| NAME | |
|---|---|
| Chinese Name | 庞舒, 龐舒, Páng Shū |
| Nickname | The Chang’an host who hid Lu Bu’s family |
| Other name | Bàng Thư |
| INFORMATION | |
| Birth Place | Unknown |
| Death Reason | Novel: beheaded by Li Jue and Guo Si after returning Lu Bu’s family. History: death unrecorded. |
| CAREER | |
| Allegiance | Eastern Han civilian in Chang’an (aided Lu Bu’s household) |
| Battles | Not a combatant. Chang’an aftermath of Li Jue–Guo Si (ROTK Ch.11). |
Biography & Historical Record
Pang Shu (庞舒, Bàng Thư) was a Chang’an resident who hid the wife and children of Lu Bu (吕布, Lã Bố) after Li Jue and Guo Si seized the capital, then sent the family back to Lu Bu. He has no courtesy name, office, or birth year. Pei Songzhi’s note on Lu Bu’s Sanguozhi biography quotes the Yingxiong Ji: at Xiapi, Lu Bu’s wife reminds him that in Chang’an he had already abandoned her and that she survived only because Pang Shu hid her. That is the historical core. The novel adds the ending the chronicle does not state: Li Jue (李傕, Lý Thôi) and Guo Si (郭汜, Quách Dĩ) discover the deed, behead Pang Shu, and write to Zhang Yang (张杨, Trương Dương) ordering Lu Bu’s death.
Chapter 11 uses Pang Shu in a flashback while Cao Cao learns that Lu Bu has taken Yanzhou. After Dong Zhuo’s fall and the Li–Guo sack, Lu Bu flees Wuguan, is refused by Yuan Shu (袁术, Viên Thuật), serves Yuan Shao (袁绍, Viên Thiệu) against Zhang Yan at Changshan, offends Shao’s officers, and takes refuge with Zhang Yang. “At that time Pang Shu, inside Chang’an, secretly hid Lu Bu’s wife and children and sent them back to Lu Bu.” Li Jue and Guo Si kill Pang Shu and tell Zhang Yang to kill Lu Bu. Lu Bu therefore leaves Zhang Yang for Zhang Miao (张邈, Trương Mạc), where Chen Gong (陈宫, Trần Cung) proposes the strike on empty Yanzhou. Pang Shu’s death is the hinge that pushes Lu Bu from Henei toward Puyang.
Role in Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Chapter 11 (Imperial Uncle Liu Rescues Kong Rong at Beihai; Marquis Wen Lu Bu Breaks Cao Cao at Puyang): The narrator, explaining how Lu Bu reached Yanzhou, pauses on Pang Shu (庞舒, Bàng Thư) in Chang’an: he has kept Lu Bu’s family in secret and now returns them. Li Jue and Guo Si take this as treason against the new junta, execute Pang Shu, and demand that Zhang Yang kill his guest. Lu Bu abandons Zhang Yang, meets Zhang Miao and Chen Gong, seizes Yanzhou, and occupies Puyang — the emergency that pulls Cao Cao off the Xu campaign. Pang Shu never speaks; his hiding and death are the whole role.
Pang Shu (庞舒, Bàng Thư) — Historical & Literary Timeline
Hides Lu Bu’s family in Chang’an
After Li Jue and Guo Si take the capital, Pang Shu conceals Lu Bu’s wife and children inside the city.
Returns the family; novel execution
He sends the household back to Lu Bu at Zhang Yang’s. The novel has Li Jue and Guo Si behead him and order Zhang Yang to kill Lu Bu.
Wife’s reminder at Xiapi
Yingxiong Ji: Lu Bu’s wife recalls that in Chang’an she survived only because Pang Shu hid her. History does not record Pang Shu’s death.
Key Relationships
Family
- No father, mother, spouse, or children of Pang Shu are named. Kin unknown — do not invent.
Friends
- Lu Bu (吕布, Lã Bố): The man whose wife and children he hid and restored. The Yingxiong Ji lets the wife speak Pang Shu’s name as the reason she lived through Chang’an.
Enemies
- Li Jue (李傕, Lý Thôi) and Guo Si (郭汜, Quách Dĩ): Novel executioners. History is silent on whether they caught him.
Other
- Zhang Yang (张杨, Trương Dương): Host to whom Lu Bu has fled; receives Li Jue’s letter (novel) demanding Lu Bu’s death.
- Yuan Shu (袁术, Viên Thuật) and Yuan Shao (袁绍, Viên Thiệu): Earlier stops on Lu Bu’s flight in the same Chapter 11 recap.
- Chen Gong (陈宫, Trần Cung) and Zhang Miao (张邈, Trương Mạc): The next refuge after Pang Shu’s death makes Zhang Yang unsafe.
In Novel
Chapter 11
- Pang Shu (庞舒, Bàng Thư): Inside Chang’an he has secretly kept the wife and children of Lu Bu (吕布, Lã Bố) and now sends them back while Lu Bu is with Zhang Yang (张杨, Trương Dương). Li Jue (李傕, Lý Thôi) and Guo Si (郭汜, Quách Dĩ) learn of it, behead Pang Shu, and write to Zhang Yang ordering Lu Bu’s death. Lu Bu therefore leaves Henei for Zhang Miao (张邈, Trương Mạc), where Chen Gong (陈宫, Trần Cung) proposes seizing empty Yanzhou. Pang Shu’s hiding and death are narrated as the hinge of that flight, not as a battlefield scene.
In History
Summary
- Pang Shu (庞舒, Bàng Thư) hid Lu Bu’s wife in Chang’an after Lu Bu fled the Li Jue–Guo Si occupation. That act is attested; his death is not.
Year: 192–193 AD
- Lu Bu abandoned Chang’an. His household remained in danger inside the city. Pang Shu concealed the wife (and, in the novel, the children) and later restored her to Lu Bu.
Year: 198 AD
- At Xiapi, Lu Bu’s wife cites Pang Shu’s hiding as the reason she survived Chang’an and tells Lu Bu he need not consider her now (Yingxiong Ji via Pei).
Historical Record
- Sanguozhi 7 (吕布传), Pei note quoting Yingxiong Ji. The novel Ch.11 adds the beheading by Li Jue and Guo Si and the letter to Zhang Yang — a literary cause for Lu Bu’s next move, not a line in Chen Shou.
COMMENTS (0)