Lü Buwei
Encyclopedia
Lü Buwei Lord Wenxin 文信侯 was a Warring States Period
merchant who schemed his way into governing the State of Qin
. He served as Chancellor of China
for King Zhuangxiang of Qin
, and as regent and Chancellor for the king's (or, some claim, Lü's) young son Zheng, who became Qin Shi Huang
, the first Emperor of China
. Lü Buwei committed suicide after being implicated in plotting with the Queen Dowager and her "eunuch" lover. Lü notably sponsored an encyclopedic compendium of Hundred Schools of Thought
philosophies, the 239 BCE Lüshi Chunqiu
("Mr. Lü's Annals").
's Records of the Grand Historian
and Liu Xiang's Zhan Guo Ce
("Strategies of the Warring States") and Shuoyuan (說苑, "Garden of Stories"). Since these three Han Dynasty
texts openly criticize both Lü and the Qin Dynasty
, some alleged stories (for example, Lü's private thoughts and conversations) can be discounted. Note: the following English translations come from John Knoblock and Jeffrey Riegel's scholarly study of the Lüshi chunqiu.
The Shiji biography of Lü Buwei says he was a native of the state of Wei (衛) who became a successful travelling merchant and earned "thousands of measures of gold." In 267 BCE, the first son of King Zhaoxiang of Qin
died, and he made his second son, the Lord of Anguo (安国), crown prince. Anguo promoted his concubine Lady Huayang (華陽), who was childless, as his primary wife. Anguo had more than 20 sons, and Prince Yiren (異人), one of the middle-ranking ones, was sent as a Qin political hostage to the state of Zhao
. When Lü was trading in the Zhao capital Handan
, he met Yiren and said, "This is a rare piece of merchandise that should be saved for later."
The Zhanguoce has a story about Lü deciding to change careers from commerce to government.
Using Machiavellian bribes and machinations, Lü arranged for Yiren to return home and be adopted as the son and heir of Lady Huayang. She changed his name to Prince Chu (子楚) because she was from the southern state of Chu
.
The Shiji says Lü had a beautiful "dancing girl" in his household, with whom Chu became so infatuated that he asked for her. Lü reluctantly presented his courtesan to the prince, and they returned to Handan. In 259 BCE, she had a son named Zheng (政), who eventually unified China and became the first Emperor Qin Shi Huang. The Shiji alleges that the biological father was Lü not Chu. After the death of King Zhaoxiang, Anguo was enthroned as King Xiaowen of Qin
, but he died after a reign of only three months (the Shiji mentions the possibility of Lü poisoning him). His widow Huayang became Queen Dowager, and her adopted son, Prince Chu became King Zhuangxiang of Qin
in 250. He appointed Lü Buwei as Prime Minister
or Chancellor of China
and enfeoffed him with "an income of 100,000 households in Luoyang
." Lü consolidated power in Qin and oversaw several military conquests of neighboring states. When King Zhuangxiang died in 247 BCE, the 13-year-old Prince Zheng was enthroned. He reappointed Lü as Chancellor and called him "Uncle".
As chancellor and regent, Lü dominated the Qin government and military. He invited famous scholars from all over China to the Qin capital Xianyang
, and they compiled an encyclopedic compendium of early Chinese philosophical systems, the Lüshi Chunqiu
("Mr. Lü's Spring and Autumn [Annals]").
The Shiji says the Queen Dowager pursued many illicit sexual activities, and Lü,
The queen fell in love with Lao and had him appointed Marquis of Shanyang. After she became pregnant, he recklessly took control of the Qin government.
The Shuoyuan says,
The emperor learned that Lao Ai was not really a eunuch, and had plotted with the queen to make their illegitimate son become successor. After an attempted 238 BCE revolt failed, the queen was exiled and Lao Ai was executed, along with three generations of his relatives, including their two sons who were put into sacks and beaten to death. Rather than execute the influential Lü, the emperor demoted and banished him to Shu
. Lü feared eventual execution and "drank poison" in 235 BCE. As a result of the Lao Ai affair, the emperor removed power from most of Lü Buwei's foreign scholars (excepting Li Si
) and restored it to the hereditary Qin aristocracy. After his death, the Lüshi Chunqiu
fell out of favor with the Qin Empire, but was resurrected by the Qin's long-lived successor, the Han Dynasty.
Koblock and Riegel describe the Western and Chinese historical perspectives of Lü Buwei.
Warring States Period
The Warring States Period , also known as the Era of Warring States, or the Warring Kingdoms period, covers the Iron Age period from about 475 BC to the reunification of China under the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC...
merchant who schemed his way into governing the State of Qin
Qin (state)
The State of Qin was a Chinese feudal state that existed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history...
. He served as Chancellor of China
Chancellor of China
The Chancellor , variously translated as Prime Minister, Chancellor of State, Premier or Chief Councillor, was a generic name given to the highest-ranking official in the imperial government in ancient China...
for King Zhuangxiang of Qin
King Zhuangxiang of Qin
King Zhuangxiang of Qin , personal name Yiren , later renamed to Zichu , was the ruler of the Qin state during the 3rd century BC in the Warring States Period of Chinese history.-Biography:...
, and as regent and Chancellor for the king's (or, some claim, Lü's) young son Zheng, who became Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC...
, the first Emperor of China
Emperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
. Lü Buwei committed suicide after being implicated in plotting with the Queen Dowager and her "eunuch" lover. Lü notably sponsored an encyclopedic compendium of Hundred Schools of Thought
Hundred Schools of Thought
The Hundred Schools of Thought were philosophers and schools that flourished from 770 to 221 BC during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period , an era of great cultural and intellectual expansion in China...
philosophies, the 239 BCE Lüshi Chunqiu
Lüshi Chunqiu
The Lüshi Chunqiu is an encyclopedic Chinese classic text compiled around 239 BCE under the patronage of the Qin Dynasty Chancellor Lü Buwei...
("Mr. Lü's Annals").
History
The primary sources of information about Lü Buwei date from the first century BCE: Sima QianSima Qian
Sima Qian was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes of the Han Dynasty. He is regarded as the father of Chinese historiography for his highly praised work, Records of the Grand Historian , a "Jizhuanti"-style general history of China, covering more than two thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to...
's Records of the Grand Historian
Records of the Grand Historian
The Records of the Grand Historian, also known in English by the Chinese name Shiji , written from 109 BC to 91 BC, was the Magnum opus of Sima Qian, in which he recounted Chinese history from the time of the Yellow Emperor until his own time...
and Liu Xiang's Zhan Guo Ce
Zhan Guo Ce
The Zhan Guo Ce is a renowned ancient Chinese historical work and compilation of sporadic materials on the Warring States Period compiled between the 3rd to 1st centuries BCE...
("Strategies of the Warring States") and Shuoyuan (說苑, "Garden of Stories"). Since these three Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
texts openly criticize both Lü and the Qin Dynasty
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...
, some alleged stories (for example, Lü's private thoughts and conversations) can be discounted. Note: the following English translations come from John Knoblock and Jeffrey Riegel's scholarly study of the Lüshi chunqiu.
The Shiji biography of Lü Buwei says he was a native of the state of Wei (衛) who became a successful travelling merchant and earned "thousands of measures of gold." In 267 BCE, the first son of King Zhaoxiang of Qin
King Zhaoxiang of Qin
King Zhaoxiang of Qin or King Zhao of Qin was the son of King Huiwen and younger brother of King Wu. After the death of Wu in 306 BC, Zhao contended for the crown of Qin with his younger brother. With the support of King Wuling of Zhao, Zhao finally ascended the throne...
died, and he made his second son, the Lord of Anguo (安国), crown prince. Anguo promoted his concubine Lady Huayang (華陽), who was childless, as his primary wife. Anguo had more than 20 sons, and Prince Yiren (異人), one of the middle-ranking ones, was sent as a Qin political hostage to the state of Zhao
Zhao (state)
Zhao was a significant Chinese state during the Warring States Period, along with six others...
. When Lü was trading in the Zhao capital Handan
Handan
Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwestern part of Hebei Province of China.- History :Handan was the capital of the State of Zhao during the Warring States period , after the capital moved from Zhongmu. The city was conquered by the State of Qin after the virtual annexation of...
, he met Yiren and said, "This is a rare piece of merchandise that should be saved for later."
The Zhanguoce has a story about Lü deciding to change careers from commerce to government.
On returning home, he said to his father, "What is the profit on investment that one can expect from plowing fields?"
"Ten times the investment," replied his father.
"And the return on investment in pearls and jades is how much?"
"A hundredfold."
"And the return on investment from establishing a ruler and securing the state would be how much?"
"It would be incalculable."
"Now if I devoted my energies to laboring in the fields, I would hardly get enough to clothe and feed myself; yet if I secure a state and establish its lord, the benefits can be passed on to future generations. I propose to go serve Prince Yiren of Qin who is hostage in Zhao and resides in the city of Jiao."
Using Machiavellian bribes and machinations, Lü arranged for Yiren to return home and be adopted as the son and heir of Lady Huayang. She changed his name to Prince Chu (子楚) because she was from the southern state of Chu
Chu (state)
The State of Chu was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state in present-day central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period . Its ruling house had the surname Nai , and clan name Yan , later evolved to surname Mi , and clan name Xiong...
.
The Shiji says Lü had a beautiful "dancing girl" in his household, with whom Chu became so infatuated that he asked for her. Lü reluctantly presented his courtesan to the prince, and they returned to Handan. In 259 BCE, she had a son named Zheng (政), who eventually unified China and became the first Emperor Qin Shi Huang. The Shiji alleges that the biological father was Lü not Chu. After the death of King Zhaoxiang, Anguo was enthroned as King Xiaowen of Qin
King Xiaowen of Qin
King Xiaowen of Qin had a very brief reign. Indeed, he only became King of the Qin for less than 1 year, and 3 days after his coronation he died.This gave rise to many theories as to his short reign...
, but he died after a reign of only three months (the Shiji mentions the possibility of Lü poisoning him). His widow Huayang became Queen Dowager, and her adopted son, Prince Chu became King Zhuangxiang of Qin
King Zhuangxiang of Qin
King Zhuangxiang of Qin , personal name Yiren , later renamed to Zichu , was the ruler of the Qin state during the 3rd century BC in the Warring States Period of Chinese history.-Biography:...
in 250. He appointed Lü Buwei as Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
or Chancellor of China
Chancellor of China
The Chancellor , variously translated as Prime Minister, Chancellor of State, Premier or Chief Councillor, was a generic name given to the highest-ranking official in the imperial government in ancient China...
and enfeoffed him with "an income of 100,000 households in Luoyang
Luoyang
Luoyang is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province of Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.Situated on the central plain of...
." Lü consolidated power in Qin and oversaw several military conquests of neighboring states. When King Zhuangxiang died in 247 BCE, the 13-year-old Prince Zheng was enthroned. He reappointed Lü as Chancellor and called him "Uncle".
As chancellor and regent, Lü dominated the Qin government and military. He invited famous scholars from all over China to the Qin capital Xianyang
Xianyang
Xianyang is a former capital of China in Shaanxi province, on the Wei River, a few kilometers upstream from Xi'an. It has an area of...
, and they compiled an encyclopedic compendium of early Chinese philosophical systems, the Lüshi Chunqiu
Lüshi Chunqiu
The Lüshi Chunqiu is an encyclopedic Chinese classic text compiled around 239 BCE under the patronage of the Qin Dynasty Chancellor Lü Buwei...
("Mr. Lü's Spring and Autumn [Annals]").
The Shiji says the Queen Dowager pursued many illicit sexual activities, and Lü,
fearing that discovery would cause disaster to befall him, secretly sought a cockmonger, Lao Ai [嫪毐], whom he made his retainer. Sometimes he would have music performed and order Lao Ai to put his penis through a wheel of paulownia wood and walk about, making certain that the queen dowager would hear about it to entice her. The queen dowager did hear about it and consequently secretly desired to obtain him. Lü Buwei thereupon introduced Lao Ai to her. Deviously ordering someone to accuse Lao Ai of a crime punishable by castration, Lü also privately told the queen dowager, "If we can fake the castration, we can make him a servant in the harem." The queen dowager therewith covertly gave a generous bribe to the officer charged with castrations to falsely sentence him and to pluck out his eyebrows and beard to make him appear a eunuch. As a result, he was made a servant of the queen dowager.
The queen fell in love with Lao and had him appointed Marquis of Shanyang. After she became pregnant, he recklessly took control of the Qin government.
The Shuoyuan says,
Lao Ai had sole power over the affairs of state and grew increasingly arrogant and extravagant. The high officials and honored ministers of government all drank and gambled with him. Once when he got drunk, he began to speak belligerently. In a provocative fashion, eyes glaring with anger, he bellowed" "I am the stepfather of the emperor. How dare some wretch oppose me!" One of those with whom he had quarreled ran to report this to the emperor, who was outraged.
The emperor learned that Lao Ai was not really a eunuch, and had plotted with the queen to make their illegitimate son become successor. After an attempted 238 BCE revolt failed, the queen was exiled and Lao Ai was executed, along with three generations of his relatives, including their two sons who were put into sacks and beaten to death. Rather than execute the influential Lü, the emperor demoted and banished him to Shu
Shu (state)
The State of Shu was an ancient state in what is now Sichuan, China. It was conquered by Qin in 316 BC. Shu was based on the Chengdu Plain, in the western Sichuan basin with some extension northeast to the upper Han River valley. To the east was the Ba tribal confederation. Further east down the...
. Lü feared eventual execution and "drank poison" in 235 BCE. As a result of the Lao Ai affair, the emperor removed power from most of Lü Buwei's foreign scholars (excepting Li Si
Li Si
Li Si was the influential Prime Minister of the feudal state and later of the dynasty of Qin, between 246 BC and 208 BC. A famous Legalist, he was also a notable calligrapher. Li Si served under two rulers: Qin Shi Huang, king of Qin and later First Emperor of China—and his son, Qin Er Shi...
) and restored it to the hereditary Qin aristocracy. After his death, the Lüshi Chunqiu
Lüshi Chunqiu
The Lüshi Chunqiu is an encyclopedic Chinese classic text compiled around 239 BCE under the patronage of the Qin Dynasty Chancellor Lü Buwei...
fell out of favor with the Qin Empire, but was resurrected by the Qin's long-lived successor, the Han Dynasty.
Koblock and Riegel describe the Western and Chinese historical perspectives of Lü Buwei.
Lü engineered the succession of a minor prince to the throne of Qin; and when that prince died after a few months on the throne, Lü became regent for his young son, the future First Emperor of Qin. In the West, we would regard Lü as a merchant-prince, a patron of culture and literature, an eminent statesman and wise counselor, a kind of Medici prince who influenced not merely Florence and Italy, but all of European civilization. But in China the facts of Lü's life, together with the fact that he was from the despised merchant class, condemned Lü in the eyes of the Han literati. They considered Qin and its unification of China an unmitigated evil. So Lü was in their eyes a parvenu and a fraud whose schemes had made possible Qin's evil. He was a baleful figure, richly deserving of condemnation and eminently worthy of ridicule and calumny.
Fiction
- Lü Buwei is a major character in the 1999 movie The Emperor and the AssassinThe Emperor and the AssassinThe Emperor and the Assassin, also known as The First Emperor, is a 1998 Chinese historical romance film based primarily on Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin, as described in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian. The film was directed by Chen Kaige and stars Gong Li, Zhang...
, which focuses on the events just before the unification of China by Qin Shi Huang. The true nature of the relationship between the future Emperor and Lü Buwei is a major plot point in the story. - Lü Buwei is played by Kwok Fung in the 2001 TVB television series A Step into the PastA Step Into The PastA Step into the Past is a 2001 Hong Kong historical-science fiction television series produced by TVB and based on Huang Yi's novel of the same Chinese title. The series tells the story of a 21st century Hong Kong VIPPU officer who travels back in time to the Warring States Period of ancient China...
, which is based on a WuxiaWuxiaWuxia is a broad genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists. Although wuxia is traditionally a form of literature, its popularity has caused it to spread to diverse art forms like Chinese opera, manhua , films, television series, and video games...
novel by Huang Yi. In the series, Ying Zheng is Lü's biological son, but the revelation is that Zheng had already died in his youth. A young man called Zhao Pan takes the dead man's identity, with the help of Hong Siu Lung (a 21st century Hong Kong cop who travelled back in time) and together they defeat the menacing Lü. Zhao Pan reveals his true identity to a shocked Lü in the finale episode and kills him. - Lü Buwei is a major character in the popular historical fictionHistorical fictionHistorical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
series The Jade Disk by French author José FrèchesJosé FrèchesJosé Frèches is a French historical novelist with novels set in China.His first trilogy The Jade Disk is a story, set during the Warring States Period in disunited China. It tells the story from the character of the rich merchant and eventual prime-minister Lü Buwei - real father of the first...
. - The story is retold in graphic form, partly framed as a romance comic, in the second volume of The Cartoon History of the UniverseThe Cartoon History of the UniverseThe Cartoon History of the Universe is a book series about the history of the world. It is written and illustrated by American cartoonist, professor, and mathematician Larry Gonick. The final two volumes, published in 2007 and 2009, are named The Cartoon History of the Modern World volumes one and...
.