Lu Zhi
Drafted the edict of self-reproach for Emperor Dezong during the Fengtian Crisis and was renowned for his memorials to the throne.
Life
Hanlin "inner chancellor"
Lu Zhi passed the jinshi exam at 18. Under Emperor Dezong he was a Hanlin academician involved in confidential affairs and was called the "inner chancellor."
Edict of Self-Reproach at Fengtian
During the Jingyuan Mutiny of 783, Emperor Dezong fled to Fengtian. Lu Zhi drafted edicts for him; the "Edict of Amnesty on Changing the Era Name at Fengtian" early the next year, issued in the emperor's name, contained deep self-reproach. It is said that the soldiers at the front were all moved to tears on reading it, and popular loyalty returned to the court.
Demoted to Zhongzhou
He became chancellor in 792 and repeatedly submitted memorials on government, advocating lighter taxes and opposing extortion. In 794 he was falsely accused by the treacherous minister Pei Yanling, removed as chancellor and demoted to assistant prefect of Zhongzhou, where he spent ten years before dying in 805. His memorials were later compiled as the Memorials of Lu Xuangong.
Legacy
Lu Zhi's memorials to the throne were thoroughly reasoned and deeply sincere, and later generations held them up as models of the genre; Sima Guang quoted them extensively in the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance.
Major works & achievements
- Drafted the Fengtian Amnesty Edict on Changing the Reign Era
- Memorials of Lu Xuangong
Did you know? Banished to Zhongzhou, he shut his door to visitors and, to avoid suspicion, did not even write books; he only compiled medical prescriptions.
Key dates
- 773Passed the jinshi exam
- 783Fled with Emperor Dezong during the Jingyuan Mutiny
- 784Drafted the Fengtian edict changing the era name
- 792Became chancellor
- 794Dismissed as chancellor on false charges
- 805Died