Lu Ji: A Master of "Fu"

Lu Ji (陆机,261–303), courtesy name Shiheng (士衡), was a Chinese writer and literary critic from the Kingdom of Wu in south China.

He was a direct descendant of the founders of the kingdom and son of the Wu commander in chief, Lu Kang. After the kingdom was subjugated by the Western Jin in 280, Lu Ji (with his brother Lu Yün) moved to the imperial capital, Luoyang, where he became prominent in both literature and politics and was made president of the imperial university. "He was too scintillating for the comfort of his jealous contemporaries; in 303 he, along with his two brothers and two sons, was put to death on a false charge of high treason."

Lu Ji wrote much lyric poetry but is better known for writing fù, a mixture of prose and poetry. He is best remembered for the Wenfu ("On Literature"), a piece of literary criticism that discourses on the principles of composition.