Lu Xisheng (陸希聲) (d. 895) was an official 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 ...

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

, who briefly served as

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong.

Background

It is not known when Lu Xisheng was born. His family claimed ancestry from the ruling house of Tian of the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

state Qi and traced its subsequent ancestry through officials of the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

, the

Jin dynasty (266–420) The Jin dynasty or Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the or the , was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty in China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Emperor Wu of Jin, Sima Yan, eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had previou ...

Liu Song Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern dynasties (南朝宋) in historiography, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Northern and Southern dynasties#Southern dynasti ...

Southern Qi Qi, known in historiography as the Southern Qi ( or ) or Xiao Qi (), was a Chinese imperial dynasty and the second of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It followed the Liu Song dynasty and was succee ...

, the

Liang dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () or Xiao Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was pre ...

, the

Chen dynasty The Chen dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Chen (南陳 / 南朝陳) in historiography, was a Dynasties in Chinese history, Chinese imperial dynasty and the fourth and last of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Southern dynasties, ...

, and the

. Both Lu Xisheng's 5th-ancestor

Lu Yuanfang Lu Yuanfang (陸元方) (639 - March 20, 701), courtesy name Xizhong (希仲), was an official of Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, twice serving as chancellor of Tang Dynasty, chancellor. It is not known when Lu Yuanfang was born, but it is known that hi ...

and Lu Yuanfang's son

Lu Xiangxian Lu Xiangxian (陸象先) (665–736), né Lu Jingchu (陸景初), formally Duke Wenzhen of Yan (兗文貞公), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Ruizong ...

served as

s – Lu Yuanfang under the female sovereign

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was List of rulers of China#Tang dynasty, Empress of China from 660 to 705, ruling first through others and later in her own right. She ruled as queen consort , empress consort th ...

, who interrupted Tang and established her own state of Zhou, and Lu Xiangxian under Wu Zetian's son

Emperor Ruizong of Tang Emperor Ruizong of Tang (22 June 662 – 13 July 716), personal name Li Dan, also known at times during his life as Li Xulun, Li Lun, Wu Lun, and Wu Dan, was the fifth and ninth emperor of the Chinese Tang dynasty. He was the eighth son of Emp ...

and grandson Emperor Xuanzong. Lu Xisheng was descended from Lu Xiangxian's younger brother Lu Jingrong (陸景融). His grandfather Lu Mengru (陸孟儒) served under a prefectural prefect, and his father Lu Ao (陸翱) was not listed with any official titles.

Early career

It was said that Lu Xisheng was studious and was good at writing. He particularly understood the ''

I Ching The ''I Ching'' or ''Yijing'' ( ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. The ''I Ching'' was originally a divination manual in ...

'', the ''

Spring and Autumn Annals The ''Spring and Autumn Annals'' is an ancient Chinese chronicle that has been one of the core Chinese classics since ancient times. ''The Annals'' is the official chronicle of the State of Lu, and covers a 242-year period from 722 to 481&nbs ...

'', and the ''

Tao Te Ching The ''Tao Te Ching'' () or ''Laozi'' is a Chinese classic text and foundational work of Taoism traditionally credited to the sage Laozi, though the text's authorship and date of composition and compilation are debated. The oldest excavated por ...

'' well, and wrote many commentaries. At one point, he served on the staff of Zheng Yu (鄭愚) the prefect of Shang Prefecture (商州, in modern

Shangluo Shangluo ( zh, s= , p=Shāngluò) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan to the northeast and Hubei to the southeast. Part of the Shannan region of the province, it is located in t ...

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 ...

), at Zheng's request. After he left his service under Zheng, he became a hermit in

Yixing Yixing () is a county-level city administered under the prefecture-level city of Wuxi in southern Jiangsu province, China, and is part of the Yangtze Delta, Yangtze River Delta. The city is known for its traditional Yixing ware, Yixing clay ware t ...

. After a long period of time, he was summoned by the imperial government to serve as ''You Shiyi'' (右拾遺), an advisory official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, ''Zhongshu Sheng''). It was said that at that time the ruling officials were corrupt, and there had been several years of bad harvests, with the situation being particularly severe in the region of Bian (汴州, in modern

Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

) and Song (宋州, in modern

Shangqiu Shangqiu ( zh, ), Postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shangkiu, is a city in eastern Henan province, Central China. It borders Kaifeng to the northwest, Zhoukou to the southwest, and the provinces of Shandong and Anhui to the northeast ...

) Prefectures. Lu realized the severity of the situation and submitted petitions that warned that these conditions would be prime for the appearance of agrarian rebels, but apparently his petition drew no reactions. The next year, as he warned, the agrarian rebel Wang Xianzhi started a major rebellion.''New Book of Tang'', vol. 116.According to the ''

Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

'', Wang Xianzhi's rebellion started in 874; if the account about Lu's petitions were accurate, Lu's petitions would have thus been in 873. See ''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 252. Lu later served as the prefect of She Prefecture (歙州, in modern

Huangshan Huangshan ( zh, s=黄山),Bernstein, pp. 125–127. literally meaning the Yellow Mountain(s), is a mountain range in southern Anhui province in eastern China. It was originally called "Yishan", and it was renamed because of a legend that Em ...

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

). Emperor Zhaozong heard of his fame and recalled him to the imperial government to serve as imperial attendant (給事中, ''Jishizhong'').

Chancellorship and after chancellorship

In 895, Emperor Zhaozong made Lu Xisheng the deputy minister of census (戶部侍郎, ''Hubu Shilang'') and a chancellor with the designation ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (同中書門下平章事).''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 260. However, it was said that Lu did nothing important while being chancellor. He was removed from chancellorship just three months later and made an advisor to the

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 ...

. Later in the year, when Emperor Zhaozong fled the capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

into the

Qinling Mountains The Qinling () or Qin Mountains, formerly known as the Nanshan ("Southern Mountains"), are a major east–west mountain range in southern Shaanxi Province, China. The mountains mark the divide between the drainage basins of the Yangtze and Ye ...

due to the attack by the warlords

Li Maozhen Li Maozhen (; 856 – May 17, 924), born Song Wentong (), courtesy name Zhengchen (), formally Prince Zhongjing of Qin (), was the only ruler of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Qi (901–924). He had become a powerful ...

the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern

Baoji Baoji ( zh, s= , t= , p=Bǎojī; ) is a prefecture-level city in western Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China. Since the early 1990s, Baoji has been the second largest city in Shaanxi. Geography The prefecture-level city of Baoji had a ...

) and

Wang Xingyu Wang Xingyu () (d. 895) was a warlord and general late in the Chinese Tang dynasty who controlled Jingnan Circuit (靜難, headquartered in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi) from 887 to his death in 895. At his prime, Wang Xingyu beheaded Zhu Mei. Also Wang ...

the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (靜難, headquartered in modern

Xianyang Xianyang ( zh, s=咸阳 , p=Xiányáng) is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now int ...

), Lu followed despite his being ill at the time. He apparently died during flight, and was subsequently given posthumous honors and the

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...

of ''Wen'' (文, "civil").

Notes and references

* ''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

'', vol. 116. * ''

'', vol. 260. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Xisheng 9th-century births 895 deaths Chancellors under Emperor Zhaozong of Tang Chinese non-fiction writers Tang dynasty writers