Campaigners › Strategists
Lu Su
Wu strategist from Dongcheng who urged Sun Quan to ally with Liu Bei against Cao Cao and took over Zhou Yu's command after his death
Inside a tent at dusk, a low table holds a board of faint map-like lines with scattered black and white stones beside a feather fan, a lit lantern, an iron teapot and rolled bamboo slips, while one person sits with their back turned at the open flap, facing a river valley at sunset.
Also known as Zi Zijing
Lu Su, courtesy name Zijing, came from Dongcheng in Linhuai and was rich enough to give Zhou Yu a whole granary when he came asking for grain. He followed Zhou Yu into the service of Sun Quan and, in a private talk, laid out a plan to hold the lower Yangzi, destroy Huang Zu, attack Liu Biao and wait for the empire to break apart. When Liu Biao died in 208 he went to Jingzhou on the pretext of offering condolences, met Liu Bei at Changban and urged an alliance; as Cao Cao advanced and most ministers counselled surrender, he persuaded Sun Quan to recall Zhou Yu and served in the Red Cliffs campaign. After Zhou Yu's death he took over his troops and advised lending Jingzhou to Liu Bei as a shared bulwark against Cao, and was later made General Who Crosses the River. He died in 217 aged forty-six. On becoming emperor, Sun Quan told his ministers that Lu Su had foreseen this day.
Life and times
Dates 172 CE–217 CE