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Lu Xun

Courtesy nameBoyan

The Scholar-General of Jiangdong Who Burned the Linked Camps

Best of the Rank and File · Fierce Generals & Fine Strategists

CommandEnduranceThe Scholar-General

Who they are

A scholar-general of a great Jiangdong family, gentle in appearance but ruthlessly seasoned in war. At Yiling he held his ground and refused battle, waiting at ease while Liu Bei’s army, in the summer heat, camped among the woods — then burned the linked camps across seven hundred li, a classic victory of the weak over the strong in Three Kingdoms history, and the end of Liu Bei’s eastern campaign. After that battle he rose to chancellor, the most important pillar of late Wu — until, caught in the succession dispute of his later years and rebuked again and again by Sun Quan, he died of grief and rage.

Primary sourcesChen Shou, Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Wu, Biography of Lu Xun

Key stories

Burning the Linked Camps Across Seven Hundred Li

When Liu Bei led his army east to avenge Guan Yu, Lu Xun was called to the crisis to command the defense; against officers hungry for battle and Liu Bei’s every provocation, he held to defense and waited at ease, dragging it out into the height of summer. Forced to camp among the wooded hills for shade, Liu Bei’s army was struck when Lu Xun seized the moment for a fire attack — the linked camps became a sea of flame in an instant, the Shu army all but annihilated, and Liu Bei barely escaped with his life, falling ill on retreat to Baidicheng.

Dying of Grief and Rage in His Later Years

Lu Xun later rose to chancellor, his power dominating the court, but was caught in the "dispute of the two palaces" over Sun Quan’s choice of heir, and, submitting memorial after memorial of remonstrance, angered Sun Quan and was rebuked and humiliated again and again. The scholar-general who had won Yiling and held half of Wu died at last worn down by grief and rage — his battlefield foes could not fell him, but the suspicion of the court did.

Relationships

Serves

🌊Sun Quan

Nemesis

🐉Liu Bei　The Battle of Yiling, the burning of the linked camps

Echoes today

Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.

"Burning the linked camps across seven hundred li"This tactic at Yiling is a classic lesson in Chinese military history of "waiting at ease for the exhausted foe and striking second."

Appears in

The Loss of Jing Province and the Defeat at YilingThe Battle of Yiling: Burning the Linked Camps Across Seven Hundred Li

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