Lü Fan 呂範

Lü Fan, courtesy name Ziheng, was a man of Xiyang County in Runan Commandery. In his youth he became a county clerk and was of fine bearing and appearance. When he asked a wealthy Liu family of his town for their daughter, the girl's mother was reluctant, but Master Liu said, 'Looking at Lü Ziheng, how could he be a man who stays poor for long?' and gave her to him in marriage. Records, Wu 11 §32

Later he took refuge from the disorders at Shouchun; when Sun Ce saw him and thought him remarkable, Lü Fan attached himself to him and came over with a hundred of his private retainers. Sun Ce sent Lü Fan to escort the Dowager Lady, who was at Jiangdu. Tao Qian, Governor of Xu Province, took Lü Fan for a spy of the Yuan and had the county arrest him and interrogate him under the lash, but his close retainers and stalwarts snatched him away and brought him back. The Biography of Sun Ce records that because Tao Qian was wary of him, Sun Ce moved his mother to Qu'e and went with Lü Fan and Sun He to his maternal uncle Wu Jing. At this time only Lü Fan and Sun He always followed Sun Ce and did not shrink from danger, so Sun Ce treated him like a kinsman and drank with him in the presence of the Dowager Lady. Records, Wu 11 §32–33Records, Wu 1 §25

Following Sun Ce, he helped break Lujiang, crossed the river eastward and defeated Zhang Ying and others at Hengjiang and Dangli, and took Little Danyang and Hushu, taking charge as Chancellor of Hushu. When Sun Ce pacified Moling and Qu'e and took in the remnants of Ze Rong and Liu Yao, Lü Fan was given an additional 2,000 soldiers and 50 horses. Later, as Prefect of Wanling, he crushed the bandits of Danyang, and on returning to Wu he became Chief Commander. Records, Wu 11 §33–34

When Chen Yu of Xiapi styled himself Administrator of Wu Commandery and was in league with Yan Baihu, Sun Ce personally attacked Yan Baihu and separately sent Lü Fan and Xu Yi to attack Chen Yu at Haixi, and Lü Fan beheaded his chief general Chen Mu and displayed the head. He also attacked Zu Lang at Lingyang and Taishi Ci at Yongli. When seven counties had been pacified he became General of the Household Who Conquers Caitiffs, and after campaigning against Jiangxia he returned and pacified Poyang. When Sun Ce died, he hastened to Wu for the mourning. Records, Wu 11 §35

At first Sun Ce put Lü Fan in charge of finances and accounts. When the still-young Sun Quan made private requests, Lü Fan always reported them to Sun Ce and would not approve them on his own, and so incurred resentment. Whenever Sun Ce checked on the private spending of Sun Quan, then Chief of Yangxian, the Officer of Merit Zhou Gu doctored the accounts so that Sun Quan escaped reproach. Sun Quan liked Zhou Gu at the time, but after he took charge of the government he trusted Lü Fan deeply as loyal and sincere, and did not employ Zhou Gu, who knew how to falsify accounts. Records, Wu 11 §39–40

The Biography of the Lord of Wu records that Sun Quan made Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu, Lü Fan and others his commanders, and that in the 8th year of Jian'an (203), returning from an attack on Huang Zu, he had Lü Fan pacify Poyang. When Sun Quan attacked Jiangxia again, Lü Fan stayed behind on guard with Zhang Zhao. When Cao Cao reached Red Cliffs, he resisted and routed him together with Zhou Yu and others, became Assistant General and concurrently Administrator of Pengze, and received Pengze, Chaisang and Liyang as his fief towns. Records, Wu 2 §5 · 7Records, Wu 11 §36

When Liu Bei came to Jing to meet Sun Quan, Lü Fan secretly asked that Liu Bei be detained. The biography of Zhou Yu also records that at this time Zhou Yu memorialized proposing to move Liu Bei to Wu and hold him there with palaces and beautiful women, but Sun Quan, considering that with Cao Cao in the north he should gather heroes widely, did not accept it. Lü Fan was later transferred to General Who Pacifies the South and stationed at Chaisang. Records, Wu 11 §36Records, Wu 9 §19–20

On his way to attack Guan Yu, Sun Quan called at Lü Fan's residence, said, 'Had I followed your advice earlier, there would have been none of this trouble,' and asked him to guard Jianye. After defeating Guan Yu and making Wuchang his capital, Sun Quan made Lü Fan General Who Establishes Might and Marquis of Wanling, concurrently Administrator of Danyang, governing Jianye and supervising the region from Fuzhou down to the sea. Records, Wu 11 §37

In the autumn of the 1st year of Huangwu (222), when Wei's Cao Xiu, Zhang Liao, Zang Ba and others invaded toward Dongkou, Lü Fan, supervising five commanderies and leading Xu Sheng, Quan Cong, Sun Shao and others, resisted them with the navy. He was transferred to General of the Front with the tally of authority (jiajie) and his fief changed to Marquis of Nanchang. In the 11th month of that winter a great wind struck, capsizing boats and drowning several thousand men, and after withdrawing the army he became Governor of Yang Province. The Biography of Cao Xiu in the Wei records says that in this battle Cao Xiu defeated Lü Fan and others at Dongpu. Records, Wu 2 §42 · 47Records, Wu 11 §37–38Records, Wei 9 §57

Lü Fan loved dignified ceremony, and among the people of the province, men like Lu Xun and Quan Cong as well as the sons of noble families all treated him with respect and restraint. His residence and dress were extravagant for the time, but because he was diligent in his duties and upheld the law, Sun Quan was pleased with his loyalty and did not fault his extravagance. Records, Wu 11 §39

In the 7th year of Huangwu (228) Lü Fan was transferred to Grand Marshal, but died of illness before the seal and ribbon were conferred. Sun Quan put on plain white mourning, lamented him and sent an envoy to confer the seal and ribbon posthumously. Later, after the capital was moved back to Jianye, Sun Quan passed his tomb, called out 'Ziheng!' and wept, and sacrificed to him with the tailao offering. His eldest son had died before him, so his second son Lü Ju succeeded him; when Lü Fan fell ill, Lü Ju had become Colonel Deputy of the Army and assisted in commanding the troops. Records, Wu 11 §41 · 43Records, Wu 2 §60

In his assessment, Chen Shou wrote that Zhu Zhi and Lü Fan were employed as old retainers, and that whereas Lü Fan with his extravagance and Zhu Huan with his narrowness were still able to come to a good end despite such faults, Lü Ju and Zhu Yi met disaster without having them, because the times they met were different. Records, Wu 11 §67