Liu Lue

Historical Record

Liu Lue was a general of the state of Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. His life and deeds are little recorded in the histories, seen mainly in his role in the Battle of Dongxing. According to the *Records of the Three Kingdoms*, the Great Emperor of Wu, Sun Quan, moved the capital to Jianye in the first year of Huanglong (229 CE), and the following year (230 CE) built the Dongxing dike to hold back the lake waters; but because of failure in the campaign against Huainan, the inland river boats were damaged, and thereafter the Dongxing dike was abandoned and left unrepaired^[1].

Not until the tenth month of the first year of Jianxing (252 CE) did the Grand General of Wu, Zhuge Ke, again muster troops at Dongxing and oversee the building of a great dike. He chose to build the dike between two mountains and to erect a city at each of its two ends, leaving a thousand men to garrison each. Zhuge Ke appointed Quan Duan and Liu Lue to garrison these two cities respectively, then led his main force back^[1].

The state of Wei, ashamed that the Wu army had intruded into its borders, sent its great generals Hu Zun, Zhuge Dan, and others to lead a host of seventy thousand, intending to take and destroy the two cities and the dike at Dongxing. On hearing the news, Zhuge Ke at once led a host of forty thousand, marching day and night, to the relief of Dongxing. After the Wei army arrived, it ordered its various units to set up pontoon bridges to cross the dike, drew up in array atop the dike, and divided its forces to attack the two cities. However, these two cities stood high and steep, and the Wei army could not take them at once^[1].

At this critical juncture, Zhuge Ke sent the generals Liu Zan, Lü Ju, Tang Zi, and Ding Feng as the vanguard. At the time it was cold and snowing, and the Wei generals were feasting and drinking. Seeing that Liu Zan and the others' troops were few in number, and that they had taken off their armor, carried no long spears or halberds, wore only helmets, and bore swords and shields, advancing up the dike bare, they mocked them greatly and did not at once draw up in readiness. Once the Wu troops had climbed the dike, they immediately raised a clamor and hacked about with their swords. Caught off guard, the Wei army panicked and scattered, fleeing and scrambling to cross the pontoon bridges. The bridges, unable to bear the weight, broke, and the Wei soldiers fell into the water one after another and trampled one another. The Grand Administrator of Le'an, Huan Jia, and others also perished in this battle, the dead numbering tens of thousands. The Wu army also beheaded the renegade general Han Zong, and captured several thousand carts, horses, oxen, donkeys, and mules, along with supplies heaped like mountains. After this great victory, Zhuge Ke returned in triumph and was advanced in rank to Marquis of Yangdu, with the additional titles of Governor of Jing and Yang Provinces and Commander of All Military Affairs Within and Without, and was granted a hundred catties of gold, two hundred horses, and ten thousand bolts each of silk and cloth^[1].

In this Battle of Dongxing, Liu Lue, as one of the generals defending the cities, together with Quan Duan held the cities firm, laying the foundation for the Wu army's ultimate victory. Although the histories say little of his specific performance, his role in this key battle was undoubtedly an important link in Wu's defensive system.

In the Novel

*Romance of the Three Kingdoms* does not mention the figure of Liu Lue. Therefore, the literary shaping of Liu Lue is absent from the novel. His historical record of taking part in the Battle of Dongxing is likewise not adopted or adapted in the novel. This is related to the novel's tendency to focus on major figures and great historical events; figures who play secondary roles in the official histories often do not appear in the novel^[1].

Key Relationships

* Eastern Wu: Liu Lue was a general of the Eastern Wu regime, serving the state of Wu and taking part in Wu's Battle of Dongxing against Wei^[1].
* Zhuge Ke: In the Battle of Dongxing, Liu Lue was appointed by Zhuge Ke to garrison the two cities of Dongxing together with Quan Duan, and was an important member of Zhuge Ke's military deployment^[1].
* Quan Duan: Liu Lue and Quan Duan jointly received the charge to garrison the two cities of Dongxing; the two were colleagues fighting shoulder to shoulder^[1].

Signature Scenes

* Defending the Cities at Dongxing: Liu Lue's most signature scene is his defense, in the Battle of Dongxing, of the cities at the two ends of the Dongxing dike under Zhuge Ke's command, together with Quan Duan. With the great Wei army bearing down and assaulting fiercely, Liu Lue held the city firm, bought precious time for the Wu army, and ultimately contributed to the Wu army's great victory in the Battle of Dongxing. This event is the only military action of his explicitly recorded in the histories, and the core embodiment of his historical presence^[1].