Although Lü Bu is depicted in both historical and literary sources as an exceptionally formidable warrior, he was also notorious for his volatile temperament and political unreliability, traits that contributed to his downfall. His life is dramatized in the 14th-century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which introduces fictional elements such as his romance with Diaochan.
The moral principles of humanity and the logic of human ethics, that is, the way of being human, include the "Five Relationships, Five Virtues, and Three Obediences, Four Virtues." Living according to these principles means fulfilling the duties of being human. Mencius said: "Internally, there is the father-son relationship; externally, there is the ruler-subject relationship; these are the great principles of human conduct."