Lü Dai


Lü Dai, courtesy name Dinggong, was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in the late Eastern Han dynasty, Lü Dai started his career as a minor official in his home commandery in present-day Taizhou, Jiangsu before migrating south to the Jiangdong region, where he became an assistant magistrate and later a county chief under the warlord Sun Quan. He rose to prominence after his successes in suppressing some rebellions in Sun Quan's territories. Around the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan, who later became the founding emperor of Eastern Wu, appointed Lü Dai as the governor of the restive Jiao Province in the south. During his ten-year-long tenure in Jiao Province, Lü Dai quelled a number of revolts, maintained peace in the area, and contacted some foreign kingdoms in Mainland Southeast Asia and made them pay tribute to Eastern Wu. In 231, he was recalled to Wuchang to oversee civil and military affairs in Jing Province alongside his colleague Lu Xun. Throughout the 230s, he suppressed a few rebellions in Wu territories. By 240, as he neared the age of 80, he was still in good physical health and competent enough to perform his duties. He rose to the position of Senior General-in-Chief in 246 and later Grand Marshal in 252 during the reign of Sun Quan's successor Sun Liang. He died at the old age of 95 and was one of the longest-living notable persons of the Three Kingdoms period.

Early career

Lü Dai was from Hailing County, Guangling Commandery, which is in present-day Taizhou, Jiangsu. He started his career in the late Eastern Han dynasty as a low-level bureaucrat in the county and commandery offices. When chaos broke out throughout China in the 180s and 190s, he fled south to the Jiangdong region for shelter.
In the year 200, after Sun Quan became the warlord ruling over the Jiangdong territories, Lü Dai sought a career under him and was appointed as an assistant official in Wu Commandery. During an inspection tour of Wu Commandery, Sun Quan summoned all the county chiefs and assistant officials for a review of every county's stores and legal administration. Lü Dai impressed Sun Quan when he responded well to his questions and showed that everything under his watch was in perfect order. Sun Quan then reassigned him to be a clerk in his personal administrative office, and later appointed him as the Chief of Yuyao County. During his tenure, Lü Dai recruited over 1,000 able-bodied men to serve in Sun Quan's army.

Pacifying a rebellion in Kuaiji

When Lü He and Qin Lang led an uprising in the five counties in the east of Kuaiji Commandery, Sun Quan commissioned Lü Dai as a Colonel and ordered him to assist Jiang Qin in dealing with the rebels. Lü Dai and Jiang Qin succeeded in their mission and managed to pacify the five counties and capture the two rebel leaders. Lü Dai was then promoted to General of the Household of Illustrious Trust as a reward for his achievement.

Aborted mission to Hanzhong

In 211, Lü Dai, with Yin Yi as his deputy, led 2,000 troops west to lure Zhang Lu, a warlord based in Hanzhong Commandery, into a trap at Hanxing Commandery. However, Zhang Lu suspected something fishy so he did not respond. Sun Quan then ordered Lü Dai and his men to return to Jiangdong.
On the journey back, Lü Dai passed by Baidicheng and met Sun Quan's ally Liu Bei, who was leading an army to seize control of Yi Province from its governor Liu Zhang. He saw that Liu Bei's army was in disarray and had lost about half their total number of troops, and felt convinced that Liu Bei would not succeed in conquering Yi Province. After returning to Jiangdong, he told Sun Quan, who in turn asked his adviser Wu Fan, who had previously predicted that Liu Bei would conquer Yi Province. Wu Fan replied: "My prediction is based on Heaven's will. What Lü Dai saw were the actions of people." Wu Fan's prediction came true as Liu Bei did eventually conquer Yi Province by 214.

Role in the Sun–Liu territorial dispute

In 215, when Sun Quan had a territorial dispute with his ally Liu Bei in Jing Province, he ordered Lü Dai, with Sun Mao and nine other officers as his deputies, to lead troops to seize control of the three commanderies of Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang. The officials in four counties – Ancheng, You, Yongxin and Chaling – moved to Yinshan County, where they declared hostility towards Lü Dai. In response, Lü Dai led his troops to besiege and attack Yinshan County, and succeeded in forcing the rebellious officials to surrender. The three commanderies in southern Jing Province thus came firmly under Sun Quan's control.
Sun Quan left Lü Dai in charge of Changsha. Around the time, Wu Dang, the Chief of Ancheng County, conspired with a military officer Yuan Long to rebel against Sun Quan and defect to Guan Yu, the general guarding Liu Bei's territories in southern Jing Province. Wu Dang managed to occupy You County while Yuan Long stationed himself at Liling County. Sun Quan sent his general Lu Su to attack Wu Dang; Lu Su succeeded in defeating Wu Dang and recapturing the counties while Wu Dang fled after his defeat. In the meantime, Lü Dai attacked Liling County and succeeded in capturing and executing Yuan Long. He was then assigned to serve as the Administrator of Luling Commandery.

As the governor of Jiao Province

In 220, Lü Dai was appointed as the Inspector of the southern Jiao Province to replace Bu Zhi. After Lü Dai assumed office, Qian Bo, a bandit chief from Gaoliang Commandery led his followers to surrender to him. Lü Dai accepted Qian Bo's surrender and appointed him as the Commandant of the West Section of Gaoliang Commandery. Later, he also quelled an uprising by indigenous tribes in Yulin Commandery.
Around the time, there was a bandit chief Wang Jin from Zhenyang County who frequently led his followers to raid the borders of Nanhai Commandery. Under orders from Sun Quan, Lü Dai led his troops to attack the bandits and succeeded in capturing Wang Jin alive. He then sent Wang Jin as a captive to the Wu imperial capital, Jianye. Throughout the campaign, he had killed, captured and released about 10,000 bandits in total. In recognition of Lü Dai's efforts, Sun Quan promoted him to General Who Stabilises the South, granted him acting imperial authority, and enfeoffed him as a Marquis of a Chief District.

Suppressing Shi Hui's rebellion

When Shi Xie, the Administrator of Jiaozhi Commandery, died in 226, Sun Quan commissioned Shi Xie's third son, Shi Hui, as a general and appointed him as the Administrator of Jiuzhen Commandery. He also appointed Chen Shi as the new Administrator of Jiaozhi Commandery to succeed Shi Xie. Around the time, Sun Quan wanted to split Jiao Province and create another province, Guang Province : Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen and Rinan commanderies would remain part of Jiao Province; Cangwu, Nanhai, Yulin and Hepu commanderies would form the new Guang Province. He then appointed Dai Liang and Lü Dai as the Inspectors of Jiao and Guang provinces respectively.
When Dai Liang and Chen Shi came to assume their new appointments, Shi Hui refused to accept the new arrangement and he started a rebellion by sending his forces to block Dai Liang and Chen Shi. After obtaining approval from Sun Quan, Lü Dai led 3,000 troops to attack Shi Hui and quell the rebellion. When someone warned Lü Dai to be careful because the Shi clan had lived in Jiao Province for generations and had strong support from the locals, Lü Dai replied: "Although Shi Hui has decided to rebel, he doesn't expect me to show up with an army. If I launch a swift attack now, I can catch him off guard and defeat him easily. If I don't act fast, the others will start thinking of rebelling too, while Shi Hui will have more time to strengthen his defences. If the barbarians in all the seven commanderies combine forces and join him in his rebellion, I don't think even the most brilliant military commanders can deal with them."
Lü Dai then led his troops to the rendezvous point at Hepu County, where he combined forces with Dai Liang and prepared to attack Shi Hui. When Shi Hui learnt that Lü Dai had showed up at Jiaozhi Commandery with an army, he was so shocked and terrified that he did not know what to do as he did not expect Lü Dai to arrive so quickly. He had no choice but to lead his brothers out of the city and surrender to Lü Dai. Lü Dai later executed all the Shi brothers and sent their heads to Sun Quan. Gan Li and Huan Zhi, two military officers who used to serve under Shi Hui, rallied their forces to attack Lü Dai to avenge their master. Lü Dai managed to defeat them and eliminate all remaining opposing forces. As a reward for his achievement, Lü Dai was promoted from a district marquis to a county marquis under the title "Marquis of Panyu".
After Shi Hui's rebellion, Sun Quan abolished the newly created Guang Province and restored the original Jiao Province. After pacifying Jiaozhi Commandery, Lü Dai led his troops further south into Jiuzhen Commandery to attack opposing forces, and killed or captured tens of thousands of enemies. He also tasked the officials under him with spreading Han Chinese culture in the southern lands with the aim of sinicising the non-Han Chinese peoples living there. At the same time, he sent emissaries to contact the rulers of foreign kingdoms such as Funan, Lâm Ấp and Tangming in Mainland Southeast Asia, and make them pay tribute to Wu. Sun Quan lauded Lü Dai for his efforts and promoted him to General Who Guards the South.

Pacifying rebellions in Wuling, Luling, Kuaiji and Nanhai

In early 231, after seeing that Jiao Province was peaceful, Sun Quan reassigned Lü Dai to a new post at Oukou.
Around March or April 231, when the indigenous tribes living in Wuxi rebelled against Wu rule, Sun Quan ordered Lü Dai to lead 50,000 troops to suppress the rebellion. He also ordered Pan Jun to supervise and assist Lü Dai as the latter conducted the military operation against the rebels. Pan Jun ensured that promises were kept, and rewards and punishments were given out fairly. By December 234, the rebellion ended with over 10,000 rebels killed or taken captive. The indigenous tribes also became so drastically weakened that they could not rebel again in a long time.
In 233, Sun Quan ordered Lü Dai and Pan Zhang to lead their troops to station at Lukou. Later, he instructed them to relocate their garrison to the nearby Puqi.
In 235, rebellions broke out almost simultaneously in three commanderies: Luling, eastern Kuaiji and Nanhai. Li Huan and Lu He led the rebels in Luling; Sui Chun led the rebels in eastern Kuaiji; and Luo Li led the rebels in Nanhai. In response, Sun Quan ordered Lü Dai, with Liu Zuan and Tang Zi as his deputies, to lead troops to separately quell each rebellion. After Sui Chun surrendered, Lü Dai appointed him as a Lieutenant-General and recruited him as a subordinate. He also defeated the other rebel forces, executed the rebel leaders Li Huan, Lu He and Luo Li, and sent their heads to Sun Quan. Sun Quan issued an imperial decree to praise Lü Dai for his achievements in quelling the rebellions and restoring peace in the three commanderies.
Following Pan Jun's death in 239, Lü Dai succeeded him by overseeing all civil and documentation-related affairs in Jing Province. He also moved to Wuchang to work alongside Lu Xun, but continued to remain in charge of the garrison at Puqi.

Quelling Liao Shi's rebellion

In December 239 or January 240, a Wu officer Liao Shi started a rebellion in Linhe Commandery and led his followers to attack the neighbouring commanderies of Lingling and Guiyang. Liao Shi's revolt also inspired the locals in Jiao Province's Cangwu and Yulin commanderies to rebel against Eastern Wu as well.
When Lü Dai received news of the rebellions, he immediately assembled his troops and led them to attack the rebels. They even travelled at night in order to reach their destination in the shortest possible time. Sun Quan sent an emissary to catch up with Lü Dai and officially appoint him as the Governor of Jiao Province. At the same time, he ordered other officers such as Tang Zi to lead their units to Jiao Province to support Lü Dai. After about a year, Lü Dai succeeded in defeating the rebels and restoring peace in the various commanderies. He also executed the rebel leaders Liao Shi, Fei Yang and their followers. After completing his mission, he returned to his previous post at Wuchang.

Overseeing affairs in Wuchang

By 240, Lü Dai was already nearing the age of 80, but he was still in good physical health, competent enough to perform his duties as a general, and still personally saw to all the day-to-day affairs in Wuchang.
Around this time, a Wu general Zhang Cheng wrote a letter to Lü Dai as follows: "In the past, when Dan and Shi served as regents of Zhou, people wrote the Odes of the South to praise them. Today, you and Master Lu are just like the two of them. Both of you demonstrate loyalty, diligence, hard work, and humility, make great achievements and contributions, and promote a strong civil culture. Junzis sing praises of your virtues while the people admire you for your values. I heard that every day you have piles of documents to look through and an endless queue of people to meet, yet you neither put aside your work nor complain that you are tired. I even heard that you can get onto horseback without stepping on the stirrups. It looks like you have surpassed Lian Po. How wonderful it is for you to have all these achievements! The Yijing says: 'He wishes his virtue to be more and more complete, and in his intercourse with others to be more and more respectful.' How did you attain such perfection?"
In 243, Lü Dai sent Zhu Ying and Kang Tai to survey the lands south of Jiao Province in present-day Mainland Southeast Asia and spread Chinese culture there. Kang Tai wrote the Wu Shi Waiguo Zhuan, which recorded what he saw during his travels in Mainland Southeast Asia.
Following Lu Xun's death in 245, Zhuge Ke replaced him as the military commander guarding Wuchang and overseeing affairs in Jing Province. Sun Quan then divided Wuchang into two sections and put Lü Dai in charge of the right section, which oversaw the area from Puqi to Wuchang. In September or October 246, he promoted Lü Dai to Senior General-in-Chief, and commissioned Lü Dai's son Lü Kai as a Colonel to oversee the military garrison at Puqi.

Later career and death

After Sun Quan died in May 252, his youngest son Sun Liang became the next emperor of Wu. Later in May or June that year, Sun Liang appointed Lü Dai as Grand Marshal.
Lü Dai died on 21 October 256 at the age of 96. His son, Lü Kai, inherited his peerage as the Marquis of Panyu.
Before his death, Lü Dai gave instructions that he wanted to be buried in an undecorated coffin, to be dressed in plain clothes, and have a simple funeral. Lü Kai followed all his instructions faithfully.

Anecdotes

Leaving his family in poverty

Lü Dai was known for living an honest, frugal and simple life. When he held office in Jiao Province, he did not send any income home for years and caused his family to live in poverty and hunger.
Sun Quan sighed when he heard about it, and he told his subjects: "Lü Dai is thousands of li away from home faithfully performing his duties to the State while his family suffers from poverty and I don't know about it until now. What have you, my close aides and information gatherers, been doing all this while?" He then arranged for a certain amount of money, grain, cloth and silk to be sent to Lü Dai's family every year.

Friendship with Xu Yuan

Lü Dai was close friends with one Xu Yuan from Wu Commandery who was known for being generous and ambitious. Lü Dai saw great potential in Xu Yuan so he often sent him clothing, often discussed current affairs with him, and recommended him for higher positions. Xu Yuan eventually rose through the ranks in the Wu government to the position of an imperial censor.
Xu Yuan was known for being loyal, bold and outspoken. Whenever he saw Lü Dai make a mistake, he would point it out to Lü Dai in private and, at the same time, bring up the issue and discuss it in public. When someone told Lü Dai about it, the latter remarked: "This is why I regard Deyuan so highly."
When Xu Yuan died, Lü Dai cried inconsolably and said: "Deyuan was my best friend. Now that he has passed away, where am I going to find someone who will point out my mistakes to me?" Their contemporaries saw their friendship in a very positive light.