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

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

dynasty

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

, serving briefly as

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

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 () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...

state Qi, and traced its subsequent ancestry through officials of

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

Jin Dynasty (266–420) The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had pr ...

, Liu Song,

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 succeede ...

, Liang Dynasty, Chen Dynasty, and

. 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. It is not known when Lu Yuanfang was born, but it is known that his family was from Su Prefectu ...

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 dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor ...

served as

s – Lu Yuanfang under the female sovereign

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...

, 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 Tang Dynasty. He was the eighth son of Emperor Gaozong ...

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 ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...

'', 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 241-year period from 722 to 481 ...

'', and the ''

Tao Te Ching The ''Tao Te Ching'' (, ; ) is a Chinese classic text written around 400 BC and traditionally credited to the sage Laozi, though the text's authorship, date of composition and date of compilation are debated. The oldest excavated portion d ...

'' 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,

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

), at Zheng's request. After he left his service under Zheng, he became a hermit in Yixing. 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 () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

) and Song (宋州, in modern Shangqiu,

) 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 ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

'', 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 (),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 Emperor Xuanyu ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

). 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 is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

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

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

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 Yellow ...

due to the attack by the warlords Li Maozhen the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern

Baoji () 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 population of 3,321,853 accordin ...

) and

Wang Xingyu Wang Xingyu () (d. 895) was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who controlled Jingnan Circuit (靜難, headquartered in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi) from 887 to his death in 895. At his prime, he and his ally Li Maozhen the military go ...

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

Xianyang Xianyang () 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 integrated into the Xi'an metrop ...

), 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 name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments or ...

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