The tale of Dong Zhuo taking Diaochan, the lover of Lü Bu, as a concubine is often portrayed as the reason for his betrayal, but this is more or less a romanticized event. Eventually, he even adopted Lü Bu and appointed him the head of his personal guard in Chang'an. As a result, Dong Zhuo would keep Lü Bu near him at all times so that any would-be assassins would be too scared to even try to kill him. At this point, Lü Bu had a good amount of won duels with enemy officers under his belt, and he started to gain notoriety amongst the coalition. He joined Zhuo in his war with Yuan Shao's coalition, and while mostly insignificant at first, Bu later managed to defeat Sun Jian. Lü Bu now served Dong Zhuo, who had just seized Emperor Xian and became regent of the Han Empire. Lü Bu protested at first, but Yuan wouldn't listen to him, and after getting more and more frustrated, he killed the warlord, cutting his head off and offering his head to Dong Zhuo as a gift in 189. He revealed his plans to Lü Bu to assassinate Zhou, not to preserve the Han but to uphold his own power. As the Han Empire began to crumble, Ding Yuan predicted Dong Zhuo's rise to power. Lü Bu's spree of betrayal would begin soon, however. While starting his military career as just another soldier, Yuan quickly picked up on his skill, eventually making him a low-ranking officer. He first rose to power under Ding Yuan, a minor warlord. While his skills and achievements have undoubtedly been exaggerated in the past eighteen odd centuries, it can be safely said that he was the most skilled fighter in China at the time. Lü Bu is easily one of the most legendary warriors to ever come out of Chinese history. While the Guanxi paragraph usually focuses on the character in 190, Lü Bu's relations change so drastically between 190 and 194 that both are included.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |