Bu Xie

Biography & Historical Record

Bu Xie (步协, Bộ Hiệp) was the eldest son and principal heir of Chancellor Bu Zhi (步骘, Bộ Chất), one of Eastern Wu’s founding ministers. Bu Zhi had risen from humble origins in Xuzhou to become Grand Tutor and a pillar of Sun Quan‘s (孙权, Tôn Quyền) court, holding the Marquisate of Linxiang (临湘侯). When Bu Zhi died in 247 AD, Bu Xie inherited the marquisate and was appointed General Who Pacifies the Army (抚军将军), taking command of the critical Xiling (西陵, Tây Lăng) gorge fortress on the upper Yangtze — Wu’s main choke point against Shu and later Jin naval pressure.

Xiling’s garrison commander bore responsibility for the Three Gorges defense line. Bu Xie’s younger brother Bu Chan (步阐, Bộ Sán) later held Xiling as well but infamously defected to Jin in 272 AD — a rebellion that postdates Bu Xie’s tenure but shadows the family’s military reputation. Bu Xie’s own sons Bu Ji (步玑, Bộ Cơ) and Bu Xuan (步璿, Bộ Hoàn) continued the Linxiang line in Wu registers.

Role in Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Not named in standard ROTK: Bu Zhi (步骘, Bộ Chất) appears in Wu court contexts, but Bu Xie belongs to mid-third-century Sanguozhi frontier commands after the novel’s main narrative ends. The Xiling fortress he guarded is the same strategic gorge later central to Bu Chan’s Jin defection in historical records.

Bu Xie (步协) — Historical & Literary Timeline

See also Bu Zhi and Bu Chan.

Key Relationships

Family

• Bu Zhi (步骘, Bộ Chất): Father — Wu chancellor and Marquis of Linxiang.
• Bu Chan (步阐, Bộ Sán): Younger brother — later Xiling commander who defected to Jin in 272 AD.
• Bu Ji (步玑, Bộ Cơ): Son — heir in Wu genealogies.
• Bu Xuan (步璿, Bộ Hoàn): Son — attested in the Bu lineage.
• Empress Bu (步皇后, Bộ hoàng hậu): Kinswoman — Bu Zhi’s connection to Sun Quan’s imperial house.

Friends

• Sun Quan (孙权, Tôn Quyền) and Sun Liang (孙亮, Tôn Liệt): Wu sovereigns during Bu Xie’s Xiling command.
• Lu Xun (陆逊, Lục Tốn): Wu’s great frontier strategist — the military tradition Bu Xie’s garrison upheld.

Enemies

• Shu Han (蜀汉, Thục Hán) and later Western Jin (西晋) forces on the upper Yangtze — the western powers Xiling was built to resist.

Other

• Zhuge Ke (诸葛恪, Gia Cát Khác): Wu regent whose era overlapped the Bu family’s frontier service.
• Lu Kang (陆抗, Lục Kháng): Successor to Lu Xun’s defense doctrine on the Yangtze line.