The Three Kingdoms - What Does the Story of Lu Bu mean?
The Three Kingdoms - What Does the Story of Lu Bu mean?
Lessons from The Three Kingdoms - Part 1 of Series
This essay is part of my set of essays about the Chinese Saga of the Three Kingdoms.
See: Similarities between the Three Kingdoms and Arthurian Legend
In the above mentioned essay, the Sage discussed a number of important characters in the Chinese Saga of the Three Kingdoms who are very close analogs to characters in the Arthurian legends, such as King Arthur is a good analog to Liu Bei; Guan Yu is a good analog to Sir Lancelot, and Zhuge Liang is a very good analog to Merlin.
In this essay I will describe one of the characters in the Saga of the Three Kingdoms whom there is no analog in European literature.
Lu Bu - the Failed Hero
Lu Bu is the main actor in the first chapters of the Saga of the Three Kingdoms. Lu Bu is constantly described as the best warrior, and the best horseman in all of China. The expression of the time was: As for men, the best is Lu Bu. As for horses, the best is his horse the Red Hare. Lu Bu was brave, deadly in battle, heroic, and handsome. He was the righthand man of General Dong Zhuo, who adopted him as his son.
The Saga of the Three Kingdoms starts with a plot initiated by a scheming minister and his servant/daughter Diaochan to turn Lu Bu against Dong Zhuo, who has become the true master of China. Over several months, the plot is finally successful and Lu Bu does end up killing Dong Zhuo. Lu Bu then escapes from the capital with Diaochan in tow. Meanwhile the scheming minister stays with the Huangdi (Emperor) and tries to rule the nation but he is soon killed by Dong Zhuo’s other - and more loyal - followers.
With regard to killing Dong Zhuo, Lu Bu’s behavior is highly questionable because Dong Zhuo was Lu Bu’s adopted father and killing your adopted father is a terrible crime. On the other hand, Dong Zhuo had usurped control over the Han government and was apparently planning to kill the current Huangdi and take the throne himself. Had Dong Zhuo done so, he would have been a traitor to China and killing him would have been the morally correct choice, even if he was your adopted father.
Lu Bu’s latter career is one where he is constantly shifting sides, sometimes after just a few months. Within a few years, he has burned all his bridges and betrayed every one of the major factions. Finally Cao Cao and Liu Bei defeat Lu Bu’s few loyal knights, capture Lu Bu, and execute him. Whether Diaochan kills herself or is executed alongside Lu Bu depends on which version of the Saga you think is correct.
In European stories, a character like Lu Bu is almost non-existent. In Europe, the best warrior is the best man. Yes, there are very skilled but evil knights but they are always defeated by the knight who is more handsome, more honorable, more skilled. True, sometimes the good hero is defeated - for a short while - by the evil knight. The good knight is never killed but is instead imprisoned and then saved by a beautiful princess or a magician and then the good knight defeats the evil knight. Always.
The Sage argues that Europeans believe that the Best Knight is Good for two reasons:
The Ancient Greeks believed that the Gods gave gifts of beauty, character, and strength to those they loved, and the Gods did not love unwisely. Thus, a very handsome man was blessed by the Gods and had all desirable qualities. The expression In beauty there is truth comes directly from the Ancient Greeks. [The Sage wrote about this idea in this essay: Were the Ancient Greeks Right About Beauty? ]
The Christians adopted an interesting idea: God would make sure that Good would triumph over Evil. Thus, it was a matter of religious doctrine that in a battle, the Good would Win.
The Chinese knew from their history that this wasn’t true. Lu Bu was the best warrior even though he was bad. Even Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Liu Bei fighting together could not defeat Lu Bu. And yet, Lu Bu was not a good man.
There were other examples in Chinese history when Good did not triumph over Bad. For example, the founder of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, is generally considered to be the lesser man in the struggle for control over China. His opponent, Xiang Yu, was the better man, but he lost the war and finally committed suicide.
For the Chinese, the lesson of Lu Bu is that a man without self control, a man who cannot remain loyal, no matter how skilled in battle, or how clever, that man will eventually destroy himself. Everyone who reads the Saga understands that if Lu Bu had demonstrated loyalty and character, he would have prospered. Lu Bu came to a bad end because self-interest and short-sited thinking doesn’t work over the long term. Lu Bu was the best warrior, but being the best warrior is never enough.