Lu Kui

Biography & Historical Record

Lu Kui (鲁馗, Lỗ Khuê) was a Han court minister from Fufeng (扶风, present-day Xingping, Shaanxi), holding the Nine Ministers rank of Grand Coachman (太仆, Thái bộc) when Chang’an fell in 192. He is not a duellist and not a provincial warlord. The sources remember him as one of the named officials who died for the state when Li Jue (李傕, Lý Thôi) and Guo Si (郭汜, Quách Dĩ) — acting on Jia Xu (贾诩, Giả Hủ)‘s advice after Wang Yun (王允, Vương Doãn) refused them a pardon — broke the capital and looted it.

The sequence is the tail of Dong Zhuo’s death. Wang Yun and Lu Bu (吕布, Lã Bố) had killed Dong Zhuo. Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji (张济, Trương Tế) and Fan Chou (樊稠, Phàn Trù) asked for amnesty from the west; Wang Yun excepted the four as Dong Zhuo’s arms. Jia Xu told them that to throw away the army and walk home was to hand themselves to any village constable, and that they should raise the people of Liang, retake Chang’an, and “avenge” Dong Zhuo. They spread a rumour that Wang Yun meant to massacre westerners, gathered more than a hundred thousand men, joined Dong Zhuo’s son-in-law Niu Fu, and came on in four columns. Lu Bu was drawn into a days-long drum-and-gong harassment, then raced back too late: Zhang Ji and Fan Chou were already under the walls. Inside, Li Meng and Wang Fang opened a gate. Lu Bu begged Wang Yun to ride out; Wang Yun refused to abandon the emperor. Lu Bu fled toward Yuan Shu. Li Jue and Guo Si then “loosed the soldiers to plunder.” In that sack the novel and the histories list the same cluster of dead: Grand Master of Ceremonies Chong Fu (种拂, Chủng Phất), Grand Coachman Lu Kui, Grand Herald Zhou Huan (周奂, Chu Hoán), City-Gate Colonel Cui Lie (崔烈, Thôi Liệt), and Elite Cavalry Colonel Wang Qi (王颀, Vương Kỳ). The soldiers then ringed the inner court; the emperor was taken up onto Xuanping Gate; Wang Yun came down and was killed at the foot of the tower.

Hou Hanshu and later tables agree that Lu Kui was a Fufeng man in the Taipu office and that he died in this 192 “national disaster,” not in a named duel. The novel Chapter 9 is the same list, almost word for word. He has no earlier speaking part in the Dong Zhuo assassination and no later ghost in the Li Jue–Guo Si street wars. The point of keeping the name is the court that died when the Liang generals came back: not only Wang Yun on the steps, but the Nine Ministers and colonels caught in the loot.

Role in Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 9 (Lu Bu Helps the Minister of Works Remove the Violent; Li Jue, Hearing Jia Xu, Invades Chang’an): After Wang Yun (王允, Vương Doãn) refuses to pardon Li Jue (李傕, Lý Thôi), Guo Si (郭汜, Quách Dĩ), Zhang Ji, and Fan Chou, Jia Xu (贾诩, Giả Hủ) turns them back on the capital. Lu Bu (吕布, Lã Bố) is played out of position; a gate is opened from inside; he flees. Li Jue and Guo Si sack the city. In that sack Grand Coachman Lu Kui (鲁馗, Lỗ Khuê) dies with Chong Fu, Zhou Huan, Cui Lie, and Wang Qi (王颀, Vương Kỳ). The emperor is taken to Xuanping Gate; Wang Yun descends and is killed. Lu Kui is listed, not given a last speech — a named minister in the massacre, not a fighter in the earlier assassination of Dong Zhuo.

Lu Kui (鲁馗, Lỗ Khuê) — Historical & Literary Timeline

Key Relationships

Family

• Neither the novel nor the standard Han tables name a father, mother, spouse, or child for Lu Kui (鲁馗, Lỗ Khuê). He is a Fufeng minister in the 192 death-list. Surname 鲁 (Lỗ), not the Wu 陆 (Lục) of Lu Jun and Lu Xun — different clans, do not merge.

Friends

• Wang Yun (王允, Vương Doãn): the Minister of Works whose refusal of a pardon brings the Liang army back; Lu Kui dies in the same sack, Wang Yun hours later at the gate.
• Chong Fu (种拂, Chủng Phất), Zhou Huan (周奂, Chu Hoán), Cui Lie (崔烈, Thôi Liệt), and Wang Qi (王颀, Vương Kỳ): the other named officials killed in the same sentence of Chapter 9 / the Han notices.

Enemies

• Li Jue (李傕, Lý Thôi) and Guo Si (郭汜, Quách Dĩ): the commanders who loosed the plunder in which Lu Kui died.

Other

• Jia Xu (贾诩, Giả Hủ): the adviser who told the four Liang officers not to disband and to strike Chang’an.
• Lu Bu (吕布, Lã Bố): failed to hold the city; fled toward Yuan Shu as the sack began.
• Zhang Ji (张济, Trương Tế) and Fan Chou (樊稠, Phàn Trù): the other two columns that reached the walls while Lu Bu was still in the field.
• Emperor Xian (刘协, Lưu Hiệp): taken up onto Xuanping Gate during the same riot.