Lu Junyi - Wu Yong's Poem

Wu Yong's Poem

When Wu Yong goes to Lu Junyi's house to predict his fortune, he lies to the latter that he will meet with a disaster within 100 days. Lu Junyi is superstitious and he believes Wu Yong, so he asks Wu for advice on avoiding the calamity. Wu Yong tells him to leave home and head southeast for beyond 1,000 li. Before leaving, Wu Yong also reads a poem for Lu Junyi, which Lu writes himself on a wall in his house. The poem is as follows:

花叢裏一扁舟,

In a thicket of reeds and flowers lies a small boat,

傑俄從此地遊。

A talented man coincidentally passes through this place.

士若能知此理,

If the virtuous man can understand the meaning of this,

躬逃難可無憂。

He will have no worries about evading disaster.

The first Chinese character in each of the four lines (in bold) when combined reads "lu jun yi fan" (Chinese: 蘆俊義反; pinyin: lú jùn yì fǎn), which means "Lu Junyi rebels". However, the lu (蘆) in the poem is a homonym of the lu (盧) in Lu Junyi's name. The poem is later used as evidence against Lu Junyi when he is framed for collaborating with outlaws.

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