Lü Dai (161 – 21 October 256), courtesy name Dinggong, was a military general of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in the late Eastern Han dynasty, Lü Dai started his career as a minor official in his home commandery in present-day Taizhou, Jiangsu before migrating south to the Jiangdong (or Wu) region, where he became an assistant magistrate and later a county chief under the warlord Sun Quan. He rose to prominence after his successes in suppressing some rebellions in Sun Quan's territories. Around the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan, who later became the founding emperor of Eastern Wu, appointed Lü Dai as the governor of the restive Jiao Province in the south. During his ten-year-long tenure in Jiao Province, Lü Dai quelled a number of revolts, maintained peace in the area, and contacted some foreign kingdoms in Mainland Southeast Asia and made them pay tribute to Eastern Wu. In 231, he was recalled to Wuchang to oversee civil and military affairs in Jing Province (present-day Hubei and Hunan) alongside his colleague Lu Xun. Throughout the 230s, he suppressed a few rebellions in Wu territories. By 240, as he neared the age of 80, he was still in good physical health and competent enough to perform his duties. He rose to the position of Senior General-in-Chief in 246 and later Grand Marshal in 252 during the reign of Sun Quan's successor Sun Liang. He died aged 95 in 256, and was one of the longest-living notable people of the Three Kingdoms period.
Early career Lü Dai was from Hailing County (), Guangling Commandery (), which is in present-day Taizhou, Jiangsu. He started his career in the late Eastern Han dynasty as a low-level bureaucrat in the county and commandery offices. When chaos broke out throughout China in the 180s and 190s, he fled south to the Jiangdong (or Wu) region for shelter.(呂岱字定公，廣陵海陵人也，為郡縣吏，避亂南渡。) Sanguozhi vol. 60.
In the year 200, after Sun Quan became the warlord ruling over the Jiangdong territories, Lü Dai sought a career under him and was appointed as an assistant official in Wu Commandery.(孫權統事，岱詣幕府，出守吳丞。) Sanguozhi vol. 60. During an inspection tour of Wu Commandery, Sun Quan summoned all the county chiefs and assistant officials for a review of every county's stores and legal administration. Lü Dai impressed Sun Quan when he responded well to his questions and showed that everything under his watch was in perfect order. Sun Quan then reassigned him to be a clerk in his personal administrative office, and later appointed him as the Chief of Yuyao County. During his tenure, Lü Dai recruited over 1,000 able-bodied men to serve in Sun Quan's army.(權親斷諸縣倉庫及囚繫，長丞皆見，岱處法應問，甚稱權意，召署錄事，出補餘姚長，召募精健，得千餘人。) Sanguozhi vol. 60.
Pacifying a rebellion in Kuaiji When Lü He () and Qin Lang () led an uprising in the five counties in the east of Kuaiji Commandery (around present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang), Sun Quan commissioned Lü Dai as a Colonel and ordered him to assist Jiang Qin in dealing with the rebels. Lü Dai and Jiang Qin succeeded in their mission and managed to pacify the five counties and capture the two rebel leaders. Lü Dai was then promoted to General of the Household of Illustrious Trust () as a reward for his achievement.(會稽東冶五縣賊呂合、秦狼等為亂，權以岱為督軍校尉，與將軍蔣欽等將兵討之，遂禽合、狼，五縣平定，拜昭信中郎將。) Sanguozhi vol. 60.
Aborted mission to Hanzhong In 211, Lü Dai, with Yin Yi () as his deputy, led 2,000 troops west to lure Zhang Lu, a warlord based in Hanzhong Commandery, into a trap at Hanxing Commandery (漢興郡; around present-day Baoji, Shaanxi). However, Zhang Lu suspected something fishy so he did not respond. Sun Quan then ordered Lü Dai and his men to return to Jiangdong.(吳書曰：建安十六年，岱督郎將尹異等，以兵二千人西誘漢中賊帥張魯到漢興寋城，魯嫌疑斷道，事計不立，權遂召岱還。) Wu Shu annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 60.
On the journey back, Lü Dai passed by Baidicheng (in present-day Fengjie County, Chongqing) and met Sun Quan's ally Liu Bei, who was leading an army to seize control of Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing) from its governor Liu Zhang. He saw that Liu Bei's army was in disarray and about half of his troops either deserted or were dead, and felt convinced that Liu Bei would not succeed in conquering Yi Province. After returning to Jiangdong, he told Sun Quan, who in turn asked his adviser Wu Fan (), who had previously predicted that Liu Bei would conquer Yi Province. Wu Fan replied: "My prediction is based on Heaven's will. What Lü Dai saw were the actions of people." Wu Fan's prediction came true as Liu Bei did eventually conquer Yi Province by 214.(及壬辰歲，範又白言：「歲在甲午，劉備當得益州。」後呂岱從蜀還，遇之白帝，說備部衆離落，死亡且半，事必不克。權以難範，範曰：「臣所言者天道也，而岱所見者人事耳。」備卒得蜀。) Sanguozhi vol. 63.
Role in the Sun–Liu territorial dispute
In 215, when Sun Quan had a territorial dispute with his ally Liu Bei in Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan), he ordered Lü Dai, with Sun Mao () and nine other officers as his deputies, to lead troops to seize control of the three commanderies of Changsha, Lingling (零陵; around present-day Yongzhou, Hunan) and Guiyang (桂陽; around present-day Chenzhou, Hunan).(建安二十年，督孫茂等十將從取長沙三郡。) Sanguozhi vol. 60. The officials in four counties – Ancheng, You, Yongxin and Chaling – moved to Yinshan County (陰山縣; southeast of present-day Hengdong County, Hunan), where they declared hostility towards Lü Dai. In response, Lü Dai led his troops to besiege and attack Yinshan County, and succeeded in forcing the rebellious officials to surrender. The three commanderies in southern Jing Province thus came firmly under Sun Quan's control.(又安成、攸、永新、茶陵四縣吏共入陰山城，合衆拒岱，岱攻圍，即降，三郡克定。) Sanguozhi vol. 60.
Sun Quan left Lü Dai in charge of Changsha. Around the time, Wu Dang (), the Chief of Ancheng County, conspired with a military officer Yuan Long () to rebel against Sun Quan and defect to Guan Yu, the general guarding Liu Bei's territories in southern Jing Province. Wu Dang managed to occupy You County while Yuan Long stationed himself at Liling County.(權留岱鎮長沙。安成長吳碭及中郎將袁龍等首尾關羽，復為反亂。碭據攸縣，龍在醴陵。) Sanguozhi vol. 60. Sun Quan sent his general Lu Su to attack Wu Dang; Lu Su succeeded in defeating Wu Dang and recapturing the counties while Wu Dang fled after his defeat. In the meantime, Lü Dai attacked Liling County and succeeded in capturing and executing Yuan Long. He was then assigned to serve as the Administrator of Luling Commandery (廬陵郡; around present-day Ji'an, Jiangxi).(權遣橫江將軍魯肅攻攸，碭得突走。岱攻醴陵，遂禽斬龍，遷廬陵太守。) Sanguozhi vol. 60.
As the governor of Jiao Province In 220, Lü Dai was appointed as the Inspector () of the southern Jiao Province (covering present-day Guangdong, Guangxi and parts of northern Vietnam) to replace Bu Zhi. After Lü Dai assumed office, Qian Bo (), a bandit chief from Gaoliang Commandery (高涼郡; around present-day Yangjiang, Guangdong) led his followers to surrender to him. Lü Dai accepted Qian Bo's surrender and appointed him as the Commandant of the West Section of Gaoliang Commandery.(延康元年，代步隲為交州刺史。到州，高涼賊帥錢愽乞降，岱因承制，以愽為高涼西部都尉。) Sanguozhi vol. 60. Later, he also quelled an uprising by indigenous tribes in Yulin Commandery (鬱林郡; around present-day Guigang, Guangxi).(又鬱林夷賊攻圍郡縣，岱討破之。) Sanguozhi vol. 60.
Around the time, there was a bandit chief Wang Jin () from Zhenyang County (湞陽縣; east of present-day Yingde, Guangdong) who frequently led his followers to raid the borders of Nanhai Commandery (南海郡; around present-day Guangzhou, Guangdong). Under orders from Sun Quan, Lü Dai led his troops to attack the bandits and succeeded in capturing Wang Jin alive. He then sent Wang Jin as a captive to the Wu imperial capital, Jianye (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu). Throughout the campaign, he had killed, captured and released about 10,000 bandits in total. In recognition of Lü Dai's efforts, Sun Quan promoted him to General Who Stabilises the South (), granted him acting imperial authority, and enfeoffed him as a Marquis of a Chief District ().(是時桂陽湞陽賊王金合衆於南海界上，首亂為害，權又詔岱討之，生縛金，傳送詣都，斬首獲生凡萬餘人。遷安南將軍，假節，封都鄉侯。) Sanguozhi vol. 60.
Suppressing Shi Hui's rebellion When Shi Xie, the Administrator of Jiaozhi Commandery, died in 226, Sun Quan commissioned Shi Xie's third son, Shi Hui (), as a general and appointed him as the Administrator of Jiuzhen Commandery (九真郡; around present-day Thanh Hóa, Vietnam). He also appointed Chen Shi () as the new Administrator of Jiaozhi Commandery to succeed Shi Xie.(交阯太守士燮卒，權以燮子徽為安遠將軍，領九真太守，以校尉陳時代燮。) Sanguozhi vol. 60. Around the time, Sun Quan wanted to split Jiao Province and create another province, Guang Province (): Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen () and Rinan () commanderies would remain part of Jiao Province; Cangwu (), Nanhai (), Yulin () and Hepu () commanderies would form the new Guang Province. He then appointed Dai Liang () and Lü Dai as the Inspectors of Jiao and Guang provinces respectively.(岱表分海南三郡為交州，以將軍戴良為刺史，海東四郡為廣州，岱自為刺史。) Sanguozhi vol. 60.
When Dai Liang and Chen Shi came to assume their new appointments, Shi Hui refused to accept the new arrangement and he started a rebellion by sending his forces to block Dai Liang and Chen Shi.(遣良與時南入，而徽不承命，舉兵戍海口以拒良等。) Sanguozhi vol. 60. After obtaining approval from Sun Quan, Lü Dai led 3,000 troops to attack Shi Hui and quell the rebellion.(岱於是上疏請討徽罪，督兵三千人晨夜浮海。) Sanguozhi vol. 60. When someone warned Lü Dai to be careful because the Shi clan had lived in Jiao Province for generations and had strong support from the locals,(或謂岱曰：「徽藉累世之恩，為一州所附，未易輕也。」) Sanguozhi vol. 60. Lü Dai replied: "Although Shi Hui has decided to rebel, he doesn't expect me to show up with an army. If I launch a swift attack now, I can catch him off guard and defeat him easily. If I don't act fast, the others will start thinking of rebelling too, while Shi Hui will have more time to strengthen his defences. If the barbarians in all the seven commanderies combine forces and join him in his rebellion, I don't think even the most brilliant military commanders can deal with them."(岱曰：「今徽雖懷逆計，未虞吾之卒至，若我潛軍輕舉，掩其無備，破之必也。稽留不速，使得生心，嬰城固守，七郡百蠻，雲合響應，雖有智者，誰能圖之？」) Sanguozhi vol. 60.
Lü Dai then led his troops to the rendezvous point at Hepu County, where he combined forces with Dai Liang and prepared to attack Shi Hui.(遂行，過合浦，與良俱進。) Sanguozhi vol. 60. When Shi Hui learnt that Lü Dai had shown up at Jiaozhi Commandery with an army, he was so shocked and terrified that he did not know what to do as he did not expect Lü Dai to arrive so quickly. He had no choice but to lead his brothers out of the city and surrender to Lü Dai. Lü Dai later executed all the Shi brothers and sent their heads to Sun Quan.(徽聞岱至，果大震怖，不知所出，即率兄弟六人肉袒迎岱。岱皆斬送其首。) Sanguozhi vol. 60. Gan Li () and Huan Zhi (), two military officers who used to serve under Shi Hui, rallied their forces to attack Lü Dai to avenge their master. Lü Dai managed to defeat them and eliminate all remaining opposing forces. As a reward for his achievement, Lü Dai was promoted from a district marquis to a county marquis under the title "Marquis of Panyu" ().(徽大將甘醴、桓治等率吏民攻岱，岱奮擊，大破之，進封番禺侯。) Sanguozhi vol. 60.
After Shi Hui's rebellion, Sun Quan abolished the newly created Guang Province and restored the original Jiao Province. After pacifying Jiaozhi Commandery, Lü Dai led his troops further south into Jiuzhen Commandery to attack opposing forces, and killed or captured tens of thousands of enemies.(於是除廣州，復為交州如故。岱旣定交州，復進討九真，斬獲以萬數。) Sanguozhi vol. 60. He also tasked the officials under him with spreading Han Chinese culture in the southern lands with the aim of sinicising the non-Han Chinese peoples living there. At the same time, he sent emissaries to contact the rulers of foreign kingdoms such as Funan, Lâm Ấp and Tangming () in Mainland Southeast Asia, and make them pay tribute to Wu. Sun Quan lauded Lü Dai for his efforts and promoted him to General Who Guards the South ().(又遣從事南宣國化，曁徼外扶南、林邑、堂明諸王，各遣使奉貢。權嘉其功，進拜鎮南將軍。) Sanguozhi vol. 60.
Pacifying rebellions in Wuling, Luling, Kuaiji and Nanhai