his tenure at Yulin was named Yusheng; she was married to Zhang Bai, younger brother of Zhang Wen. Yao Xin once submitted a memorial praising Yusheng, commending her righteous conduct in keeping her chastity and not remarrying after her husband Zhang Bai met with family disaster and died, banished to another commandery, and in devotedly caring for Zhang Bai's sisters ^c:4032.

In the Novel

In the *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, Lu Ji's image is further shaped and he takes part in more episodes. He first appears in Chapter 38, described as one of the talented men who came to the Southland together with Kan Ze, Yan Jun, Xue Zong, and others when Sun Quan was widely recruiting worthies. Sun Quan treated him with great courtesy and listed him among the representatives of the Southland's abundance of able civil and military men ^c:6586.

Lu Ji's best-known appearance in the novel is in Chapter 43, in the scene before the Battle of Red Cliffs where Zhuge Liang debated the scholars. He questioned Liu Bei's origins, holding that although Liu Bei called himself a descendant of Prince Jing of Zhongshan, this could not be verified, and that he was merely "a fellow who wove mats and sold sandals," unfit to contend with Cao Cao ^c:4034. Zhuge Liang retorted that Cao Cao, though a descendant of Han officials, monopolized power and deceived his sovereign — a rebel of the House of Han and a traitor of the Cao clan; whereas Liu Bei, as an imperial scion, had been granted rank by the genealogy and was of verifiable origin, and that the Exalted Founder Liu Bang too had risen from being a village headman and finally won the realm, so that weaving mats and selling sandals was no disgrace. With his eloquence, Zhuge Liang left Lu Ji "at a loss for words" ^c:4034. Although this episode vividly displays Lu Ji's refinement and outspokenness, his questioning of Liu Bei's origins and his debate with Zhuge Liang are not clearly recorded in the histories, being a literary creation of the novel to highlight Zhuge Liang's wit.

Key Relationships

* Lu Kang (parent_of): Lu Ji's father, Administrator of Lujiang in the late Han ^c:4031.
* Yuan Shu (witnesses): In Lu Ji's childhood, Yuan Shu witnessed his filial act of "concealing tangerines for his mother" and marvelled greatly at him ^c:4031.
* Sun Quan's Faction (serves): Lu Ji served under Sun Quan as Clerk of the Memorials Section, later going out as Administrator of Yulin with the additional rank of General of the Vanguard ^c:4032. In the novel he is portrayed as one of the worthies Sun Quan widely recruited ^c:6586.
* Yu Fan (friend_of): Lu Ji was a friend of eminent men such as Yu Fan and Pang Tong ^c:4032.
* Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Qin Song (witnesses): In his youth Lu Ji publicly rebutted the "exalt force alone" arguments of Zhang Zhao and others, leaving them astonished ^c:4031.
* Zhuge Liang (debates with) (unique to the novel): In the *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, Lu Ji debated with Zhuge Liang, questioning Liu Bei's origins, and was rebutted by Zhuge Liang ^c:4034.

Iconic Scenes

* Concealing tangerines for his mother: At six years old, a guest at Yuan Shu's, Lu Ji tucked away the tangerines Yuan Shu had given him, wishing to bring them home to care for his mother. When Yuan Shu discovered this, Lu Ji explained himself candidly, and Yuan Shu marvelled greatly. This event became the symbol of Lu Ji's renown for filial piety ^c:4031.
* The boy refutes the exaltation of force: When Sun Ce was in Wu, Zhang Zhao and others discussed pacifying the realm by force, and the young Lu Ji, in the lowest seat, spoke up loudly, citing the words of Guan Zhong and Confucius and advocating conciliation by civil virtue rather than the single-minded exaltation of force. This displayed Lu Ji's scholarly bearing and far-sighted insight ^c:4031.
* Writing at Yulin: Although Lu Ji suffered from a lame leg and was appointed Administrator of Yulin with the additional rank of General of the Vanguard, his ambition lay in elegant scholarship; even bearing military responsibility he never set down his brush, composing the *Diagram of the Celestial Sphere*, annotating the *Changes*, and expounding the *Xuan*, his writings circulating in the world — reflecting his dedicated pursuit of learning ^c:4032.
* Debating Zhuge Liang (unique to the novel): In the *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, on the eve of the Battle of Red Cliffs, Lu Ji debated with Zhuge Liang at Sun Quan's residence, questioning Liu Bei's origins, only to be left speechless by Zhuge Liang's eloquence. Though fictional, this scene vividly portrays Lu Ji's image as a scholar and Zhuge Liang's wit ^c:4034.