Lü Fan (died 228), courtesy name Ziheng, was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.
Rather than accept a high and lofty position, however, Lü Fan insisted upon remaining in a low one where he could more effectively manage troops.
[2] At one point during the beginning of Sun Ce's career as a warlord, he sent Lü Fan to fetch his family from Guangling Commandery in Xu Province to his new base in Qu'e County.
Tao Qian, the Governor of Xu Province, despised Sun Ce and wanted to have Lü Fan arrested as a spy and tortured, but some of his retainers freed Lü Fan and helped him escape from Guangling Commandery with Sun Ce's family.
[3] Lü Fan was third only to Cheng Pu and Xu Kun in terms of merit, having followed Sun Ce in his conquests in the Jiangdong region from 194 to 199.
[5] Around 199, after defeating Yuan Shu's remnants, the minor warlord Liu Xun, as well as Huang Zu and Liu Biao at the Battle of Sha County, Sun Ce wrote a memorial to the Han central government to recommend Lü Fan to be the Administrator of Guiyang Commandery, among other things.
However, due to the efforts of Lü Fan's subordinates Sun Shao and Xu Sheng, the Wu forces were able to stage a counterattack and barely win the battle.
Even the men put in charge of whole province such as Lu Xun (Eastern Wu) and Quan Cong would show great reverence toward him.
At the time, his depense for his house and clothes were extravagant yet he was diligent and assiduous in his duties therefore Sun Quan was pleased by his merits and wasn't bothered by his excess.
Nevertheless, as Sun Quan grew older and became more mature, he started to see Lü Fan in a different light and admired his honesty.
The younger one, Lü Ju, inherited his father's marquis title and rose through the ranks to become General of Agile Cavalry (驃騎將軍) during the reign of the second Wu emperor, Sun Liang.