Ancient China · Statesman and Strategist

Lü 呂

Attested BC 1100 - BC 1000

Passages: 22
Chapters: 15
Histories: 6

Overview

Lü was a statesman and Strategist.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal name	Lü Wang	呂望	Lü Wang
Alternate name	Lü Shang	呂尚	Lü Shang

Life and dates

Attested activity

呂尚困於棘津
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 124, passage 9
legendary antiquity
Directly stated · Book of Chen 19, passage 258; Book of Han 101, passage 131; Book of Later Han 32, passage 105; History of Liao 89, passage 80; Records of the Grand Historian 73, passage 77; Records of the Grand Historian 99, passage 14; Book of Zhou 23, passage 294
BC 1046 伊尹、呂尚之謀
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 103, passage 52
BC 1046 to BC 1000 周初
Dated from the passage context · Book of Later Han 31, passage 157
BC 1046 周初
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 25, passage 100
BC 1100 to BC 1050 載呂尚而歸，以王天下
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 83, passage 228

Family

Kinship Role descendants · Held states alongside Shang and Zhou · Quantity unknown
Directly stated · Book of Han 25, passage 100

Key source chapters

Places and affiliations

Zhou 周
Relation Served
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 83, passage 228
Polity Zhou
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 257
At Jijin 棘津 · Relation Stranded at
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 124, passage 9

Events and relationships

Butchered and fished before advancement
AD 544 大統十年 · Personal · Subject · Mode document Source Person Id Su Chuo (蘇綽)
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 23, passage 164
Cited as model or warning
AD 544 大統十年 · Political · Exemplar · Mode document Source Person Id Su Chuo (蘇綽)
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 23, passages 164-165, 168
Returned with
BC 1100 to BC 1050 載呂尚而歸，以王天下 · Recruitment · Recruited advisor · With King Wen of Zhou (周文王) · At Jing and Wei rivers 涇、渭
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 83, passage 228
Military · Commander
Directly stated · Book of Han 25, passage 100
Relation Advisor of · Person King Wen of Zhou (周文王)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 83, passage 228

Assessments and attributes

Assessment Lu Wang's achievements were invoked as an unsurpassed historical standard · Mode quoted-speech Speaker Su Dai (蘇代)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 73, passage 77

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 83, passage 228
Historicity legendary
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 99, passage 15

References in the histories

Search passages

History

22 passages

Book of Chen, Chapter 19Volume 19: Shen Jiong; Yu Li; Ma Shu · 1 passage

樞肆志尋覽，殆將周遍，乃喟然歎曰：「吾聞貴爵位者以巢、由為桎梏，愛山林者以伊、呂為管庫，束名實則芻芥柱下之言，翫清虛則糠秕席上之說，稽之篤論，亦各從其好也。 Shu read through them almost entirely and sighed: "I hear that men who prize office take Chao Fu and Xu You as shackles, and men who love the hills take Yi and Lü as storekeepers; those who bind name to fact treat Laozi as straw, and those who play at emptiness treat banquet talk as chaff. In earnest judgment each follows his own bent.

Book of Han, Chapter 25Volume 23: Treatise on Punishment and Law · 1 passage

故伊、呂之將，子孫有國，與商周並。 Thus, when Yi Yin and Lü Shang served as commanders, their descendants received states that endured alongside Shang and Zhou.

Book of Han, Chapter 65Volume 56: Dong Zhongshu · 3 passages

贊曰：劉向稱：「董仲舒有王佐之材，雖伊、呂亡以加，管、晏之屬，伯者之佐，殆不及也。」 The encomium says: Liu Xiang wrote, "Dong Zhongshu had the talent to assist a true king. Even Yi Yin and Lü Wang could add nothing to him; Guan Zhong and Yan Ying, ministers to hegemons, likely fell short."

至向子歆以為：「伊、呂乃聖人之耦，王者不得則不興。 But Liu Xiang's son Liu Xin held: "Yi Yin and Lü Wang were companions fit for sages; without men like them, a true king could not rise.

然考其師友淵源所漸，猶未及乎游、夏，而曰管、晏弗及，伊、呂不加，過矣。」 Yet weighed against the lineage that produced Ziyou and Zixia, to call Guan and Yan his inferiors and rank him with Yi and Lü is going too far."

Book of Han, Chapter 75Volume 64b: Yan, Zhu, Wuqiu, Zhufu, Xu, Yan, Zhong, Wang, and Jia 2 · 2 passages

是故伊尹勤於鼎俎，太公困於鼓刀，百里自鬻，甯子飯牛，離此患也。 Yi Yin labored over pots and chopping boards; the Grand Duke was reduced to working as a butcher; Baili Xi sold himself, and Ning Qi fed oxen. In this way they escaped their hardships.

故世平主聖，俊艾將自至，若堯、舜、禹、湯、文、武之君，獲稷、契、皋陶、伊尹、呂望，明明在朝，穆穆列布，聚精會神，相得益章。 Thus, in an age of peace under a sage ruler, outstanding elders come of their own accord. Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Kings Wen and Wu obtained the service of Hou Ji, Xie, Gao Yao, Yi Yin, and Lü Wang. Brilliant at court and solemn in their ranks, they joined their finest insights and magnified the glory of ruler and minister alike.

Book of Han, Chapter 101Volume 89: Upright Officials · 1 passage

故事各達其時之英俊，若必伊尹、呂望而後薦之，則此人不因足下而進矣。」 History shows every era advances its own capable men. If you insist on waiting for another Yi Yin or Lü Shang, talent will pass you by—those men will never owe their careers to you."

Book of Han, Chapter 103Volume 91: Usurers · 1 passage

故曰：「吾治生猶伊尹、呂尚之謀，孫、吳用兵，商鞅行法是也。 He liked to say, "Building a fortune takes the cunning of Yi Yin or Lü Wang, the timing of Sun and Wu in using troops, and the ruthlessness of Shang Yang's code.

Book of Han, Chapter 117Volume 100a: Afterword and Family History 1 · 1 passage

殷說夢發於傅巖，周望兆動於渭濱，齊甯激聲於康衢，漢良受書於邳沂，皆俟命而神交，匪詞言之所信，故能建必然之策，展無窮之勳也。 Fu Yue was revealed in a dream at Fuyan; Lü Wang's omen stirred on the banks of the Wei; Ning Qi's song rang out at the crossroads; and Zhang Liang received the book at the bridge at Xiapi. All awaited their appointed time and communed in spirit, relying on more than words; thus they could devise certain strategies and achieve immeasurable merit.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 31Volume 28a: Biographies of Huan Tan; Feng Yan · 1 passage

伊、望之策，何以加茲！ What could Yi Yin or Lü Wang add beyond that?

Book of Later Han, Chapter 32Volume 28b: Biography of Feng Yan · 1 passage

詔伊尹於亳郊兮，享呂望於酆州； I call Yi Yin from the outskirts of Bo and feast Lü Wang by Fengzhou;

History of Liao, Chapter 89Volume 89 Biographies 19: Yelu Shucheng, Yang Ji, Yelu Hanliu, Yang Ji, Yelu Heshang · 2 passages

上曰：「卿今日何減呂望之遇文王！」 The emperor said, "How is the favor shown you today any less than what Lü Wang received from King Wen!"

佶對曰：「呂望比臣遭際有十年之晚。」 Ji replied, "Compared with me, Lü Wang met his opportunity a full ten years too late."

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 73Biographies of Bai Qi and Wang Jian · 1 passage

武安君所為秦戰勝攻取者七十餘城，南定鄢、郢、漢中，北禽趙括之軍，雖周、召、呂望之功不益於此矣。 Lord Wu'an's victories for Qin—conquering over seventy cities, pacifying Yan and Ying in the south, taking Hanzhong, capturing Zhao Kuo's forces in the north—even the achievements of Zhou Gong, Shao Gong, and Lu Wang would not surpass this.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 83Biographies of Lu Zhonglian and Zou Yang · 1 passage

周文王獵涇、渭，載呂尚而歸，以王天下。 King Wen of Zhou went hunting along the Jing and Wei rivers, encountered Lu Shang, and brought him home—and with his help went on to rule the realm.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 99Biographies of Liu Jing and Shusun Tong · 1 passage

及文王為西伯，斷虞芮之訟，始受命，呂望、伯夷自海濱來歸之。 When Wen Wang became Western Bo, he adjudicated the dispute between Yu and Rui, began receiving the mandate, and Lü Wang and Bo Yi came from the seacoast to submit to him.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 124Biographies of Knight-errants · 1 passage

太史公曰：昔者虞舜窘於井廩，伊尹負於鼎俎，傅說匿於傅險，呂尚困於棘津，夷吾桎梏，百里飯牛，仲尼畏匡，菜色陳、蔡。 The Grand Historian remarks: In the old days, Emperor Shun was nearly killed in a well and a granary. Yi Yin labored among the pots and cutting boards. Fu Yue hid himself at the cliffs of Fu. Lu Shang was reduced to desperate straits at Jijin. Guan Zhong wore fetters. Baili Xi fed cattle for a living. Confucius was besieged at Kuang and went hungry until his face turned sallow between Chen and Cai.

Book of Zhou, Chapter 23Volume 23 Biographies 15: Su Chuo · 4 passages

昔呂望之屠釣，百里奚之飯牛，甯生之扣角，管夷吾之三敗，當此之時，悠悠之徒，豈謂其賢。 Once Lü Wang was a butcher and fisherman, Baili Xi fed cattle, Ning Sheng played horn, and Guan Yiwu was defeated three times—at the time, who among ordinary men would have called them worthy?

若必待太公而後用，是千載無太公； If you must wait for a Taigong before appointing anyone, there will be no Taigong for a thousand years;

若伊之在商，周之有呂，說之相丁，用保我無疆之祚。」 Like Yi Yin in Shang, Lü Wang in Zhou, and Yue assisting Wu Ding—you preserve our boundless fortune."

誠能監前事之得喪，勞虛己於吐握，其知賢也必用，其授爵也勿疑，則舜禹湯武之德可連衡矣，稷契伊呂之流可比肩矣。 If rulers could truly weigh past success and failure, humble themselves as Duke of Zhou did when he "spit out his food and released his hair grip" to receive men, employ the worthy without fail, and grant office without hesitation, then the virtue of Shun, Yu, Tang, and Wu would stand in one line and men like Hou Ji, Xie, Yi Yin, and Lü Shang could walk shoulder to shoulder.