Lu Yanhong (; died 886) was a warlord of the late

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 controlled Shannan West Circuit (山南西道, headquartered in modern

Hanzhong Hanzhong ( zh, s= , t= , l=middle of the Han River (Hubei), Han River; abbreviation: Han) is a prefecture-level city in Southern Shaanxi, the southwest of Shaanxi, Shaanxi province, China, bordering the provinces of Sichuan to the south and Gans ...

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 ...

) from 883 to 884 and Zhongwu Circuit (忠武, headquartered in modern

Xuchang Xuchang ( zh, s=, t= ; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province in Central China. It is bordered by the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe ...

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 ...

) from 884 to 886.

Background and service under Yang Fuguang

Little is known about Lu Yanhong's background, including when he was born, as he did not have a biography in either of the official histories of Tang Dynasty (the ''

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

'' and the ''

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 ...

''). It is known that he was from Zhongwu Circuit's capital Xu Prefecture () and initially served as an officer in the Zhongwu army.''

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 ...

'', vol. 254. As of 881, Tang was facing the crisis of the agrarian rebel

Huang Chao Huang Chao (835 – July 13, 884) was a wealthy Chinese salt trader and soldier who is primarily known for instigating the Huang Chao Rebellion. In 878, he proclaimed himself emperor and the establishment of a new Qi dynasty. Huang Chao's re ...

's having captured the imperial 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 ...

(forcing then-reigning Emperor Xizong to flee to

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

) and declared himself the emperor of a new state of Qi. At that time, one of the Tang generals who had been battling Huang's forces, the

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 ...

Yang Fuguang, was stuck at Zhongwu Circuit, and the military governor (''

Jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (, Old Turkic: Tarduş) or jiedu, was a regional military governor in China; the title was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissi ...

'') Zhou Ji had submitted to Qi as a subject. In summer 881, though, Yang was able to persuade Zhou to renounce his allegiance to Qi and redeclare for the Tang cause. Further, Zhou contributed 8,000 men from the Zhongwu army to serve under Yang in the campaign against Huang. The 8,000 men were organized into eight corps, with Lu, Jin Hui (), Wang Jian, Han Jian, Zhang Zao (), Li Shitai (), and Pang Cong () commanding the eight corps. They subsequently followed Yang in the region, fighting against Qi forces, eventually becoming stationed at Hezhong Circuit (河中, headquartered in modern

Yuncheng, Shanxi Yuncheng () is the southernmost prefecture-level city in Shanxi province, People's Republic of China. It borders Linfen and Jincheng municipalities to the north and east, and Henan (Luoyang and Jiyuan to the east, Sanmenxia to the south) a ...

).''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 255.

As independent warlord

In fall 883, Yang Fuguang died at Hezhong. The soldiers of the eight Zhongwu corps abandoned their post in response and scattered. Lu Yanhong gathered those who were willing to follow him — including Wang Jian, Han Jian, Zhang Zao, Jin Hui, and Li Shitai''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 256. — and headed south, raiding Xiang (襄州, in modern

Xiangyang Xiangyang is the second-largest prefecture-level city by population in northwestern Hubei province, China. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River (Hanshui), Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city n ...

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

), Deng (鄧州, in modern

Nanyang, Henan Nanyang is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Henan province, China. The city with the largest administrative area in Henan, Nanyang borders Xinyang to the southeast, Zhumadian to the east, Pingdingshan to the northeast, Luoyang to the n ...

), Jin (金州, in modern

Ankang Ankang ( zh , c = 安康 , p = Ānkāng ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shaanxi Province in the People's Republic of China, bordering Hubei province to the east, Chongqing municipality to the south, and Sichuan province to the s ...

, Shaanxi), and Yang (洋州, in modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi) Prefectures, pillaging them and killing many, while claiming that he was heading west to Chengdu to join the imperial cause. He reached Xingyuan (興元, in modern Hanzhong) around new year 884 and expelled Niu Xu () the military governor of Shannan West Circuit (which was headquartered at Xingyuan), claiming the title of acting military governor. Emperor Xizong thereafter named him acting military governor. After taking over Shannan West Circuit, Lu named Wang, Han, Zhang, Jin, and Li the prefects of the prefectures in the circuit but did not allow them to go to their posts. He also grew suspicious of people and lost the heart of his followers. He was particularly suspicious of Wang and Han due to their close friendship with each other but tried to endear them by treating them well. Wang and Han, however, could tell that he was suspecting them, and therefore they, after enticement by the powerful eunuch

Tian Lingzi Tian Lingzi (田令孜) (died 893), courtesy name Zhongze (仲則), formally the Duke of Jin (晉公), was a powerful eunuch during the reign of Emperor Xizong of Tang. During most of Emperor Xizong's reign, he had a stranglehold on power due to h ...

, fled to Chengdu in fall 884, along with Zhang, Jin, and Li, to join Tian's troops. Tian thereafter sent forces to attack Lu and defeated him. Lu then abandoned Xingyuan and fled east. Lu next attacked Xiang Prefecture, in conjunction with Qin Gao () and

Zhao Deyin Zhao Deyin () (died 892), formally the Prince of Huai'an (), was a warlord late in the History of China, Chinese dynasty Tang dynasty, who initially served as a general under the pretender emperor Qin Zongquan. When Qin neared defeat, Zhao declared ...

, who were officers of the warlord

Qin Zongquan Qin Zongquan (; died April 1, 889) was a Chinese military general, monarch, politician, rebel, and warlord during the Tang dynasty. He was later a claimant to the imperial throne, in competition with Emperor Xizong of Tang and, later, Emperor Xiz ...

the military governor of Fengguo Circuit (奉國, headquartered in modern

Zhumadian Zhumadian ( zh, s= , t= , p=Zhùmǎdiàn; Postal romanization, postal: Chumatien) is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province of China, province, China. It borders Xinyang to the south, Nanyang, Henan, Nanyang to the west, Pingdingshan to ...

, Henan). They captured Xiang, forcing Liu Jurong () the military governor of Shannan East Circuit (山南東道, headquartered at Xiang Prefecture) to flee to Chengdu and allowing Zhao to take over Shannan East Circuit. Lu then pillaged Xiang, Deng, Jun (均州, in modern

Shiyan Shiyan ( zh, s=十堰 , p=Shíyàn) is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei, China, bordering Henan to the northeast, Chongqing to the southwest, and Shaanxi to the north and west. At the 2020 census, its population was 3,209,004 of who ...

, Hubei), Fang (房州, in modern Shiyan), Lu (廬州, in modern

Hefei Hefei is the Capital city, capital of Anhui, China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census. Its built-up (or ''metro'') area is made up of four u ...

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 ...

), and Shou (壽州, in modern

Lu'an Lu'an ( zh, c=, p=Lù'ān), is a prefecture-level city in western Anhui province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan to the northwest and Hubei to the southwest. As of the 2020 census, it had a total population of 4,393,699 inhabitants ...

) Prefectures, before heading for Xu Prefecture. Zhou Ji, upon hearing that Lu was approaching Xu, abandoned Xu and fled. Lu then took Xu and claimed the title of acting military governor of Zhongwu. The imperial government, unable to attack him, named him military governor. He remained in control until fall 886, when Qin Zongquan, who had by that point claimed imperial title, attacked him and killed him, taking over Zhongwu Circuit.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Yanhong 9th-century births 886 deaths Tang dynasty jiedushi of Zhongwu Circuit Politicians from Xuchang Tang dynasty generals from Henan