Lu Lingxuan (陸令萱) (504 - 577) was a

lady in waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but ...

in the palace of the

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Dynasties in Chinese history, Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties during the ...

dynasty. As she served as the

wet nurse A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeding, breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, if she is unable to nurse the child herself sufficiently or chooses not to do so. Wet-nursed children may be known a ...

to the emperor

Gao Wei Gao Wei (高緯) (29 May 556 – November 577According to volume 10 of ''History of the Northern Dynasties'', Gao Wei was killed in the 10th month of the 6th year of the ''Jiande'' era of Yuwen Yong's reign. This corresponds to 28 Oct to 25 Nov ...

, she became exceedingly powerful during his reign, at times eclipsing in importance his mother Empress Dowager Hu and was often criticized by historians for her corruption and treachery.

Life

It is not known when Lu Lingxuan was born, she was ethnically

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...

. Her husband was named Luo Chao (駱超), who was a general of

origin as well and was executed after he was accused of treason. Lady Lu and their son, Luo Tipo were taken into the palace to serve as servants. After Gao Wei, the son of then-Prince of Changguang Gao Zhan and Gao Zhan's wife Princess Hu, was born in 557, Lady Lu became his

. She was described as intelligent and devious and became a favorite of Princess Hu. She might have also nursed Princess Hu's second son, Gao Yan.

Court official

Gao Zhan became emperor (as Emperor Wucheng) in 561 AD after the death of his brother Emperor Xiaozhao, and he created Princess Hu

empress The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

and Gao Wei

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

. In 565, in order to deflect ominous astrological signs, he passed the throne to Gao Wei, although he retained imperial powers as ''

Taishang Huang In Chinese history, a Taishang Huang or Taishang Huangdi is an honorific and institution of a retired emperor. The former emperor had, at least in name, abdicated in favor of someone else. Although no longer the reigning sovereign, there are ins ...

'' (retired emperor). Lady Lu brought Luo Tipo into the palace to serve as a playmate for Gao Wei, and they carried out many activities together. After Emperor Wucheng's death around the new year 569, Retired Empress Hu became

empress dowager Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother; ) is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a monarch, especially in regards to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese monarchs in the Chines ...

, and Lady Lu became a particular confidant and very powerful within the palace. Empress Dowager Hu created her a lady of a commandery, and powerful officials, including Empress Dowager Hu's lover

He Shikai He Shikai () (524 – 30 August 571), courtesy name Yantong (彥通), was an official of the Northern Qi dynasty of China. He was a close associate of the Emperor Wucheng (Gao Zhan) prior to the latter's accession to the throne, and he became a po ...

and

Gao Anagong Gao Anagong (; died November 18, 580Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 174.) was an ethnic Xianbei official of China's Northern Qi dynasty. He was a close associate of the emperor Gao Wei, and late in Gao ...

, flattered her and were willing to treat her as mother. Because the female servant of Gao Wei's wife

Empress Hulü Empress Hulü (; personal name unknown) was an empress of the Northern Qi dynasty of China. She was Gao Wei's first empress, and she was a daughter of the general Hulü Guang. Her family was one of the most prominent military families in Northern ...

Mu Sheli Mu Sheli (; 560–577), originally named Mu Yeli (穆邪利), nickname Huanghua (黃花), was an empress consort of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty. She was Gao Wei's last empress. Background Mu Sheli's mother, Mu Qingxiao (穆輕霄), was initi ...

was particularly favored by Gao Wei, Lady Lu, in order to affirm her own power, volunteered to be her adoptive mother and endorsed her to become an official imperial consort. She went as far as having Luo Tipo change his name to Mu Tipo. As of 569, she was also in an alliance with the official

Zu Ting Zu Ting (; ; ?-?), courtesy name Xiaozheng (孝征), was an official of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty (550–577). He was renowned for his literary and administrative talents. Background Zu Ting's father Zu Ying (祖瑩) was a general durin ...

. Her son Mu Tipo also became a powerful official in his own right. In 570, Consort Mu gave birth to Gao Wei's first son,

Gao Heng Gao Heng (; July or August 570 – 577), often known in historiography as the Youzhu of Northern Qi (, meaning 'child ruler'), was the last emperor of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty. In 577, the Northern Qi was under a major attack by the riv ...

. Lady Lu wanted to have Gao Heng become

and inherit the throne one day, but was afraid that Empress Hulü would oppose it, so she gave Gao Heng to Empress Hulü for her to raise. Later in 570, Gao Heng was created crown prince. In summer 571, Gao Wei's younger brother Gao Yan the Prince of Langye, angry at the hold He Shikai and Mu Tipo had on power, killed He Shikai, and then gathered his troops. He then tried to use trickery to draw Lady Lu out of the palace so that he could murder her as well but was unable to. He was soon himself captured when the general

Hulü Guang Hulü Guang () (c. 515 – 22 August 572), courtesy name Mingyue (明月), was an ethnic Tiele general of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty. During the late years of the dynasty—the reigns of Emperor Wucheng and Gao Wei, traditionally viewed as ...

(Empress Hulü's father) refused to side with him, and it was at least partially at her instigation that Gao Wei put Gao Yan to death in fall 571. In winter 571, after Empress Dowager Hu was found to have had an affair with the

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

monk Tanxian (曇獻), Gao Wei put her under house arrest. Zu proposed that, in the precedence of the preceding dynasty

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...

's title of nurse empress dowager for wet nurses, Lady Lu be created empress dowager to replace Empress Dowager Hu. Gao Wei did not do so, but the authority that Empress Dowager Hu had was effectively displaced by Lady Lu.

Empress affair

In 572, Zu falsely accused Hulü Guang of treason—an accusation that Lady Lu concurred in—and Gao Wei killed Hulü Guang and most members of his clan. Empress Hulü was deposed. Lady Lu wanted to have Consort Mu, her adoptive daughter, created empress, but at that time, Gao Wei favored Empress Dowager Hu's niece Consort Hu. Empress Dowager Hu wanted her niece created empress, but felt she had insufficient persuasive power, and she gave gifts to Lady Lu, referring to her as sister, and requested her help. Lady Lu reluctantly agreed, and she jointly with Zu suggested that Consort Hu be created empress. Consort Hu became empress in fall 572. However, Lady Lu did not relent in her hopes of making Consort Mu empress, stating to Gao Wei, "How can a son be crown prince and a mother be a servant girl, a concubine?" But as Gao Wei favored Empress Hu, she could not carry out her wishes. She therefore engaged witches to use witchcraft on Empress Hu. It was said that within a month, Empress Hu began to show symptoms of psychosis, often mumbling to herself or laughing without cause. Gao Wei began to fear and dislike her. In winter 572, Lady Lu put Consort Mu in empress clothing and put her in a tent, surrounded with magnificent jewelry, and then told Gao Wei, "Let me show you a holy woman." When Gao Wei saw that it was Consort Mu, Lady Lu stated, "For a woman this beautiful not to be empress, who would be qualified to be empress?" Gao Wei agreed with her, and he created Consort Mu "Right Empress" and gave Empress Hu the title "Left Empress. Around the new year 573, Lady Lu further falsely told Empress Dowager Hu that Empress Hu had denigrated Empress Dowager Hu's moral character—and Empress Dowager Hu, in anger, without verifying the information, ordered Empress Hu expelled from the palace, and then had Gao Wei depose her. Thereafter, it was said that Lady Lu and Mu Tipo were so powerful and so corrupt that they were openly taking bribes and selling the imperial offices, and all that they wished were carried out. In spring 573, Right Empress Mu became sole empress. As Empress Mu treated Lady Lu as mother and Mu Tipo as brother, Lady Lu was honored with the title "Grand Lady" (太姬, ''taiji''), typically reserved for an empress's mother, and Empress Mu ignored her own mother Mu Qingxiao (穆輕霄). When Mu Qingxiao tried to see Empress Mu, Lady Lu prevented the meeting.

Deposition of Zu

Meanwhile, the alliance between Lady Lu and Zu was breaking up. Zu, after he achieved even greater power after Hulü Guang's death, wanted to reorganize it to make it more efficient, reducing duplication in official responsibilities and wastefulness. He also wanted to remove incompetent and/or corrupt officials as well as reducing the ranks of

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

s—but Lady Lu and Mu Tipo opposed. He therefore entered an alliance with Empress Hu's brothers Hu Junyu (胡君瑜) and Hu Junbi (胡君璧), promoting them and hoping that they would assist him. He also had his associate Li Bolü (麗伯律) accuse Mu Tipo's associate Wang Zichong (王子沖) of accepting bribes—knowing that if Wang were convicted, both Mu Tipo and Lady Lu would be implicated. Lady Lu, however, figured out what was happening, and found ways to have Hu Junyu and Hu Junbi demoted. (This was happening at the same time that she had Empress Hu deposed.) At the same time, with the eunuchs accusing Zu of crimes, Gao Wei asked Lady Lu what her opinions were, and she initially intentionally refused to answer, and then eventually stated: :''This old servant woman of your should die. Before, He Shikai told me that Zu Ting was knowledgeable and very capable, and I thought that he was a good man, so I recommended him. Based on my observations of his recent activities, however, he is wicked. It is difficult to know a man. I should die 10,000 times.'' Another favorite official of Gao Wei, Han Zhangluan, also despised Zu, and together they had Zu demoted to a provincial governorship. Zu would not return to the central government for the rest of his life.

Death

In winter 576, rival

Northern Zhou Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties of China's ...

launched a major attack on Northern Qi. Around the new year 577, after a major defeat at Pingyang (平陽, in modern

Linfen Linfen () is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Shanxi province, People's Republic of China, China, bordering Shaanxi province to the west. Linfen City is located in the southern part of Shanxi Province, with the remaining branches of T ...

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

), Gao Wei abandoned the secondary capital Jinyang (晉陽, in modern

Taiyuan Taiyuan; Mandarin pronunciation: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...

) and fled back to the capital Yecheng. However, Mu Tipo did not follow Gao Wei back to the capital, but instead headed west and surrendered to Northern Zhou. When Lady Lu heard this, she committed suicide. Her family members were all executed or taken as servants.

Media

*Lu Lingxuan is portrayed by

Zhao Liying Zhao Liying ( zh, s=赵丽颖, born October 16, 1987), also known as Zanilia Zhao, is a Chinese actress. She rose to prominence with the historical drama '' Legend of Lu Zhen'' (2013), followed by the television dramas '' Boss & Me'' (2014), ' ...

in the Chinese television series ''

Legend of Lu Zhen ''Legend of Lu Zhen'' () is a 2013 Chinese television historical drama series based on the novel ''Female Prime Minister'' (女相) by Zhang Wei. Directed by Li Huizhu, Zheng Wei'en and Liang Guoguan and produced by Yu Zheng and Mu Xiaohui, the ser ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Lingxuan Northern Qi government officials 577 deaths Year of birth unknown Suicides in Northern Qi Chinese ladies-in-waiting Wet nurses 6th-century Chinese women 6th-century Chinese people