Lu Shuming (; 15 August 1956 – 1 November 2022) was a Chinese actor best known for his role as

Guan Yu Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...

on the 1994 television series ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

'', and also garnered recognition for his roles as

Bull Demon King Bull Demon King (), also translated as the Ox King, also-known by his self-proclaimed title the Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven (), and as ''Dàliwáng'' (大力王, lit, "King fGreat Might"/"King Powerful") and as ''Niú Dàli'' (牛大力, ...

and

Li Guang Li Guang (184–119 BCE) was a Chinese military general of the Western Han dynasty. Nicknamed "Flying General" by the Xiongnu, he fought primarily in the campaigns against the nomadic Xiongnu tribes to the north of China. He was known to the X ...

on ''

A Chinese Odyssey ''A Chinese Odyssey'' is a two-part 1995 Hong Kong fantasy-comedy film directed by Jeffrey Lau and starring Stephen Chow. The first part is titled ''A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box'', while the second part is titled ''A Chinese Ody ...

'' (1995) and ''

The Emperor in Han Dynasty ''The Emperor in Han Dynasty'', also released under the title ''The Emperor Han Wu'' in some countries, is a 2005 Chinese historical drama television series based on the life of Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty. It uses the histori ...

'' (2005), respectively.

Biography

Lu was born in

Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

, on 15 August 1956, while his

ancestral home An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...

is in

Yantai Yantai, formerly known as Chefoo, is a coastal prefecture-level city on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern Shandong province of the People's Republic of China. Lying on the southern coast of the Bohai Strait, Yantai borders Qingdao ...

. Due to his father having participated in supporting the construction of the

northwest China Northwestern China () is a region in the People's Republic of China. It consists of five provincial administrative regions, namely Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang. The region is characterized by a (semi-)arid continental climate. ...

, they relocated to

Weinan Weinan ( zh, s=渭南 , p=Wèinán) is a prefecture-level city in east-Guanzhong, central Shaanxi, Shaanxi province, northwest China. The city lies on the lower section of the Wei River confluence into the Yellow River, about east of the provinc ...

and then

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

province, where he attended Xi'an Road Primary School and Jiefang Road Middle School. At school, he loved

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

Beijing Opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines instrumental music, vocal performance, mime, martial arts, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became ...

. Lu began his acting career in 1980, when he was accepted to Shaanxi Provincial Drama Troupe, but soon he was forced to leave the stage for falling in love with an actress. In 1983, Lu was cast as Li Hu in ''Man in the Desert'', making his television debut. In the same year, the Communist government began to crack down on people with "Bad Style" (). Lu was jailed for 16 months for "mental pollution" (), a "crime" originated from when he danced seven or eight times at his friend's uncle's house. He went on to appear in other works, including ''Sing a Romantic Song for You'' (1986), ''Exterminate the Banditi in Western Hunan'' (1986), and ''Bleak Youth'' (1988). In 1989, he was cast as

Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; February 25912 July 210 BC), born Ying Zheng () or Zhao Zheng (), was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China. He is widely regarded as the first ever supreme leader of a unitary state, unitary d ...

in '' A Terra-Cotta Warrior'', opposite

Zhang Yimou Zhang Yimou (; born 14 November 1950) is a Chinese filmmaker.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retrieved 21 August 2008. A leading figure of China's Cinem ...

and

Gong Li Gong Li ( zh, s=巩俐, t=鞏俐; born 31 December 1965) is a Chinese-born Singaporean actress. She is regarded as one of the best actresses in China today, known for her versatility and naturalistic performances. She starred in three of the ...

. Lu gained national fame for his starring role as

in the 1994 television series ''

'', adapted from

Luo Guanzhong Luo Ben (c. 1330–1400, or c.1280–1360), better known by his courtesy name Guanzhong (Mandarin pronunciation: ), was a Chinese novelist who lived during the Ming dynasty. He is also known by his pseudonym Huhai Sanren (). Luo Guanzhon ...

's classical novel of the same title. He co-starred with

Stephen Chow Stephen Chow Sing-chi (; born 22 June 1962) is a Hong Kong filmmaker and former actor, known for his mo lei tau comedy. His career began in television, where he gained recognition through variety shows and TV dramas. Chow's breakthrough came in 1 ...

and

Ng Man-tat Richard Ng Man-tat (, 2 January 1952 – 27 February 2021), commonly called Uncle Tat (), was a Hong Kong actor originally from Fujian. He was a veteran with dozens of awards in the Cinema of Hong Kong , Hong Kong film industry, including Hon ...

in the 1995 film ''

'' as

. In 1997, he co-starred with Li Jingfei and in the historical television series ' as general

Wu Zixu :''Note: names are in simplified characters followed by traditional and Pinyin transliteration.'' Wu Yun (died 484 BC), better known by his courtesy name Zixu, was a Chinese military general and politician of the Wu (state), Wu kingdom in the Spr ...

. In 2005, he acted in the historical television series ''

'', playing the role of general

. That same year, he starred with Du Yulu in ''The Rice is Ripe''. In 2019, he appeared in ''Battle Between Song and Liao Dynastles'', a historical war film starring

Siqin Gaowa Siqin Gaowa (Mongolian Cyrillic ''Цэцэнгуа'', born 19 January 1950), born Duan Anlin, is a Chinese-born Swiss actress. She was born in Guangzhou to a Han Chinese father and a Mongols in China, Mongol Chinese mother. Her father died when s ...

. Lu played a supporting role in the

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

''Stop! Thieves'', starring

Bruce Leung Bruce Liang (28 April 1948) is a Hong Kong martial artist and actor who has appeared in many Hong Kong martial arts movies. He often appeared billed as "Bruce Leung", "Bruce Liang", "Bruce Leong", or "Bruce Leung Siu-lung", and is thus generally g ...

Lawrence Ng Lawrence Ng Kai-wah (, ; born 19 May 1964) is a popular TV actor in Hong Kong. His more famous works include the television series '' Healing Hands'' and the films '' Fate Twisters'' and ''Sex and Zen''. Ng's older brother is former Charlie ...

and

Rain Lee Rain Lee Choi-wah (; born 11 November 1982) is a Hongkongers, Hong Kong actress and singer. Filmography * ''Stolen Love (2001 film), Stolen Love'' (2001) * ''Goodbye Mr Cool'' (2001) * ''2002 (film), 2002'' (2001) * ''If U Care ...'' (2002) * ''M ...

and directed by Jacky Zheng. In 2021, he played the male lead role of Guan Yu in the historical war film ''Green Dragon Crescent Blade'', alongside

Kenny Kwan Kenny Kwan Chi-Bun (born December 30, 1980) is a Philippine-born Hong Kong singer under the music label Emperor Entertainment Group. He was born in the Philippines but grew up in Hong Kong. At age 20, he and his friend, Steven Cheung were crea ...

and .

Personal life and death

Lu married opera singer Gao Lan (), with whom he had a son and a daughter. On 1 November 2022, Lu died due to sudden illness in

, at the age of 66.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stages

Song

* ''A Pot of Old Wine'' () (2015)

Book

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shuming, Lu 1956 births 2022 deaths People from Qingdao Chinese film actors Chinese male singers Chinese television actors