Fàn Lübing (范履冰, died March 26, 690兩千年中西曆轉換
/ref>) was a Chinese politician during the

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 ...

, 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 ...

during the first reign of Emperor Ruizong. He was a member of the elite Fàn family.

During Emperor Gaozong's reign

It is not known when Fàn Lübing was born. Fàn passed the

imperial examinations The imperial examination was 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 merit rather than by birth started early i ...

in the ''Jinshi'' class and served as ''Hucao Canjun''(戶曹參軍) under Li Xian, Prince of Zhou son of Emperor Gaozong. During Emperor Gaozong's ''Shangyuan'' era (674–676), Fàn and several colleagues also known for literary talent— Liu Yizhi, Yuan Wanqing (元萬頃), Miao Chuke (苗楚客), Zhou Simao (周思茂), and Han Chubin (韓楚賓)—were asked to serve as advisors to Emperor Gaozong's powerful wife Empress Wu (later known as Wu Zetian), and they wrote a number of works on her behalf, including the ''Biographies of Notable Women'' (列女傳), ''Guidelines for Imperial Subjects'' (臣軌), and ''New Teachings for Official Staff Members'' (百僚新誡). Collectively, they became known as the "North Gate Scholars" (北門學士), because they served inside the palace, which was to the north of the imperial government buildings, and Empress Wu sought advice from them to divert the powers of the chancellors.

During Emperor Ruizong's first reign

Emperor Gaozong died in 683 and was succeeded by his son Li Zhe (i.e. Li Xian, Prince of Zhou) 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, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

(as Emperor Zhongzong), but Empress Wu retained actual power as

empress dowager Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother; ) is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a monarch, especially in regards to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese monarchs in the Chines ...

and

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

. In 684, after he showed signs of independence, she deposed him and replaced him with his younger brother Li Dan the Prince of Yu (as Emperor Ruizong), but thereafter wielded power even more firmly. During her regency over Emperor Ruizong, Fàn Lübing served successively as ''Luantai Shilang'' (鸞臺侍郎)—the deputy head of the examination bureau of government (鸞臺, ''Luantai'')—and deputy minister of civil service affairs (春官侍郎, ''Chunguan Shilang''). As of 689, he was serving as the minister of civil service affairs (春官尚書, ''Chunguan Shangshu''), when he was given the designation of ''Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi'' (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事), making him a chancellor ''de facto''. He was also in charge of editing the imperial history. In 690, however, he was accused of having recommended as an official someone who later committed treason, and Empress Dowager Wu ordered him arrested and executed.

Descendants

Fàn had three sons, each of whom passed the imperial examinations in the ''Jinshi'' class. * Fàn Dongfen (范冬芬), also known as the ancestor of "the Fàns of

Huizhou Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in east-central Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Hey ...

". His grandson Fàn Ping (范平) was the ancestor of another branch called "the Fàns of

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

" * Fàn Dongqian (范冬倩) * Fàn Dongchang (范冬昌) Fàn also had a 6th-generation grandson named Fàn Sui (范隋) who would serve as county magistrate of

Lishui Lishui (; Lishuinese: ''li⁶ syu³'' ) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It borders Quzhou, Jinhua and Taizhou to the north, Wenzhou to the southeast, and the province of Fujian to ...

during the reign of

Emperor Yizong of Tang Emperor Yizong of Tang (December 28, 833 – August 15, 873), né Li Wen, later changed to Li Cui (), was an emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned from 859 to 873. Emperor Yizong was the eldest son of Emperor Xuanzong. After Emperor ...

. Fàn Sui was better known as the 5th-generation ancestor of Fàn Zhongyan.

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. 20

* ''

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. 204. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fan, Lubing 690 deaths 7th-century Chinese historians Chancellors under Emperor Ruizong of Tang Tang dynasty historians Year of birth unknown