| Occupation | RScholar · Administrator of Yulin | Faction | Wu |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appears | RN | Biography in | Book of Wu |
| Born | Native place | Wu Commandery Wu County | |
| Cause of death | RIllness Unverified | ||
| Existence | Historical | Mentions | R12 |
Lu Ji, courtesy name Gongji, was a native of Wu County in Wu Commandery and the son of Lu Kang, Administrator of Lujiang. At the age of six, in Jiujiang, he tucked away three of the oranges that Yuan Shu had set out and then dropped them; when he answered that he had meant to take them home to his mother, Yuan Shu thought him remarkable. Records, Wu 12 §18
Widely learned, he had surveyed astronomy, calendrical science and mathematics. When Sun Quan took charge of the government, Lu Ji became Officer of the Memorials Bureau (zoucao yuan), but because his upright ways made him feared, he was sent out as Administrator of Yulin and given the additional title of Lieutenant General. Even amid military affairs he made the Diagram of the Celestial Sphere (Huntian tu), wrote a commentary on the Book of Changes and explained the Taixuan, and he died at the age of thirty-two. Records, Wu 12 §20–22
In his assessment, Chen Shou, author of the Records, likened Lu Ji in relation to Yang Xiong's Taixuan to Zuo Qiuming, and asked whether setting a vessel of his quality to guard Southern Yue did not do the man harm. In the Romance he first appears in Chapter 38 as one of the scholars of Jiangdong whom Sun Quan treated with great courtesy, and he appears in 2 of its 120 chapters; his name is in no chapter title. In Chapter 43 he debates Zhuge Liang and is left speechless. Records, Wu 12 §89Romance, Ch. 38 §26Romance, Ch. 43 §25–26
Lu Ji, courtesy name Gongji, was a native of Wu County in Wu Commandery. His father Lu Kang was Administrator of Lujiang at the end of the Han. At the age of six Lu Ji met Yuan Shu in Jiujiang. When Yuan Shu set out oranges, Lu Ji tucked three of them into his robe, and as he bowed to take his leave they fell to the ground. Yuan Shu said, 'Young Master Lu, do you come as a guest and carry off oranges in your robe?' Lu Ji knelt and answered that he had meant to take them home to give to his mother. Yuan Shu thought him most remarkable. Records, Wu 12 §18
When Sun Ce was in Wu, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong and Qin Song were his honored guests, and together they argued that since the four seas were not yet at peace, force must be used to bring order and pacify them. Lu Ji, who being young sat at the lowest seat, called out loudly from afar that in former times Guan Yiwu, as chancellor to Duke Huan of Qi, assembled the feudal lords nine times and set the realm right once, without using war chariots. He added that Confucius had said, 'If people far away do not submit, cultivate civil virtue to draw them,' yet those now debating did not devote themselves to the art of winning people over through the Way and virtue but esteemed force alone, and though he was only a child, he was uneasy at heart. Zhang Zhao and the others thought him extraordinary. Records, Wu 12 §18–19
Lu Ji was imposing in appearance and widely learned, and there was nothing in astronomy, calendrical science and mathematics that he had not surveyed. Yu Fan was an elder of high renown, and Pang Tong was a famous scholar of Jing Province and somewhat older, but both were on friendly terms with Lu Ji. The biography of Gu Shao, son of Gu Yong, records that in his youth Gu Shao was equal in fame to his maternal uncle Lu Ji, and that Lu Xun, Zhang Dun, Bu Jing and others all ranked after them. Records, Wu 12 §20Records, Wu 7 §36–37
According to the Biography of Pang Tong, when Zhou Yu died, Pang Tong escorted his coffin to Wu, and when he was about to return west, people gathered at the Chang Gate, and Lu Ji, Gu Shao and Quan Cong all went there. Pang Tong said, 'Master Lu may be called a slow horse with the strength to run fast.' Lu Ji and Gu Shao told Pang Tong that when the realm was at peace they would appraise the scholars of the whole world together with him, and they formed a deep friendship with Pang Tong. Records, Shu 7 §4–5
When Sun Quan took charge of the government, he summoned Lu Ji and made him Officer of the Memorials Bureau. But because his upright ways made him feared, he was sent out as Administrator of Yulin, given the additional title of Lieutenant General and 2,000 soldiers. Lu Ji was lame, and his aspirations lay in Confucian refinement, so this was not what he wished for. Records, Wu 12 §20
Though he had military affairs to attend to, he did not give up writing; he made the Diagram of the Celestial Sphere, wrote a commentary on the Book of Changes and explained the Taixuan, all of which were handed down in the world. Foreseeing the day of his own death, he composed a piece lamenting that Lu Ji of Wu Commandery, a man of purpose of the Han, had diligently studied the Odes and the Documents in his youth and delighted in the Rites and the Changes when grown, but, having received orders to campaign in the south, fell ill, met misfortune and came to an unhappy fate. He also said that sixty years from then carriages would share the same axle width and writing the same script, and that he regretted he would not live to see it. Records, Wu 12 §21
Lu Ji died at the age of thirty-two. The Records do not give the year of his death. According to the biography of Lu Mao, younger brother of Lu Xun, when his uncle Lu Ji died early, his two sons and one daughter were all only a few years old, so Lu Mao took them in, cared for and raised them, and let them go only after they had grown up. The elder son Lu Hong became Chief Commandant of the Southern Division of Kuaiji, and the second son Lu Rui became Colonel of the Changshui. Records, Wu 12 §22 · 64
In his assessment Chen Shou said that Lu Ji's relation to Yang Xiong's Taixuan was like that of Zuo Qiuming to Zhongni and of Yan Zhou (Zhuang Zhou) to Lao Dan. He added that a vessel as precious as a hulian ritual vessel had been charged with guarding Southern Yue; was this not, too, doing the man harm? Records, Wu 12 §89
Chapter 38 of the Romance lists the scholars who came to Jiangdong after Sun Quan, having inherited Jiangdong on Sun Ce's death, opened a guesthouse in Wuhui and had Gu Yong and Zhang Hong receive guests from all quarters; among them is 'Lu Ji, courtesy name Gongji.' The Romance says that Sun Quan treated them with very great courtesy. Romance, Ch. 38 §26
In Chapter 43, when Zhuge Liang debates the scholars of Jiangdong and Xue Zong is too ashamed to reply, a man in the gathering takes up the argument: although Cao Cao holds the Son of Heaven hostage to command the feudal lords, he is still a descendant of Chancellor of State Cao Can, whereas Liu of Yuzhou, though said to be a descendant of Prince Jing of Zhongshan, has no means of verifying it, and all one can see is a man who wove mats and sold sandals, so how could he stand against Cao Cao? Zhuge Liang looks and sees that it is Lu Ji. Romance, Ch. 43 §24–25
Zhuge Liang laughs and says, 'Are you not Young Master Lu, who tucked oranges into his robe at Yuan Shu's table?' He then retorts that if Cao Cao is a descendant of Chancellor of State Cao, his family have been subjects of the Han for generations, yet he now monopolizes power and slights his sovereign, making him not only a rebellious subject of the Han house but also a traitor to the Cao family. He adds that Liu of Yuzhou is a descendant of the imperial house whose rank the present emperor conferred after examining the genealogy, and that Gaozu too rose from a neighborhood head to possess the realm, so what disgrace is there in having woven mats and sold sandals? He rebukes Lu Ji, saying that with a child's views one cannot converse with lofty scholars. Lu Ji is left speechless. The Romance records nothing further of Lu Ji after this. Romance, Ch. 43 §25–26
First appearance: Chapter 38 of the Romance first names Lu Ji as one of the scholars who came to Jiangdong after Sun Quan opened his guesthouse. In the Records, Lu Ji was a native of Wu County in Wu Commandery who, while Sun Ce was in Wu, had already spoken from the lowest seat at the discussion of Zhang Zhao and the other honored guests, saying that civil virtue should be cultivated rather than force, and when Sun Quan took charge of the government he was summoned and made Officer of the Memorials Bureau. Romance, Ch. 38 §26Records, Wu 12 §18–20
The oranges: In Chapter 43 of the Romance the story appears only in a single remark, when Zhuge Liang calls him 'Young Master Lu, who tucked oranges into his robe at Yuan Shu's table.' In the Records, at the age of six in Jiujiang he tucked away three of the oranges that Yuan Shu had set out and dropped them, and when he answered that he had meant to give them to his mother, Yuan Shu thought him most remarkable. Romance, Ch. 43 §25Records, Wu 12 §18
The debate with Zhuge Liang: In Chapter 43 of the Romance, Lu Ji debates Zhuge Liang and is left speechless. The biography of Lu Ji in the Records contains no meeting with Zhuge Liang, and in the biography of Zhuge Liang, in the passage where Zhuge Liang persuades Sun Quan at Chaisang, there is no exchange with the scholars of Jiangdong either. Romance, Ch. 43 §25–26Records, Wu 12 §17–22Records, Shu 5 §12–16
Remarks on Cao Cao and Liu Bei: In Chapter 43 of the Romance, Lu Ji calls Cao Cao a descendant of Chancellor of State Cao Can and Liu Bei a man who wove mats and sold sandals, saying that Liu Bei could not stand against Cao Cao. The Records contain no remarks by Lu Ji on Cao Cao or Liu Bei; the words he left are his childhood remark that people should be won over through the Way and virtue rather than by esteeming force alone, and the piece he composed before his death. Romance, Ch. 43 §24–25Records, Wu 12 §18–19 · 21
Learning: In Chapter 43 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang rebukes Lu Ji for having a child's views. In the Records, Lu Ji was widely learned and surveyed astronomy, calendrical science and mathematics; his Diagram of the Celestial Sphere, his commentary on the Book of Changes and his explanation of the Taixuan were handed down in the world, and Chen Shou in his assessment likened him to Zuo Qiuming in relation to Yang Xiong. Romance, Ch. 43 §26Records, Wu 12 §20–21 · 89
Friends and reputation: The Romance does not mention Lu Ji's friendships with Yu Fan and Pang Tong. In the Records, Yu Fan and Pang Tong were both his friends; when leaving Wu, Pang Tong judged Lu Ji 'a slow horse with the strength to run fast,' and Gu Shao in his youth was equal in fame to his maternal uncle Lu Ji. Romance, Ch. 38 §26Romance, Ch. 43 §25Records, Wu 12 §20Records, Shu 7 §4–5Records, Wu 7 §37
Office and death: In the Romance, Lu Ji does not appear after Chapter 43, and his offices and death are not recorded. In the Records he went out from the post of Officer of the Memorials Bureau to become Administrator of Yulin, received the additional title of Lieutenant General, commanded 2,000 soldiers, and died at the age of thirty-two. Romance, Ch. 43 §26Records, Wu 12 §20 · 22
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.
The Records score (Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms, main text) is the baseline. Each ability compares how the Romance redrew the same person, and the evidence from both sources explains the difference.
RVersed in astronomy, calendrics and mathematics, made the Diagram of the Celestial Sphere and explained the Taixuan; noted in Chen Shou's assessmentWu 12 §20Wu 12 §89
NIntroduced as a scholar of Jiangdong whom Sun Quan treated with great courtesyCh. 38 §26
RTucked away oranges for his mother, and was feared for his upright waysWu 12 §18Wu 12 §20
NNo direct record — estimated from the mention of Young Master Lu tucking away orangesCh. 43 §26
RArgued for civil virtue over force and foresaw unification sixty years laterWu 12 §18Wu 12 §21
NDisparaged Liu Bei's origins and was refuted by KongmingCh. 43 §25
RAs a boy argued for civil virtue before Zhang Zhao and others and was thought extraordinaryWu 12 §18
NLeft speechless by Kongming's rebuttalCh. 43 §25
RRenowned men such as Yu Fan and Pang Tong were his friendsWu 12 §20
NNo direct recordCh. 38 §26
RReceived 2,000 soldiers as Lieutenant General, but it was not what he wished forWu 12 §20
NNo direct record — estimated from his role as a scholarCh. 38 §26
RNo direct record — estimated from a career devoted to Confucian learningWu 12 §20
NNo direct record — estimated from his role as a scholarCh. 38 §26
RNo direct record — estimated from his service as Administrator of YulinWu 12 §20
NNo direct recordCh. 38 §26
RFeared for his upright ways and sent out as Administrator of YulinWu 12 §20
NNo direct recordCh. 38 §26
RNo direct recordWu 12 §20
NNo direct recordCh. 38 §26
RSkilled +10 Surveyed astronomy and calendrics, made the Diagram of the Celestial Sphere, and foresaw the day of his deathWu 12 §20
Records Romance Unverified No direct record; scored from their actions (evidence grade C)
3KDEX scoring — the Records use the main text of Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms; the Romance uses the 120-chapter Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Click a source tag to open that passage in the reader.
AppearsNot present Chapter list →
| Parents | Lu Kang(陸康) Records |
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Based on Wikidata items for the historical and Romance figures. Relations without the Unverified badge were also confirmed in the Records.
Includes automatic matching from Wikipedia infoboxes and source keywords (unverified).
Linked via Wikidata "depicts" and character names in titles (unverified) — not yet reviewed.