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A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.

Etymology[link]

The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to the sphere of authority of a magistrate; in particular, to a foreign territory.

A possible Latin etymology is from "pro-" ("on behalf of") and "vincere" ("to triumph" or "to take control of"). Thus a "province" was a territory or function that a Roman magistrate held control of on behalf of his government. This agrees with the Latin term's earlier usage as a generic term for a jurisdiction under Roman law.

Geology[link]

In geology, the term "province" refers to a specific physiogeographic area that comprises a grouping of like bathymetric or former bathymetric elements (now sedimentary strata above water) whose features are in obvious contrast to the surrounding regions, or other "provinces." The term usually refers to sections or regions of a craton recognized within a given time-stratigraphy, i.e., recognized within a major division of time within a geologic period.

History and culture[link]

In France, the expression "en province" still tends to mean "outside the Paris region." Equivalent expressions are used in Peru ("en provincias," "outside the city of Lima"), Mexico ("la provincia," "lands outside Mexico City"), Romania ("în provincie," "outside the Bucharest region"), Poland ("prowincjonalny," "provincial") and Bulgaria ("в провинцията," "v provintsiyata," "in the provinces"; "провинциален," "provintsialen," "provincial"). Similarly, in Australia "provincial" refers to parts of a state outside of the state capital.

Before the French Revolution, France comprised a variety of jurisdictions (e.g., Île-de-France, built around the early Capetian royal demesne), some being considered "provinces," though the term was also used colloquially for territories as small as a manor (châtellenie). Most commonly referred to as "provinces," however, were the Grands Gouvernements, generally former medieval feudal principalities, or agglomerations of such. Today the expression "province" is sometimes replaced by "en région," " région" now being the term officially used for the secondary level of government.

In Italy, "in provincia" generally means "outside the biggest regional capitals" (like Rome, Milan, Naples, etc.).

The historic European provinces—built up of many small regions, called "pays" by the French and "cantons" by the Swiss, each with a local cultural identity and focused upon a market town—have been depicted by Fernand Braudel as the optimum-size political unit in pre-industrial Early Modern Europe. He asks, "Was the province not its inhabitants' true 'fatherland'?"^[1] Even centrally-organized France, an early nation-state, could collapse into autonomous provincial worlds under pressure, as during the sustained crisis of the French Wars of Religion (1562—98).

To 19th- and 20th-century historians, in Europe, centralized government was a sign of modernity and political maturity. In the late 20th century, as the European Union drew nation-states closer together, centripetal forces seemed simultaneously to move countries toward more flexible systems of more localized, provincial governing entities under the overall European Union umbrella. Spain after Francisco Franco has been a "State of Autonomies," formally unitary but in fact functioning as a federation of Autonomous Communities, each exercising different powers. (See Politics of Spain.)

While Serbia, the rump of former Yugoslavia, fought the separatists in the province of Kosovo, the United Kingdom, under the political principle of "devolution," produced (1998) local parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Strong local nationalisms have surfaced or developed in Britain's Cornwall, France's Brittany, Languedoc and Corsica, Spain's Catalonia and the Basque Country, Italy's Lombardy, Belgium's Flanders; and, east of Europe, in Abkhazia, Chechnya and Kurdistan.

Legal aspects[link]

In many federations and confederations, the province or state is not clearly subordinate to the national or central government. Rather, it is considered to be sovereign in regard to its particular set of constitutional functions. The central- and provincial-government functions, or areas of jurisdiction, are identified in a constitution. Those that are not specifically identified are called "residual powers." In a decentralized federal system (such as the United States and Australia) these residual powers lie at the provincial or state level, whereas in a centralized federal system (such as Canada) they are retained at the federal level. Some of the enumerated powers can be quite important. For example, Canadian provinces are sovereign in regard to such important matters as property, civil rights, education, social welfare and medical services.

The evolution of federations has created an inevitable tug-of-war between concepts of federal supremacy versus states' & provinces' rights. The historic division of responsibility in federal constitutions is inevitably subject to multiple overlaps. For example, when central governments, responsible for foreign affairs, enter into international agreements in areas where the state or province is sovereign, such as the environment or health standards, agreements made at the national level can create jurisdictional overlap and conflicting laws. This overlap creates the potential for internal disputes that lead to constitutional amendments and judicial decisions that alter the balance of powers.

Though foreign affairs do not usually fall under a province’s or a federal state’s competency, some states allow them to legally conduct international relations on their own in matters of their constitutional prerogative and essential interest. Sub-national authorities have a growing interest in paradiplomacy, be it performed under a legal framework or as a trend informally admitted as legitimate by the central authorities.

In unitary states such as France and China, provinces are subordinate to the national, central government. In theory, the central government can create or abolish provinces within its jurisdiction.

Current provinces[link]

Not all second-level political entities are termed "provinces." In Arab countries, the secondary level of government, called a muhfazah, is usually translated as a "governorate."

In Poland, the equivalent of "province" is "województwo," sometimes rendered in English as "voivodeship."^[2]

In Peru, provinces are tertiary units of government, as the country is divided into twenty-five regions, subdivided into 194 provinces. Chile follows a similar pattern, being divided into 15 regions, subdivided into 53 provinces, each run by a governor appointed by the president.

Historically, New Zealand was divided into provinces, each with its own Superintendent and Provincial Council, and with considerable responsibilities conferred on them. However, the colony (as it then was) never developed into a federation; instead, the provinces were abolished in 1876. The old provincial boundaries continue to be used to determine the application of certain public holidays. Over the years, when the central Government has created special-purpose agencies at a sub-national level, these have often tended to follow or approximate the old provincial boundaries. Current examples include the 16 Regions into which New Zealand is divided, and also the 21 District Health Boards. Sometimes the term the provinces is used to refer collectively to rural and regional parts of New Zealand, that is, those parts of the country lying outside some or all of the "main centres"—Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton and Dunedin.

Modern provinces[link]

In many countries, a province is a relatively small non-constituent level of sub-national government, varying in size from that of a UK county to that of a U.S. state – an autonomous level of government and a constituent element of a federation or confederation, often with a large territory. In China, a province is a sub-national region within a unitary state; this means that a province can be created or abolished by the central government.

A province is a distinct unit of government in the Philippines, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Italy; and a large constituent autonomous area in Canada, Congo and Argentina.

In Italy and Chile, a province is an administrative sub-division of a region, which is the first-order administrative sub-division of the state. Italian provinces are mainly named after their principal town and comprise several administrative sub-divisions called comuni (communes). In Chile, they are referred to as comunas.

Five Canadian provinces – Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island – have "counties" as administrative sub-divisions. The Canadian province of British Columbia has "regional districts" which function as equivalents of the aforesaid counties.

The island of Ireland is divided into four historic provinces (see Provinces of Ireland), each of which is sub-divided into counties. These provinces are Connacht (in the west), Leinster (in the east), Munster (in the south) and, perhaps most famously (due to The Troubles), Ulster (in the north). Nowadays these provinces have little or no administrative function, though do have sporting significance.

Some overseas parts of the British Empire bore the colonial title of "province" (in a more Roman sense), such as the Province of Canada and the Province of South Australia (the latter, to distinguish it from the penal "colonies" elsewhere in Australia). Similarly, Mozambique was a "province" as a Portuguese colony.

Russia[link]

The term "province" is sometimes used to refer to the historic governorates (guberniyas) of Russia. This terms also refers to the provinces (провинции), which were introduced as the subdivisions of the governorates in 1719 and existed until 1775. In modern parlance, the term is commonly used to refer to the oblasts and krais of Russia.

Largest[link]

The world's most populous province is Uttar Pradesh, India, population 220,000,000.

The world's largest province by area is Quebec, Canada (1,500,000 km²).

Polities translated "province"[link]

Historic provinces[link]

Ancient, medieval and feudal[link]

• Caliphate and subsequent sultanates: see Emirate
• Khanate can also mean a province as well as an independent state, as either can be headed by a Khan
• Byzantine Empire: see exarchate, thema
• Pharaonic Egypt: see nome (Egypt)
• Frankish (Carolingian) 're-founded' Holy Roman Empire: see gau and county
• In the Habsburg territories, the traditional provinces are partly expressed in the Länder of 19th-century Austria-Hungary.
• Mughal Empire: subah
• The provinces of the Ottoman Empire had various types of governors (generally a pasha), but mostly styled vali, hence the predominant term vilayet, generally subdivided (often in beyliks or sanjaks), sometimes grouped under a governor-general (styled beylerbey).
• Achaemenid Persia (and probably before in Media, again after conquest and further extension by Alexander the Great, and in the larger Hellenistic successor states: see satrapy
• The Roman Empire was divided into provinces (provinciae).
• In the Tartar Khanate of Kazan: the five daruğa ('direction')

Colonial and Early Modern[link]

• Spanish empire, at several echelons:
  • viceroyalty above
  • intendencia

• British colonies:
  • Province of Canada (1840-1867)
  • Provinces of India
  • Provinces of New Zealand (1841-1876)
  • Provinces of Nigeria
  • Province of South Australia (now an Australian state)

• The former provinces of Brazil
• The former provinces of France
• The former provinces of Ireland
• The former provinces of Japan
• The provinces of Prussia, a former German kingdom/republic
• The former provinces of Sweden
• The former Republic of the Seven United Provinces (The Netherlands)
• The former United Provinces of Central America
• The former United Provinces of the Río de la Plata

See also[link]

• Governor
• Region
• Provincialism
• Regionalism (politics)
• Rise: The Vieneo Province

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Etymology OnLine
• WorldStatesmen

External links[link]

• Interactive China province map with city guides and more.

Beppe Grillo
Leader of the Five Star Movement
Incumbent
Assumed office October 4, 2009
Personal details
Born	(1948-07-21) 21 July 1948 (age 63) Genoa, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	Five Star Movement
Relations	Married
Children	6
Occupation	Comedian, Activist, Politician
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Website	http://www.beppegrillo.it/

Giuseppe Piero Grillo, better known as Beppe Grillo (born 21 July 1948), is an Italian activist, blogger, comedian and actor. He has been involved in politics since 2009 as leader of the Five Star Movement.

Biography[link]

Grillo was born in Genoa, Liguria.

After receiving his degree as an accountant, Grillo became a comedian by chance, improvising a monologue in an audition. Two weeks later he was discovered and launched by Italian TV presenter Pippo Baudo. He subsequently participated in the variety show Secondo Voi for two years (1977–78). Later, in 1979, he participated in Luna Park by Enzo Trapani, and Fantastico.

In the 1980s his success rose further, thanks to shows like Te la do io l'America (1982, 4 episodes) and Te lo do io il Brasile (1984, six episodes). In these shows, he narrated his experiences of his visits to the United States and Brazil, with anecdotes and witticisms about the culture, lifestyle and beauty of these places.

As a result, his popularity grew more and more, and he became the protagonist of another show developed especially for him, called Grillometro (Grillometer). In 1986, he was the star of prize-winning advertisements for a brand of yogurt.

Soon after this, his performances began to be characterized by an increasing level of political satire, often expressed in such a direct way that he quickly offended a lot of Italian politicians. In 1987 during the Saturday night TV show Fantastico 7, he attacked the Italian Socialist Party and its leader Bettino Craxi, then Italy's Prime Minister, on the occasion of his visit in the People's Republic of China. Grillo said:

If the Chinese are all socialists, whom do they steal from?

The joke hinted at the totalitarianism of the PRC, but even more to the widespread corruption for which the Italian Socialist Party was known. As a consequence, Grillo was effectively and silently banished from publicly owned television; yet, he was vindicated a few years later when the Italian Socialist Party had to be disbanded in a welter of corruption scandals known as Tangentopoli, uncovered by the Mani pulite investigation. Craxi himself died in Tunisia, unable to return to Italy where he would have been jailed for several convictions.

Consequently, from the beginning of the 1990s his appearances on television became rare: according to many people, the reason for this is a silent ostracism by politicians offended by his revelations about their hidden financial activities, frauds and false claims. When one of his shows was finally allowed to be broadcast by RAI, in 1993, it obtained a record share of 16 million viewers. He was later banned definitively from Italian television.

He currently performs in theatres in Italy and abroad, often with outstanding success.^[1] Grillo's themes include energy usage, political and corporate corruption, finance, freedom of speech, child labour, globalization, and technology. Recently Grillo started to encourage the use of Wikipedia as the future of knowledge sharing, and generally he is a strong proponent of internet freedom.^[2]

Political activism[link]

Beppe Grillo in Bologna speaking at V-Day.

Grillo has spearheaded several national and international political campaigns. On Sept. 8, 2007, he organized a "V-Day Celebration" in Italy; the "V" stood for vendetta, vengeance, and vaffanculo ("fuck off"). During the rally, Grillo projected the names of two dozen Italian politicians who had been convicted of crimes ranging from corruption and tax evasion to abetting a murder. More than 2 million Italians participated in this rally.^[3] Grillo also used this rally to urge Italians to sign a petition calling for the introduction of a Bill of Popular Initiative to remove members of the Italian Parliament who have criminal convictions of any kind from their office.^[4] According to Internet scholars, V–day was the first case in Italian history of a political demonstration developed and promoted via word–of–mouth mobilization on the blogosphere and the social web.^[5]

This was followed by the second V-Day on 25 April 2008, in Turin, S.Carlo square. This V-Day was dedicated to the Italian press and its government financial support; Grillo heavily criticized the Italian press for the lack of freedom; Umberto Veronesi (about his support for incinerators); NATO bases in Italy, the politicians (Silvio Berlusconi had recently been re-elected) and Retequattro, still holding on to TV frequencies already assigned to Europa 7 [2].

Beppe Grillo in Turin during electoral campaign.

On 1 September 2005, thanks to contributions from readers of his blog, Grillo bought a full page advertisement in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica in which he called for the resignation of the Bank of Italy's (then) governor Antonio Fazio over the Antonveneta banking scandal. In October 2005, Time chose him as one of the "European Heroes 2005" for his constant battle against corruption and financial scandals.^[6]

On 22 November 2005 Grillo also bought a page in the International Herald Tribune, again claiming that members of the Italian Parliament ought not to represent citizens if they have ever been convicted in a court of law, even in the first degree of the three available in the Italian system.^[7] His blog now contains a regularly updated list of members of the Italian Parliament who have been convicted in all three degrees, in what he calls "operation Clean Parliament".^[8] Grillo claimed, in 2007, that data suggested that even Scampia, the most dangerous suburb of Naples and one of the areas with the highest crime rate in Europe, actually had a lower crime rate than the Italian parliament's membership.^[9]

On 26 July 2007 Grillo was permitted to speak to the members of the European Parliament in Brussels, where he drew attention to the dangerous, negative state of current Italian politics.^[10]

In August 2008, Grillo was the subject of a report on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC-TV) international affairs program "Foreign Correspondent". Titled "The Clown Prince" the report profiled Grillo's life, political activism, V Day campaign, and use of the internet as a political tool.^[11]

In 2010, he started a political movement called "Movimento 5 stelle" ("Movement five stars"), without the desire to be a leader and to be elected, but only to join, by the Internet, people who believe in ideals like honesty and direct democracy, and saying that politicians are only subordinates of the people and that they should work for the country only for a short time and only if they are not condemned for crimes, and thinking about the problems of their country without any other interest. The movement will be truly a party chance only from the next political round, when they will purpose their name not only in some regions but also in the political elections. The five stars represent the five basic points of the shared program: Water, Environment, Transport, Connectivity, Growth.

Beppegrillo.it[link]

Grillo maintains a blog (available in Italian, English and Japanese) at beppegrillo.it which is updated daily. Comments to posts regularly top the thousands (in the Italian version). According to Technorati, the blog is ranked among the 10 most visited blogs in the world. In 2008, The Guardian ranked Grillo's blog among the world's most powerful blogs.^[12]

Grillo often receives letters of appreciation and support from prominent figures, such as Antonio Di Pietro (former Italian Minister of Infrastructures), Fausto Bertinotti (former President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies), Renzo Piano, and even Nobel Prize Winners (like Dario Fo, Joseph E. Stiglitz, Dalai Lama, Muhammad Yunus).^[13]

Legal issues[link]

In 1980 he was found guilty of manslaughter for a car accident in which he was the driver; three passengers lost their lives.^[14]

During his shows Grillo never hesitates to name firms and personalities he considers corrupt, always supporting his views with data and documents^{[citation needed]}. For this reason he has been sued several times for libel by many people and organizations which he had exposed, such as Telecom Italia.

When Italian judges were investigating the Parmalat scandal, which was then the world's largest corporate bankruptcy scandal ever, Grillo was called to testify as he anticipated the imminent collapse of the dairy conglomerate in one of his shows. When he was asked by judges how he has been able to discover that, he simply said that Parmalat's financial holes were so evident that anybody who had enough ability to see them would see them, since the corporate accounting was easily accessible.^[15]

Criticism[link]

Grillo is often criticized for his lifestyle. In particular, critics blame him for owning a motor yacht and a Ferrari sports car, both being in contradiction with his well known ecologist stance. In his blog he admits that he did, in fact, acquire both but has since sold them.^[14]

Grillo is also criticized for taking advantage of the Condono Tombale, a fiscal amnesty granted by the first Berlusconi government in 2001, which Grillo publicly opposed.^[16] Grillo commented on this issue during the V-Day demonstration. He said that he had personally benefitted by only €500^{[citation needed]}.

Grillo has proposed that members of the Italian Parliament who have a criminal record should be barred from public office. As Grillo himself has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter caused by a car accident^[14] his critics^[who?] say he has no right to represent Italians either. Grillo has always stated that he is not interested in becoming a member of the Italian Parliament anyway.^[14] Despite this, in July 2009 he publicly expressed his intention to present himself as a candidate for the PD's primary elections^[17] which, however, does not imply automatic presence in the Italian parliament.

Another proposal of his is that members of Parliament be limited to two government terms of office after which they might not stand again. Detractors^[who?] argue that this would shorten the political life of competent and expert politicians, usually drawing Alcide De Gasperi, Aldo Moro and Enrico Berlinguer as examples of brilliant politicians who served more than two terms. Marco Travaglio replied that, for that sake, also the political life of much less popular Clemente Mastella would have suffered.^[18]

Grillo is criticized as being a mere demagogue who attacks politicians on superficial issues and their private lives while unable to provide a valid alternative. For instance, Daniele Luttazzi, famous Italian satirist, criticized Grillo in 2007 in an open letter published on the website of the news magazine Micromega. Luttazzi accused Grillo of being a "demagogue" and a "populist", suggesting Grillo to choose between satire and politics, asserting the two are incompatible.^[19]

In 2007 Grillo criticized the "Memorial Day of Foibe Massacres and Istrian-Dalmatian exodus" and the President of the Italian Repubblic Giorgio Napolitano^[20]

Filmography[link]

Grillo has appeared in three movies:

• Cercasi Gesù (1982)
• Scemo di Guerra (1985)
• Topo Galileo (1987)

In 2008, Grillo featured in the documentary, The Beppe Grillo Story, produced by Banyak Films for Al Jazeera English.

References[link]

External links[link]

Official websites[link]

• The English version of Beppe Grillo's personal blog
• Beppe Grillo's fans meeting map around the world

Other resources[link]

• 'Time' article about Grillo
• 'New York Times' video about Grillo
• 'New Yorker' Beppe’s Inferno

Lu Su
Qing Dynasty illustration of Lu Su
Advisor and general of Sun Quan
Born	172
Died	217 (aged 45)
Names
Simplified Chinese	鲁肃
Traditional Chinese	魯肅
Pinyin	Lǔ Sù
Wade-Giles	Lu Su
Style name	Zijing (子敬)

Lu Su (172–217),^[1] style name Zijing (子敬), was a politician, militarist and diplomat serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. As one of Sun Quan's most important subjects, Lu Su was most noted for having drafted a plan for Sun Quan to compete with rival warlords for supremacy, and succeeding Zhou Yu as the frontline commander of Sun Quan's military after Zhou's death. Lu Su also played an important role in establishing an alliance between Sun Quan and Liu Bei, as well as being a strong proponent of maintaining friendly relations between the two warlords.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Lu Su was a native of Dongcheng, Linhuai (臨淮東城; southeast of present-day Dingyuan County, Anhui). He was born in an affluent and influential clan but no member of his family had ever served in the government before. Lu Su's father died not long after his birth, and Lu Su was raised by his grandmother. When Dong Zhuo usurped state power and caused the government to sink into corruption, Lu Su sold his land and used the money to help his relatives and townsfolk, while spending his time befriending and acquainting himself with people.

Political insight[link]

In 198 Lu Su came to serve the warlord Yuan Shu and he met and befriended Zhou Yu in the same year. When Zhou Yu had financial difficulties, Lu Su gave him half of the grain he had stockpiled. Zhou Yu later successfully persuaded Lu Su to leave Yuan Shu and serve Sun Ce instead. Lu Su spent a long time in Sun Ce's service but did not receive any important responsibilities.

After Sun Ce's death, Zhou Yu introduced Lu Su to Sun Ce's younger brother and successor, Sun Quan. During their first meeting, Sun Quan was very impressed with Lu Su and held him in high regard, so he dismissed all the other guests also present at the meeting, leaving behind only Lu Su. Sun Quan then invited Lu Su to sit together with him and they had a discussion on politics over drinks.

Lu Su proposed a strategy for Sun Quan to compete with other warlords for supremacy over China - establish a foothold in Jiangdong, attack Liu Biao and seize control of Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan), then establish an independent regime south of the Yangtze River. Sun Quan will then declare himself emperor and proceed to attack and conquer the rest of northern China, which was under the control of the warlord Cao Cao. Lu Su's plan was similar to Zhuge Liang's Longzhong Plan in a sense that both plans predicted the rise of three major power blocs in China - Sun Quan, Cao Cao, and Liu Biao in Lu Su's plan; Liu Bei, Cao Cao and Sun Quan in Zhuge Liang's - and also in both plans Cao Cao was seen as the more powerful rival.

Formation of the Sun-Liu alliance[link]

In 208, Liu Biao died and Jing Province was divided between his two sons, Liu Qi and Liu Cong. At the same time, Cao Cao started a campaign to conquer Jing Province, and Lu Su was worried that the province would fall to Cao Cao, thus he urged Sun Quan to form an alliance with Liu Biao's sons to resist Cao Cao. However, when Lu Su arrived in Jing Province, he learnt that Liu Cong (who controlled the northern part of the province) had surrendered his territories to Cao Cao. In Jiangxia, Lu Su met the warlord Liu Bei, who had joined Liu Qi after his defeat by Cao Cao at the Battle of Changban. Lu Su also met Liu Bei's advisor Zhuge Liang, who shared a similar idea of forming an alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan to resist Cao Cao. As a result, Zhuge Liang followed Lu Su back to Chaisang (present-day Jiujiang, Jiangxi) to meet Sun Quan and discuss the formation of the alliance.

Sun Quan originally intended to remain neutral and observe the conflict between Liu Bei and Cao Cao while waiting for an opportunity to strike. Besides, he also lacked confidence that his military was capable of defeating Cao Cao's formidable army. After persuasion from Lu Su, Zhou Yu and others, Sun Quan eventually hardened his decision to go to war with Cao Cao. This led to the Battle of Red Cliffs, in which the allied armies of Sun Quan and Liu Bei triumphed over Cao Cao's much larger force.

Role in the Sun-Liu alliance[link]

After the Battle of Red Cliffs, Sun Quan defeated Cao Cao again at the Battle of Jiangling while Liu Bei advanced to conquer four commanderies in southern Jing Province from their respective warlords. Not long later, Liu Bei married Sun Quan's younger sister Lady Sun to strengthen diplomatic ties between the two warlords. Liu Bei requested to use Nan commandery (under Sun Quan's control) in central Jing Province. Lu Su convinced Sun Quan to agree to the request because Liu Bei would help to divert Cao Cao's attention away from Sun Quan to himself.

When Zhou Yu died of illness in 210, Lu Su succeeded him as commander of Sun Quan's military forces and moved his headquarters to Lukou (陸口), yielding to Liu Bei all commanderies in Jing Province (except Jiangxia). In diplomatic terms, Sun Quan's side felt that they were "loaning" Jing Province to Liu Bei as a temporary base that should be returned to them after Liu had found another stronghold.

In 215, Liu Bei took over Yi Province (covering the Sichuan Basin) from the warlord Liu Zhang and refused to "return" Jing Province (defended by Liu Bei's general Guan Yu) to Sun Quan. Sun Quan was angered and he ordered his general Lü Meng to invade three commanderies in Jing Province - Changsha (長沙), Lingling (零陵) and Guiyang (桂陽) - while sending Lu Su to fortify his position at Baqiu (present-day Yueyang, Hunan) to block any reinforcements from Guan Yu. After Lü Meng had conquered the three commanderies, Guan Yu indeed advanced south to retake the territories and met with opposition from Lu Su. Lu Su considered the gravity of the situation and decided that it would be best for both Sun Quan and Liu Bei to maintain friendly relations, so he invited Guan Yu to have negotiations. During the talks, soldiers from both sides were stationed at least a hundred steps away from the meeting area, and those present at the meeting each carried only a sword.

Subsequently, Liu Bei received news that Cao Cao was planning to attack Hanzhong, which was seen as the northern gateway into Yi Province, so he quickly requested for a border treaty with Sun Quan. He asked Sun Quan to give him back Lingling and create a diversion for Cao Cao by attacking Cao's stronghold at Hefei; in return, Liu Bei ceded Changsha and Guiyang to Sun Quan, setting the new border along the Xiang River. Sun Quan agreed to the treaty terms.

Death[link]

Lu Su died of illness at the age of 45 in 217.

Lu Su's tomb is located on Mount Gui (魯山) in present-day Hanyang District, Wuhan, Hubei. The hill was originally named Mount Dabie (大別山) and later renamed to Mount Lu (魯山) to commemorate Lu Su. It was renamed to Mount Gui during the Ming Dynasty and this name has been used until now. Lu Su's tomb was originally located on the southern end of the hill and was moved in 1955 to a park in the middle of the hill due to construction works.

Family[link]

• Son: Lu Shu (魯淑), served in Wu as General of Illustrious Martial Might, Area Commander of Wuchang and Xiakou, received a marquis title

• Grandson: Lu Mu (魯睦), Lu Shu's son, inherited Lu Shu's marquis title, served as a military commander in Wu

Appointments and titles held[link]

• Colonel Who Inspires Martial Might (奮武校尉)
• Administrator of Hanchang (漢昌太守)
• General of Hengjiang (橫江將軍)

Appraisal[link]

"I had a discussion (with Lu Su) and obtained a plan on establishing a dynasty. That was one pleasant moment. Later when Mengde^[2] took control of Liu Cong's territories, he declared that he would lead thousands of land and marine troops south (to attack me). I gathered all my subordinates and asked for their opinions, but none of their responses matched my thoughts. Zibu^[3] and Wenbiao^[4] suggested that I surrender, but Zijing^[5] argued that I shouldn't, and he urged me to recall Gongjin^[6] and put him in command (of the army) to engage the enemy. This was another pleasant moment. However, in terms of decisiveness, he was inferior to Zhang^[7] and Su.^[8] Although this weakness of his was evident when he advised me to lease land^[9] to Xuande,^[10] this shortcoming was not enough to overshadow his two strengths." – Sun Quan^[11]

In this statement, Sun Quan commented that he was very pleased with two things that Lu Su had done for him: drafting a plan for him to emerge as one of three major contending powers in China; and helping him arrive at his resolution to ally with Liu Bei against Cao Cao just before the Battle of Red Cliffs. However, Sun Quan also thought that Lu Su was incompetent in managing diplomatic ties as compared to Zhang Yi and Su Qin, two famous strategists and diplomats in the Warring States Period. Despite so, Sun Quan still felt that Lu Su's two major contributions outshone this imperfection.

Anecdote relating to Lu Su[link]

Lu Su came from a wealthy family and he owned two large granaries. When Zhou Yu wanted to form a militia to help Sun Ce in his conquests, he lacked food supplies and weapons, so Lu Su pointed at one of his granaries and presented it to Zhou Yu, while he sold the other and used the money to hire blacksmiths to forge 5,000 swords for Zhou Yu's militia. Zhou Yu ordered his men to bring 200 sacks and fill them up with grain, each sack weighing 50 jin, and bring back to his camp. To attract more people to join him, Zhou Yu borrowed ink and a brush from Lu Su, and wrote "Revive the Han Dynasty" (興複漢室) on a piece of paper and pasted it on a wall outside the granary. This gave rise to the saying "pointing at a granary and presenting it" (指囷相贈).

In fiction[link]

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a historical novel by Luo Guanzhong, was a dramatization of the events that occurred before and during the Three Kingdoms era. In the novel, Lu Su was used as a foil between Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu to highlight their intelligence, especially for Zhuge Liang. He was also used to add minor comic relief to the rivalry between Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu, particularly in the events leading to the Battle of Red Cliffs. In addition, he was also portrayed as an honest and sententious man who was often taken advantage of, leading to his maladroit handling of the diplomatic dispute over Jing Province between Liu Bei and Sun Quan.

See also[link]

• List of people of the Three Kingdoms

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Chen Shou. Records of Three Kingdoms, Chapter 54, Biography of Lu Su.
• Luo Guanzhong. Romance of the Three Kingdoms.