Lu Yuanfang (陸元方) (639 - March 20, 701),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Xizhong (希仲), was an official of

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 ...

's Zhou Dynasty, twice serving 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 ...

. It is not known when Lu Yuanfang was born, but it is known that his family was from Su Prefecture (蘇州, roughly modern

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

) and that he was from a line that had long served as officials during the

Southern Dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...

. His grandfather or great-grandfather Lu Chen (陸琛)Lu's biography in both 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 ...

'' indicated that Lu Chen was Lu Yuanfang's great-grandfather, but the table of chancellors' family trees in ''New Book of Tang'' indicated that Lu Chen was Lu Yuanfang's grandfather. Compare ''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 92 and ''New Book of Tang'', vol. 129 with ''New Book of Tang'', vol. 73, part 2. served as an important official during

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, ...

. His uncle Lu Jianzhi (陸柬之) was a well-known

calligrapher Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...

and served as a Tang official, but his father Lu Xuanzhi (陸玄之) was only a county sheriff. It was said that Lu Yuanfang initially passed one

imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...

out of eight—which was already enough for him to become an official—but he later passed all eight. He eventually became an assistant censor. On one occasion during Wu Zetian's reign, he was commissioned to go investigate cases in the

Lingnan Lingnan (; ) is a geographic area referring to the lands in the south of the Nanling Mountains. The region covers the modern China, Chinese subdivisions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong & Macau and Northern Vietnam. Background The ar ...

region, which at that time required travel by sea. Once the ship launched, there was violent sea movement, and the people in the ship were fearful. Lu stated, "I am setting out on a mission, not for my own profit; how will the gods hurt me?" He ordered the ship to continue, and soon, the storm passed. After he returned, he was promoted as a censor and then successively as ''Fengge Sheren'' (鳳閣舍人) -- a mid-level at the legislative bureau of government (鳳閣, ''Fengge'') -- and deputy minister of justice (秋官侍郎, ''Qiuguan Shilang''). While serving as deputy minister of justice, he was falsely accused by the secret police official

Lai Junchen Lai Junchen ( Chinese: 來俊臣) (died 26 June 697) was a Chinese politician and writer. He was a well-known secret police official during the Chinese Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties, whose ability to interrogate and falsely implicate officials of cr ...

, but contrary to the fate of most officials accused by Lai, Wu Zetian took no actions against him, and in 693 made him ''Luantai Shilang'' (鸞臺侍郎) -- the deputy head of the examination bureau (鸞臺, ''Luantai'') -- and gave him the designation ''Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi'' (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事), making him a chancellor ''de facto''. In late 694, Wu Zetian, displeased with the powerful chancellor

Li Zhaode Li Zhaode (; died 28 April 697) was a Chinese politician in Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty, who at point served as chancellor. He was known for his abilities and strong will, which eventually led to a conflict with Wu Zetian's secret police official Lai ...

, exiled Li, and fellow chancellor

Zhou Yunyuan Zhou Yunyuan (周允元) (died January 29, 695), courtesy name Ruliang (汝良), was an official of Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, briefing serving as chancellor. It is not known when Zhou Yunyuan was born, but it is known that he was from Yu Prefecture ...

and the assistant chief judge of the supreme court, Huangfu Wenbei (皇甫文備), then submitted articles of impeachment against Lu and several fellow chancellors --

Doulu Qinwang Doulu Qinwang () (630?Doulu's biography in the ''Old Book of Tang'' indicated that he died "more than 79 years old," but his biography in the ''New Book of Tang'' indicated that he died at age 79. Compare ''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 90 with ''New ...

Wei Juyuan Wei Juyuan (; 631 – July 22, 710), posthumous name Duke Zhao of Shu (舒昭公), was an official of the Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties of China, serving multiple times as chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian, her son Emperor Zhongzong, and her ...

Du Jingjian Du Jingjian ()The name of "Jingjian" is per the ''Old Book of Tang'' and the ''Zizhi Tongjian''. The ''New Book of Tang'' gave his name as Du Jingquan (杜景佺) and also asserted that he was originally named Du Yuanfang (杜元方). was an offic ...

, and

Su Weidao Su Weidao (; 648?–705?Su Weidao's biographies in the ''Old Book of Tang'' and the ''New Book of Tang'' both stated that he died at the age of 57, shortly after he was made the secretary general at Yi Prefecture for the second time. The ''Old Bo ...

—for not being able to curb Li Zhaode's power. The five chancellors so accused were all demoted to be prefectural prefect—in Lu's case, to be the prefect of Sui Prefecture (綏州, roughly modern Yulin,

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 ...

). Later, Lu was recalled to be the deputy minister of civil service affairs (天官侍郎, ''Tianguan Shilang'') and the minister of military supplies (司衛卿, ''Siwei Qing''). On one occasion, he was accused of only selecting his friends to be officials, and Wu Zetian, in anger, formally removed him from his posts but let him continue to serve in acting capacity. Lu continued to recommend officials, and when Wu Zetian asked how he dared to do so, he responded, "Your subject only knows how to recommend people that he knows about; I do not care whether they are friend or foe." He further recommended his friend

Cui Xuanwei Cui Xuanwei (; 638–706), né Cui Ye (崔曄), posthumous name Prince Wenxian of Boling (博陵文獻王), was an official of China's Tang dynasty and Wu Zhou dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian and her son Emperor Zho ...

, arguing that Cui had talent to be a chancellor. Wu Zetian by now was convinced that he was not personally biased. In 699, she again made him ''Luantai Shilang'' and chancellor with the ''Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi'' designation. However, in 700, there was an occasion on which Wu Zetian was asking Lu about what was happening outside the palace, and Lu responded, "Your subject is a chancellor, and I will surely report all that is important. The trivial things that happens within the populace is not something I dare to report to Your Imperial Majesty." Wu Zetian was displeased, and she removed him as a chancellor, making him a staff member of her son and

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 ...

Li Xian (the later Emperor Zhongzong). Later, he was made ''Wengchang Zuo Cheng'' (文昌左丞), one of the secretaries general of the executive bureau (文昌臺, ''Wenchang Tai''), before he died of illness. It was said that Lu was honest and careful, and that in his second term as chancellor, whenever Wu Zetian was to commission an official, she would consult him first, but that he would never reveal the content of his recommendation. Before he died, he ordered that the drafts of all submissions that he made to Wu Zetian be brought to him and burned, stating, "My contributions to people are to remain hidden. Surely this will bring blessings to my descendants." He had a locked chest that he had never allowed people to open, and after his death, his family members opened it up, finding only a collection of imperial edicts inside. His sons

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 ...

, Lu Jingqian (陸景倩), and Lu Jingrong (陸景融) all became key officials later, and Lu Xiangxian served as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Ruizong and Emperor Xuanzong.

Notes and references

* ''

'', vol. 92. * ''

'', vol. 129. * ''

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 ...

'', vols.

205 Year 205 ( CCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Geta (or, less frequently, year 958 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 205 for this year h ...

206 Year 206 ( CCVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Umbrius and Gavius (or, less frequently, year 959 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 206 for this y ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Yuanfang 639 births 701 deaths Chancellors under Wu Zetian