Liu Dun
Liu Dun (fl. 190s – 220s), courtesy name Ziren, was an official serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China, an expert at divination who was secretive in his arts.[1][2]
Liu Dun | |
|---|---|
| 劉惇 | |
| Military Adviser (軍師) | |
| Monarch | Sun Quan |
| Governor | Sun Fu |
| Personal details | |
| Occupation | Official |
| Courtesy name | Ziren (子仁) |
Life
Liu Dun's ancestral home was Pingyuan (平原). During the chaos of the end of the Han dynasty, he fled across the Yangzi to Luling (廬陵) where he was invited to the staff of its administrator Sun Fu, cousin and general to the warlord Sun Quan.[3] Liu Dun was skilled in divination with an expertise in astrology, he became famed in the south for it, predicting floods, droughts and uprisings.[4] Sun Fu was impressed by Liu Dun's predictions, using him to help find the hiding places of local rebels [2] and appointed him as his Military Advisor (軍師 junshi), while among the army itself he became popularly known by the nickname Shenming (神明 "Divine Brilliance").[5]
Liu Dun later served under Sun Quan directly. In 204, Sun Quan was at Yuzhang, having remained there on his return from a campaign against Huang Zu the year before[6] and became worried by a change in stars. Liu Dun warned there would be trouble in Danyang, a betrayal which was deemed to be foreseeing the assassination of Sun Quan's younger brother Sun Yi, the Administrator of Danyang (丹楊郡), by Bian Hong (邊鴻).[7]
Liu Dun was also the author of a now-lost tome of his art[2] in a hundred volumes, which was praised by the scholar Diao Xuan (刁玄). However, Liu Dun was also noted for being secretive of his arts and declining to share it with others, resulting in his work becoming increasingly difficult for subsequent generations to understand.[8]
References
- Sanguozhi vol. 63.
- De Crespigny, Rafe (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms 23-220 AD. Leiden: Brill. p. 502. ISBN 978-90-04-15605-0.
- 劉惇字子仁，平原人也。遭亂避地，客遊廬陵，事孫輔 Sanguozhi vol.63.
- 以明天官達占數顯於南土。每有水旱寇賊，皆先時處期，無不中者 Sanguozhi vol.63.
- 輔異焉，以為軍師，軍中咸敬事之，號曰神明 Sanguozhi vol.63.
- 八年，權西伐黃祖，破其舟軍，惟城未克，而山寇復動。還過豫 Sanguozhi vol. 47.
- 建安中，孫權在豫章，時有星變，以問惇，惇曰：「災在丹楊。」權曰：「何如？」曰：「客勝主人，到某日當得問。」是時邊鴻作亂，卒如惇言。Sanguozhi vol.63.
- 惇於諸術皆善，尤明太乙，皆能推演其事，窮盡要妙，著書百餘篇，名儒刁玄稱以為奇。惇亦寶愛其術，不以告人，故世莫得而明也. Sanguozhi vol.63
- Chen, Shou (3rd century). Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi). Scroll 63.
- Pei, Songzhi (5th century). Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi zhu). Scroll 63.
- de Crespigny, Rafe (2007). A biographical dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD). Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-15605-0.