Weapon
Fangtian Huaji 方天畫戟
About this item
The Fangtian Huaji is the halberd Lü Bu carries in the Romance. Lü Bu first appears in Chapter 3 of the Romance standing behind Ding Yuan, holding the Fangtian Huaji and glaring with angry eyes, and the text also calls it the huaji (painted halberd) and the fangtian ji. With this halberd Lü Bu fights Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei at Hulao Pass, shoots and hits the small side blade of the halberd he has had planted outside the camp's outer gate, and in Chapter 19 at Xiapi he is captured after Song Xian steals it. Romance, Ch. 3 §31Romance, Ch. 5 §43 · 50 · 54Romance, Ch. 16 §11 · 14Romance, Ch. 19 §50–51 · 60
The name Fangtian Huaji does not appear in Chen Shou's text. The Biographies of Lü Bu, Zhang Miao and Zang Hong in Records of Wei 7 mention the hand halberd Dong Zhuo drew and threw at Lü Bu, the halberd Lü Bu had set up inside the camp gate and then shot and hit, and the halberd Lü Bu drew in front of Chen Deng to hack at a table. The Romance depicts Lü Bu's painted halberd in Chapters 3, 5, 8, 16 and 19. Records, Wei 7 §4 · 17–18 · 22Romance, Ch. 3 §31Romance, Ch. 5 §43Romance, Ch. 8 §40Romance, Ch. 16 §11Romance, Ch. 19 §51
In the Romance
In Chapter 3 of the Romance, when Dong Zhuo raises the matter of deposing the emperor and Ding Yuan opposes him, Li Ru sees Lü Bu glaring behind Ding Yuan with the Fangtian Huaji in hand and hastily brings the banquet to an end. The next day Lü Bu, wearing a hair-binding golden crown and a hundred-flower battle robe with the Tangni Kai armor, levels his halberd, comes out before the lines with Ding Yuan, and charges straight at Dong Zhuo. Romance, Ch. 3 §30–31 · 35
In the fighting at Hulao Pass in Chapter 5, Lü Bu comes out in linked armor, holding the painted halberd and riding the Red Hare; he spears Fang Yue and others from their saddles with the halberd and cuts Wu Anguo's wrist. Lü Bu, who was about to spear Gongsun Zan in the back with the painted halberd, fights the three men Zhang Fei, Guan Yu and Liu Bei, and when his strength fails he makes a feint thrust at Liu Bei's face and flees to the pass dragging the painted halberd behind him. The verse at this point sings of him "trailing the Fangtian halberd behind him." In Chapter 8, at the Fengyiting pavilion, while Lü Bu is talking with Diaochan, Dong Zhuo snatches up the painted halberd leaning to one side, chases him and throws it, but Lü Bu knocks it down. Romance, Ch. 5 §43–44 · 46–48 · 50 · 54Romance, Ch. 8 §40
In Chapter 16, Lü Bu invites both Ji Ling, who has come to seize Liu Bei, and Liu Bei to a banquet, and has his attendants plant the painted halberd far outside the camp's outer gate. The outer gate is 150 paces from the central command, and if he hits the halberd's small side blade with a single arrow, the two parties are to withdraw their troops. The arrow strikes the small side blade of the painted halberd squarely, and Lü Bu, saying that Heaven is telling the two parties to withdraw their troops, takes Ji Ling and Liu Bei by the hand. Romance, Ch. 16 §10–12 · 14 · 16
In Chapter 19, surrounded at Xiapi by Cao Cao's troops, Lü Bu refuses to go out, saying, "I have my painted halberd and the Red Hare; who would dare come near me?" But while he is asleep in the gate tower, Song Xian first steals the painted halberd and ties Lü Bu up together with Wei Xu, and Song Xian throws Lü Bu's painted halberd down from the wall and opens the city gate. The verse of this chapter laments that "his one Fangtian halberd was of no avail." Romance, Ch. 19 §30–31 · 50–51 · 60
Lü Bu is not the only one in the Romance who wields a Fangtian Huaji. In Chapter 53, Song Qian and Jia Hua, guarding Sun Quan, hold Fangtian Huaji and block Yue Jin's blade, and both halberds break together; E Huan in Chapter 87 and Han Qiong in Chapter 92 also use fangtian ji. Romance, Ch. 53 §32 · 34Romance, Ch. 87 §10Romance, Ch. 92 §6
Where the Romance differs
The halberd shot at the outer gate: In Chapter 16 of the Romance, Lü Bu has his own painted halberd planted 150 paces outside the camp's outer gate and shoots and hits its small side blade. In the Biographies of Lü Bu, Zhang Miao and Zang Hong in the Records, Lü Bu had his gatekeeper set up a halberd inside the camp gate and shot and hit its small side blade, and the text does not say that the halberd was Lü Bu's own or how far away it was. Romance, Ch. 16 §11–12 · 16Records, Wei 7 §17–18
The halberd Dong Zhuo threw: In Chapter 8 of the Romance, Dong Zhuo sees Lü Bu and Diaochan at the Fengyiting pavilion, snatches Lü Bu's painted halberd and throws it. In the Records, when something slightly displeased him, Dong Zhuo drew a hand halberd and threw it at Lü Bu, who dodged nimbly, turned and apologized. Lü Bu's affair with Dong Zhuo's maidservant is recorded separately from this incident. Romance, Ch. 8 §40Records, Wei 7 §4
The end at Xiapi: In Chapter 19 of the Romance, Song Xian steals the sleeping Lü Bu's painted halberd, ties Lü Bu up together with Wei Xu, and then throws the halberd down from the wall. In the Records, Hou Cheng, Song Xian and Wei Xu tied up Chen Gong and surrendered with their men, and Lü Bu climbed the Baimen Tower with his followers and, when the siege pressed hard, came down and surrendered. Romance, Ch. 19 §50–51Records, Wei 7 §26
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.
Ownership history
| Owner | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Lü Bu | 189~198 | Romance 「手執方天畫戟」 · 「宋憲先盜其畫戟」 |
Ownership is checked against the source texts (3KDEX) — each entry rests on the passage where the item changes hands. Owners not in the People index are not shown.