史载（Historical Record）
According to the existing historical biographical materials, records of Lü Boshe are absent. In the *Records of the Three Kingdoms* and other official histories, no direct record or indirect mention of Lü Boshe can be found. This means that the figure of Lü Boshe, and the events connected with him, are not part of the true substance of history—at least not recorded in the surviving official sources. Therefore, from a historiographical standpoint, we cannot make any objective statement about Lü Boshe's life, native place, deeds, or role in history.
演中（In the Novel）
In Luo Guanzhong's *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, Lü Boshe is a figure who plays a key role in driving the plot, his image entirely a product of literary creation with no clear historical record. He first appears in Chapter 4 of the novel, described as a sworn brother of Cao Cao's father Cao Song, living near Chenggao. When Cao Cao, having failed to assassinate Dong Zhuo, fled together with Chen Gong and passed through Chenggao, Cao Cao proposed going to Lü Boshe's home to lodge and to inquire after news of his family c:841. Lü Boshe received them warmly and informed Cao Cao that his father had taken refuge at Chenliu. To entertain Cao Cao and Chen Gong, Lü Boshe went out specially to the western village to buy wine. However, while Lü Boshe was away from home, Cao Cao and Chen Gong heard from behind the manor the sound of a knife being sharpened and the words "Bind him and kill him—how about that?" Cao Cao, suspicious, mistakenly believed that Lü Boshe's family meant to harm him, and so he and Chen Gong drew their swords, burst in, and killed all eight members of Lü Boshe's household c:8916. Only when they searched as far as the kitchen did they discover that the family had merely been binding a pig, preparing to slaughter it to entertain them. Chen Gong therefore reproached Cao Cao: "Mengde is too suspicious—he has killed good people by mistake!" After the two hastily fled, they met on the road Lü Boshe returning with the wine. Lü Boshe, unaware of the disaster at his home, still warmly urged them to stay, but Cao Cao refused on the grounds that "a man accused of a crime cannot linger long," and continued his flight. This series of events profoundly shaped Cao Cao's suspicious, ruthless character, and also laid the groundwork for Chen Gong's eventual departure from Cao Cao.
关键关系
* Cao Song (oath_brother): In *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, Lü Boshe is set up as a sworn brother of Cao Cao's father Cao Song c:841 (novel-only). This relationship is the direct reason Cao Cao went to Lü Boshe's home to lodge, and it also made Lü Boshe show Cao Cao great warmth and care. Yet it was precisely Cao Cao's over-interpretation of and suspicion toward this kinship that ultimately led to the tragedy of Lü Boshe's entire family.
* Cao Cao: Lü Boshe was an important "passing figure" on Cao Cao's flight; his appearance and fate profoundly reveal the suspicious, cruel side of Cao Cao's character. Lü Boshe's hospitality toward Cao Cao and Cao Cao's mistaken killing of him form a sharp contrast, becoming an early embodiment of Cao Cao's thinking that "I would rather wrong others than have others wrong me."
* Chen Gong: As Cao Cao's companion, Chen Gong witnessed with his own eyes the tragedy of Lü Boshe's family. He had tried to stop Cao Cao, and afterward strongly condemned Cao Cao's conduct, calling it "the mistaken killing of good people!" c:8916 This event was the beginning of Chen Gong's disappointment in and doubt of Cao Cao, laying the groundwork for his later defection from Cao Cao.
标志性场景
* Lodging at Chenggao and the mistaken killing of the whole family: This is Lü Boshe's most central and signature scene in *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*. Cao Cao and Chen Gong fled to Chenggao and took refuge at Lü Boshe's home. Lü Boshe entertained them warmly and went out to buy wine. However, after Lü Boshe left home, Cao Cao, hearing the sound of a knife being sharpened and the family's conversation, mistakenly believed that Lü Boshe's family meant to harm him, and so with Chen Gong drew his sword and killed all eight members of Lü Boshe's household c:8916 (novel-only). This scene not only displays Cao Cao's cold-blooded ruthlessness, but also became a classic moral dilemma in *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, provoking wide discussion among later generations of Cao Cao's character.
* Lü Boshe returning with the wine: On the road, after Cao Cao and Chen Gong had killed his family and fled, they met Lü Boshe returning with the wine. Lü Boshe, entirely unaware, still warmly invited Cao Cao and Chen Gong to return home and enjoy the pork and fine wine he had specially prepared c:8916 (novel-only). This scene further strengthens Lü Boshe's innocence and kindness, forming a strong contrast with Cao Cao's cruelty and greatly heightening the tragic color of the event and its emotional impact on the reader.
Relationships
2 relationships
Friends1
Enemies1
Quotes
5 recorded lines · 2 featured
「老夫家無好酒，容往西村沽一樽來相待。」
This line raises the cloud of suspicion over Cao Cao's killing, setting up the famous "I would rather betray others than let others betray me."
「吾已分付家人宰一豬相款，賢姪、使君何憎一宿？速請轉騎。」
This line directly leads to Cao Cao mistakenly slaughtering Lü Boshe's entire family, embodying his cruel and suspicious nature.
Chapters1 回 ▸
- 演ch.4
Relationship timeline1 条 ▸
演 ch.4
- Cao Song§37
oath_brother
结义弟兄
Inner monologues · AI-generated1 段 ▸
- I am Lü Boshe; my courtesy name is unknown. That day, as evening approached, Cao Cao and Chen Gong arrived at my estate.