Lu Xiufu (8 November 1236 – 19 March 1279),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Junshi (), was a Chinese statesman and military commander who lived in the final years of the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

. Originally from Yancheng (present-day

Jianhu County Jianhu County () is under the administration of Yancheng, Jiangsu province, China. It borders the prefecture-level cities of Huai'an and Yangzhou to the west. The main town in Jianhu is commonly just called Jianhu, and sometimes Huduo () or “Hu ...

) in

Jiangsu Province Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

, along with

Wen Tianxiang Wen Tianxiang (; June 6, 1236 – January 9, 1283), noble title Duke of Xin (), was a Chinese poet and politician in the last years of the Southern Song dynasty. For his resistance to Kublai Khan's invasion of the Southern Song dynasty, and for ...

and

Zhang Shijie Zhang Shijie () was a Chinese admiral, military general, and politician during the Mongol invasion of China. Zhang was born to a prosperous family in present-day Hebei (part of the Liao empire, then Jin empire). After the fall of the Jin to t ...

, he is regarded as one of the 'Three Loyal Princes of the Song' ().

Life

In 1256, together with

, Lu passed the

imperial examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...

, thus becoming a "presented scholar" or ''jinshi'', and thereafter joined the

Ministry of Rites The Ministry or Board of Rites was one of the Six Ministries of government in late imperial China. It was part of the imperial Chinese government from the Tang (7th century) until the 1911 Xinhai Revolution. Along with religious rituals and cour ...

as a vice-minister.

Yuan conquest

On 18 January 1276, the general Bayan of the

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...

-led

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

showed up with his army outside Lin'an. In a desperate attempt to make peace, the Song imperial court sent Lu Xiufu to negotiate but he was forced to surrender and then was released. The capital of the Southern Song dynasty at Lin'an in

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

fell to Yuan invaders from the north in 1276, and the five-year-old Emperor Gong was taken prisoner. Together with

Chen Yizhong Chén Yízhōng ({{zh, t=陳宜中, s=陈宜中) (dates of birth and death unknown), was a chancellor of the Chinese Empire during the final years of the Song Dynasty. Life Raised in a poor family in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, Chen was neve ...

, Zhang Shijie and Consort Yang, amongst others, Lu took care of the two sons of

Emperor Duzong Emperor Duzong of Song (2 May 1240 – 12 August 1274), personal name Zhao Qi, was the 15th emperor of the Song dynasty of China and the sixth emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. He was a nephew of his predecessor, Emperor Lizong, and reign ...

, seven-year-old Zhao Shi () and four-year-old

Zhao Bing Zhao Bing (12 February 1272 – 19 March 1279), also known as Emperor Bing of Song or Bing, Emperor of Song (宋帝昺), was the 18th and last emperor of the Song dynasty of China, who ruled as a minor between 6 and 7 years of age. He was a ...

(). Later the same year at

Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...

Fujian Province Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

, Zhao Shi was enthroned and began ruling under the

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year o ...

"Jingyan" (景炎; literally: "bright flame"). Emperor Duanzong appointed Lu as military advisor to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

with the task of continuing resistance to Yuan forces. After Emperor Duanzong died at the age of ten in 1278, Lu and Zhang Shijie together enthroned his younger brother

whilst Consort Yang (now Empress Dowager Yang) effectively ran the court from behind a screen. Lu became Left Chancellor () and ran the government together with Zhang Shijie. In 1279, Yuan forces led by

Zhang Hongfan Zhang Hongfan () (1238–1280) was a Chinese military general of the Mongol Empire. As commander of the Mongol army and navy, he annihilated the Southern Song by crushing the last Song resistance at the Battle of Yamen in 1279, where he is said to ...

launched a large scale naval offensive against Song forces at Mount Ya (present-day

Yamen A ''yamen'' (''ya-men''; ; Manchu: ''yamun'') was the administrative office or residence of a local bureaucrat or mandarin in imperial China. A ''yamen'' can also be any governmental office or body headed by a mandarin, at any level of govern ...

), forcing Zhao Bing to flee. During the ensuing

Battle of Yamen The naval battle, naval Battle of Yamen () (also known as the Naval Battle of Mount Ya; ) took place on 19 March 1279 and is considered to be the last stand of the Song dynasty against the invading Mongols, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. Although out ...

on March 19, 1279, the entire Song army and navy were totally wiped out. When the seven-year-old emperor Zhao Bing saw the outcome of the naval battle, he was shocked and slightly rebuked the disorder of his armed forces by saying "they should have coordinated their attack and fought as a unit." Lu, unwilling to be taken captive by Yuan troops, first ordered his younger wife to commit suicide then advised the emperor Zhao Bing: With that, Lu gave the young emperor his seal, picked him up in his arms and jumped from a cliff into the sea, killing them both. Many imperial concubines and ministers also died and by July there were tens of thousands of corpses floating in the sea.Matthew Bennett (1998), ''The Hutchinson dictionary of ancient & medieval warfare'', Taylor & Francis, 1998, , p. 55 Thus ended the Song dynasty and unification of

China proper China proper, Inner China, or the Eighteen Provinces is a term used by some Western writers in reference to the "core" regions of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China. This term is used to express a distinction between the "core" regions popu ...

by the Yuan dynasty.

Legacy

Lu's descendants moved through many places before settling down in Qiangang Village (), Conghua City,

Guangdong Province Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

. Today in Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province there stands a memorial hall to the 'Three Loyal Princes of the Song' (). There is also a shrine to the three heroes in the Shuangxi District of

New Taipei City New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, be ...

, Taiwan. Built in 1868 during the reign of the

Tongzhi Emperor The Tongzhi Emperor (27 April 1856 – 12 January 1875), born Zaichun of the Aisin Gioro clan, was the ninth List of emperors of the Qing dynasty, Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the eighth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign, from 1 ...

in the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, the Three Loyalists Temple () is the religious center of the township.

References

External links

Lu Xiufu memorial hall

Song Dynasty at China Heritage Quarterly

''This article is based on a translation of 陆秀夫 in Chinese Wikipedia.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Xiufu Song dynasty politicians from Jiangsu Song dynasty generals 1236 births 1279 deaths Politicians from Yancheng Generals from Jiangsu Chinese military personnel who committed suicide Chinese politicians who committed suicide Suicides by drowning in China Suicides in the Song dynasty

Life

Yuan conquest

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading

External links