Bu Zhi, courtesy name Zishan, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
36 Facts About Bu Zhi
1.
2.
Bu Zhi was able to hide his emotions well and project a calm and serious demeanour.
3.
However, the historian Pei Songzhi criticised Bu Zhi for supporting Sun Quan's fourth son Sun Ba in the succession struggle against Sun Quan's second heir apparent Sun He, and added that this incident left a huge stain on Bu Zhi's good reputation.
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Bu Zhi was from Huaiyin County, Linhuai Commandery, which is around present-day Huai'an, Jiangsu.
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Bu Zhi traced his ancestry to Yangshi, an aristocrat of the Jin state in the Spring and Autumn period.
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Bu Zhi descended from this General Bu, whose marquisate was in Huaiyin County.
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When chaos broke out in central China towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, Bu Zhi fled south to the Jiangdong region to avoid trouble.
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Bu Zhi tirelessly toiled in the fields in the day and diligently read books at night.
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Bu Zhi became very well-read and well-versed in various arts and crafts.
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Bu Zhi was known for being magnanimous, deep thinking, and able to put up with indignities.
11.
Wei Jing was enraged but Bu Zhi remained calm and composed.
12.
Bu Zhi treated us in a manner befitting our status.
13.
Sometime in the 200s, when the warlord Sun Quan held the nominal appointment General Who Attacks Barbarians, he recruited Bu Zhi to serve as his Chief Scribe, and later appointed him as the Chief of Haiyan County.
14.
Bu Zhi returned to serve under Sun Quan as an Assistant in the East Bureau of the office of the General of Chariots and Cavalry and Assistant Officer in the Headquarters Office of the Governor of Xu Province.
15.
Bu Zhi was concurrently appointed General of the Household of Martial Establishment and put in charge of a military unit comprising over 1,000 elite archers for his mission to Jiao Province.
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When Bu Zhi arrived in Jiao Province, Wu Ju, a commandery administrator in the province, pretended to cooperate with him while harbouring ill intentions.
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Bu Zhi's actions shocked the other elites in Jiao Province including the minor warlord Shi Xie, who led his followers to submit to Bu Zhi and pledge allegiance to Sun Quan.
18.
Shi Xie relayed the message to Bu Zhi, who sent an emissary to meet Yong Kai and accept his allegiance.
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Bu Zhi then led over 10,000 volunteer troops from Jiao Province to Changsha Commandery.
20.
Bu Zhi led his troops to quell the uprisings and restored peace in the region.
21.
In 226, he granted greater powers to Bu Zhi and ordered him to move to a garrison at Oukou.
22.
Bu Zhi was relieved of his nominal gubernatorial appointment of Ji Province later.
23.
Bu Zhi wrote to Bu Zhi, seeking his advice on whom he should talk to first because he knew little about the officials in Eastern Wu.
24.
Bu Zhi urged Sun Deng to attract as many talents as possible to join him.
25.
Bu Zhi freely abused his powers to investigate and prosecute officials, some of whom were arrested, imprisoned and tortured.
26.
Bu Zhi wrote to Sun Quan at least four times to speak up against Lu Yi's abuses of power.
27.
The historian Pei Songzhi criticised Bu Zhi for supporting Sun Ba, because he deemed Sun Ba's claim to the succession as illegitimate given that Sun Quan had already designated Sun He as the heir apparent.
28.
Bu Zhi once wrote a memorial to Sun Quan to tell him that he heard from Wang Qian and other defectors that the Wei forces were planning to fill up the Yangtze River with sandbags and launch an attack on the Wu-controlled territories in Jing Province.
29.
In 246, Bu Zhi succeeded Lu Xun as the Imperial Chancellor.
30.
Bu Zhi was known for being magnanimous and generous, and was able to win the hearts of people.
31.
Bu Zhi was able to hide his emotions well and project a calm and serious demeanour.
32.
Bu Zhi was appointed as General of Illustrious Martial Might and enfeoffed as the Marquis of Xi Village.
33.
Bu Zhi feared that he would become a victim of slander and end up in deep trouble, so he defected to the Jin dynasty and surrendered Xiling to the enemy.
34.
Bu Zhi is a minor character in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which romanticises the events before and during the Three Kingdoms period.
35.
Bu Zhi first appears in chapter 43 as one of the scholars from Wu who challenged Zhuge Liang to a debate just before the Battle of Red Cliffs.
36.
Bu Zhi appears again in chapter 68 as Sun Quan's representative to meet Cao Cao to discuss peace terms after the Battle of Ruxu.