Lü Bu

Lü Bu (呂布) was one of the foremost warriors in Chinese history.

Lü Bu in Fiction

The story below is from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and is probably not factual:

Lü Bu was a master of horse riding, archery, and armed combat. He was handsome, tall and undefeated, because of this; he was nicknamed the "Flying General."

Lü Bu originally started his career as Chief Secretary in the office of Ding Yuan, when Dong Zhuo marched into the capital and caused chaos in the Imperial Palace, Lü Bu was enchanted with the many splendid gifts from Dong Zhuo, and was talked into killing Ding Yuan.

Lü Bu was appointed Cavalry Commander and Imperial Corps Commander by Dong Zhuo successively, and was titled Lord of a Capital Precinct.

Fengxian and Dong Zhuo swore to be foster son and father, and since then Lü Bu became Dong Zhuo's closest guard. Later on, Imperial Minister of Interior Wang Yun devised a plot by using the beautiful Madian Diao Chan (said to be the prettiest girl in Chinese history) to cause their relationship to fall apart then to have Lü Bu kill Dong Zhuo. After Lü Bu killed Dong Zhou he married Diao Chan, was titled Graceful Lord and was treated as a high official. When Li Jue, Guo Si and Fan Chou attacked Chang An, Lü Bu was forced to retreated and sought refuge with Yuan Shao.

In the year 195, Lü Bu was defeated by Cao Cao at Juye and then went over to Liu Bei. He safed Liu Bei from Yuan Shu by his supreme archery skill then later he attack Liu Bei and take Xu Chou after Liu Bei betrayed him by promising Cao Cao to eliminate him. He sought to ally himself with Yuan Shu to the south but this failed due to a plot engineered by Chen Gui.

Lü Bu then turned to Cao Cao and was appointed General of the Left. In the third year of Rebuilt Tranquility (AD 198), Lü Bu allied Liu Bei and Cao Cao and defeated Yua Shu's force at Shou Chun but betrayed by Liu Bei once again and besiege by Cao Cao at Xia Pi castle.

Later on, Cao Cao was able to capture Lü Bu alive in Xia Pi. Lü Bu again tried to join Cao Cao, but Liu Bei betrayed and dissuaded him. Cao Cao had Lü Bu strangled to death at White Gate Tower.