Lü Jian

史载（Historical Record）

According to the extant historical sources, records concerning Lü Jian are lacking. In the Records of the Three Kingdoms and other official histories, no clear record relating to Lü Jian can be found, and so it is impossible to verify his life, deeds, offices, or specific contributions within the Cao Wei camp.

演中（In the Novel）

In Luo Guanzhong's literary narrative of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Lü Jian appears as a member of the Cao Wei camp, his image shaped mainly against the backdrop of Guan Yu's might shaking all China. He first appears in Chapter 75, when Guan Yu had flooded the seven armies, captured Yu Jin, and beheaded Pang De, his power and renown surging mightily, so that Cao Cao was greatly alarmed and even briefly considered moving the capital to avoid his sharp edge ^c:4902.

At this critical juncture, Sima Yi and the registrar Jiang Ji offered a plan, advising Cao Cao to contact Sun Quan and strike Guan Yu from behind to relieve the siege of Fancheng. At the same time, Cao Cao urgently needed a great general to blunt Guan Yu's keen edge. Just as Cao Cao was lamenting that Yu Jin was not the equal of Pang De, Xu Huang stepped forward and volunteered to go and fight Guan Yu. Cao Cao was overjoyed and appointed Xu Huang as commanding general, with Lü Jian as deputy general, leading fifty thousand elite troops to encamp at Yanglingpo, awaiting movements from the Eastern Wu side before advancing as opportunity allowed ^c:4902.

The Romance's depiction of Lü Jian is rather brief; he appears mainly in the capacity of Xu Huang's deputy general, with no detailed treatment of his personal ability, character, or past experience. His presence serves more to set off Xu Huang's valor at the critical moment and Cao Cao's strategic response to the situation. In the subsequent fighting, the Romance's attention is mainly focused on the clash between Xu Huang and Guan Yu; as deputy general, Lü Jian's specific role and performance are not prominently depicted. Thus, Lü Jian's image in the Romance is that of a general who, against the backdrop of a particular historical event, served in an auxiliary capacity as a member of the Cao Wei military system, but whose personal deeds are not fully developed in the literary work.

关键关系

* Cao Wei (serves): In the Romance, Lü Jian clearly served Cao Cao and was a general of the Cao Wei camp. Against the backdrop of Guan Yu's might shaking all China and the immense pressure on Cao Cao, he was appointed as Xu Huang's deputy general to jointly resist Guan Yu's attack ^c:4902.
* Xu Huang (superior/commanding general): In the Romance, Lü Jian was Xu Huang's deputy general, obeying Xu Huang's direction and jointly leading fifty thousand elite troops to encamp at Yanglingpo ^c:4902.

标志性场景

* Ordered to campaign at Xiangfan (Romance only): After Guan Yu flooded the seven armies and his might shook all China, Cao Cao, to counter Guan Yu's threat, adopted the advice of Sima Yi and Jiang Ji—on the one hand contacting Eastern Wu, and on the other urgently needing a general to resist Guan Yu. Xu Huang volunteered, and Cao Cao appointed him as commanding general with Lü Jian as deputy general, leading fifty thousand elite troops to encamp at Yanglingpo to counter Guan Yu's offensive ^c:4902. This is Lü Jian's most clear and important appearance in the Romance, marking his participation in the key campaign between Cao Wei and Guan Yu in the Xiangfan region.