Lu Yanwei () was a warlord late in 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 ...

, who controlled Yichang Circuit (義昌, headquartered in modern

Cangzhou Cangzhou () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. At the 2020 census, Cangzhou's built-up (''or metro'') area made of Yunhe, Xinhua districts and Cang County largely being conurbated had a populatio ...

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) from 885 to 898, most of that time as its military governor (''

Jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (), or jiedu, was a title for regional military governors in China which was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissioner", "legate", ...

'').

Background and seizure of Yichang Circuit

Little is known about Lu Yanwei's background, as neither of the official histories of

— 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 ...

'' — contained a biography for him. The first reference to him in 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 ...

'' was in 885, when a mutiny at Yichang's capital Cang Prefecture () led to the expulsion of the previously military governor Yang Quanmei (), who fled to neighboring Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

). The soldiers supported Lu to be their acting military governor. Then-reigning Emperor Xizong, however, did not make Lu military governor, instead commissioning the imperial guard officer Cao Cheng () as military governor and Lu as the prefect of one of Yichang's three prefectures, De Prefecture (德州, in modern

Dezhou Dezhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Liaocheng to the southwest, Binzhou to the northeast, and the province of Hebei t ...

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

).''

'', vol. 256. However, it appeared that Lu refused to allow Cao to report to Yichang, and continued to request a military governor commission; the imperial government repeatedly rejected his request. In 890, by which time Emperor Xizong's brother Emperor Zhaozong was emperor and was launching a general campaign against the major warlord

Li Keyong Li Keyong () (October 24, 856 – February 24, 908) was a Chinese military general and politician of Shatuo ethnicity, and from January 896 a Prince of Jin (, ''Jin Wang''), which would become an independent state after the fall of the Tang dyn ...

the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern

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), Lu's neighbors Wang Rong the military governor of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern

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) and

Luo Hongxin Luo Hongxin () (836-898''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 181.), courtesy name Defu (), formally Prince Zhuangsu of Beiping (), was a warlord in the late Tang dynasty, who controlled Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei) as its mili ...

the military governor of Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

) petitioned the imperial government on his behalf again. The imperial government, already locked in a campaign against Li Keyong, decided to commission Lu as military governor.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 258.

As military governor

In late 894, Li Keyong attacked and conquered Lulong. Lulong's military governor

Li Kuangchou Li, li, or LI may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Landscape Institute, a British professional body for landscape architects * Leadership Institute, a non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia, US, that teaches "political tec ...

fled to Yichang. Instead of taking Li Kuangchou under his protection, however, Lu Yanwei was envious of the amount of wealth that Li Kuangchou brought from Lulong, and so attacked Li Kuangchou at Jingcheng (景城, in modern Cangzhou) and killed him, seizing his wealth and his followers, including his

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

s.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 259. As the years went by, Lu developed a reputation for being cruel and insolent in his relations with neighboring circuits. As of 898, he was locked in a dispute over the salt trade with Lulong's then-military governor

Liu Rengong Liu Rengong () (died 914) was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who controlled Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing) from 895 (when his one-time lord Li Keyong conquered Lulong and left him in charge of it) to 907 ...

(whom Li Keyong installed). Liu sent his son

Liu Shouwen Liu Shouwen () (died 910) was a warlord who ruled Yichang Circuit (義昌, headquartered in modern Cangzhou, Hebei) as its military governor (''Jiedushi'') late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and early during Tang's succeeding dynasty Later ...

to attack Cang Prefecture. Lu could not resist the attack, and therefore abandoned the city and fled to Weibo Circuit with his family. When Luo Hongxin refused to receive him, he further fled to Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered 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 ...

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). That was the last reference in history about Lu, and it is not known what his fate was once he fled to Xuanwu.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 261.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Yanwei 9th-century births Year of death unknown Tang dynasty jiedushi of Henghai Circuit