Lu Bode was a military leader during the Western Han Dynasty period of Chinese history.

Originally from Pingzhou (平州) in the Xihe

Xihe

-Places in China:*Xihe County , Gansu*Xihe District , Fuxin, LiaoningTownsWritten as "西河镇":*Xihe, Dabu County, Guangdong*Xihe, Mengshan County, Guangxi*Xihe, Shaoguan, in Wujiang District, Shaoguan, Guangdong*Xihe, Keshan County, Heilongjiang...

 (西河) region of western China (the modern day Lishi District

Lishi District

Lishi District is a district of Lüliang, Shanxi, China. The district is a major hub for the coal industry in Lüliang as well as an administrative center for the prefecture.- Shopping in Lishi :...

 of Lüliang City

Lüliang

Lüliang is a prefecture-level city in Shanxi province in China. It has an area of 21,000 square kilometers and a population of 3,600,000.-Administration:Lüliang has direct jurisdiction over:-External links:*...

, Shanxi

Shanxi

' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....

), in 119 BCE Emperor Wu of Han

Emperor Wu of Han

Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...

 (汉武帝）dispatched Lu along with Huo Qubing

Huo Qubing

Huo Qubing , born in Linfen, Shanxi, was a general of the western Han dynasty under Emperor Wu. Being the illegitimate son of Wei Shaoer, he was the nephew of Wei Qing and Empress Wei Zifu....

 (霍去病) on an expedition north to attack the Xiongnu

Xiongnu

The Xiongnu were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources...

. After a successful campaign Lu was appointed the first top tier Han general or Fubo (伏波), literally translated as a "subduer of the waves", a title later awarded to other illustrious military leaders such as Ma Yuan (马援). Thereafter Lu led an army to subdue the southern kingdom of Nanyue

Nanyue

Nanyue was an ancient kingdom that consisted of parts of the modern Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan and northern Vietnam. Nanyue was established in 204 BC at the final collapse of the Qin Dynasty by Zhao Tuo, who was the military commander of Nanhai Commandery at the time, and...

 and in 110 BCE attacked the island of Hainan

Hainan

Hainan is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China . Although the province comprises some two hundred islands scattered among three archipelagos off the southern coast, of its land mass is Hainan Island , from which the province takes its name...

 off the south eastern coast of the Chinese mainland. After a successful assault, he divided the new territory into the twin prefectures of Zhuya (珠崖郡) and Dan'er (儋耳郡) thus making Hainan island part of China for the first time.

Despite this success, Lu was later demoted for an unspecified transgression and died not long afterwards.