The Story of Empress Lu

 Empress Lu: The Wife of Gaozu

Pierced and Wounded by an arrow, The Gaozu Emperor found himself incapable of fighting on the battlefield against the rebelling forces. Thus, he hoped to send his son to fight in his stead.  However, Empress Lu, protective of her son, went on the command the troops herself and returned victorious. 

Born in 241 BC to a noble family in Shandong, Empress Lu, in her early years, had to witness a time inflicted with absolute social unrest. This period marked the unification of China under the Qin dynasty and was characterized by war and violence. 

To avoid the chaos of war, Lu Zhi’s father, Lu Wen,  fled with his whole family to the town of ‘Pei’. It was in this town that Lu Zhi and her father encountered Liu Bang, a low-ranking official who later went on to become the first Han emperor of China. 

While quite a few suitors were vying for Lu Zhi, upon meeting Liu Bang, Lu Wen was sure that he was destined for nobility and betrothed Lu Zhi to him. At the time, Lu Zhi had barely turned 20 while Liu Bang was over 40 years old. 

After their marriage, Lu Zhi gave birth to a boy, Liu Ying, and one girl, Lu Yuan. Due to Liu Bang’s constant absence, Empress Lu single-handedly took on the responsibility of taking care of both her children and Liu Bang's parents. 

In  210 BC, Liu Bang was ordered to escort prisoners to Mount Li. However, many convicts managed to escape during the journey. At the time, Liu Bang’s misconduct qualified as a heavily punishable capital offense. As a result, he decided to release the remaining prisoners and escape with them. 

As the news came to be known in Pei, the county magistrate arrested Lu Zhi. However, she was released shortly, while Liu Bang remained missing from the town. 

Around this time, after the passing away of Emperor Qin Shihuang in 210 BC, there was general discontentment over Qin’s overbearing punishments and oppressive taxes.  As a result, the rebellion had started, with Liu Bang leading the force.  Finally, in early 206 BC, the Qin dynasty met its downfall. 

Before the coup, the rebel leaders had agreed to divide the empire into 18 kingdoms for them to rule. Liu Bang was left in charge of the Bashu region. However, in due time, Liu Bang turned on his allies, and within a year of the Qin dynasty’s collapse, he came to rule the entirety of the western domain named Han, whereas his remaining rival, Ba Wang (Xiang Yu), asserted his rule over the Chu lands of the east. Despite putting an agreement in place between the kingdoms, the rivalry between the Liu Bang and Ba Wang grew intense and it is even believed that Empress Lu had been kidnapped by the emperor of Chu for a certain period.

However, at last, Liu Bang, with the help of his grand army, managed to defeat Ba Wang and went on to find one of China’s greatest dynasties, the Han. He became the Gaozu emperor of Han, whereas Lu Zhi became Empress Lu and their son became the crown prince. 

With Liu Bang’s ascension to the throne, we finally came to the rule of Empress Lu, a woman who ruled over the entirety of China with an Iron Fist for almost 22 years.

At first, Empress Lu proved herself to be a befitting administrator and was mostly in charge of the state affairs of Chang’an, the capital of Hans, given that the emperor was often busy quelling rebellions. Her policies are known to have brought prosperity to the nation. She managed to improve the conditions for the poor by lowering taxes and allowing them to recover from the strenuous wars, rebuild sections of the Great Wall, and increase state revenue. She was also a great advocate for frugality and would preach that the royals avoid any waste. She also installed peaceful relations with minorities at the borders of China through royal marriages. Due to her tactfulness, she also managed to win the hearts and admiration of many Emperor’s ministers. 

At the same time, she was calculatedly ruthless and didn’t shy away from taking extreme measures to protect her and her son’s position as crown prince. 

The first major incident was the indictment and killing of Peng Yue and Han Xin, two militarists who were accused of betraying the country and posing a threat to the Emperor’s rule. A year before the Marquis of Yangxia launched a rebellion against the emperor, Han Xin had met with the Marquis, which aroused suspicions against him. Thus, Empress Lu had him summoned and had him executed. As Peng Yue got caught up in rumors, the Empress fooled him into believing he would be allowed to return to his hometown only to have him captured on his journey and executed. 

The second, most famous ‘Human Swine’ incident, involved the Gaozu Emperor’s beloved concubine, Lady Qi, and their son Liu Ruyi who was installed as the Prince of Zhao in 190 BC. Lady Qi, taking advantage of Emperor Liu Bang’s fondness for her, tried to convince him to make their son the crown prince instead of Liu Ying. 

However, whenever Emperor Liu Bang brought up the deposition of Lu Hui, his ministers would immediately nod their heads as they all held an important position for Empress Lu in their hearts. 

However, being a cautious and deliberate woman, when Empress Lu started worrying that the Emperor might try to replace Liu Ying as crown prince, she sought the help of her strategist Zhang Liang. 

Zhang Liang then guided her to the Four White Heads ( prestigious hermits) of Mount Shang. Liu Bang had been trying to gain their support but had failed in doing so. Thus, in order to prove Liu Yang’s competence,  Empress Lu won over the four hermits' support. This managed to impress Liu Bang and affirmed Liu Yang’s position as the crown prince. 

Finally, In 195 BC, Liu Bang passed away and Liu Yang was made Emperor Hui of Han while Empress Lu was honored with the role of Empress Dowager (Mother of the emperor). 

However, in reality, for the next 15 years, Empress Lu was to act as the actual ruler of China, looking after the entire administration. 

To ensure her power wasn’t threatened, Empress Lu sought to get rid of the Consorts her late husband had shown a special fondness for in the past. While she treated most concubines as per the established rules and regulations (such as Consort Bo) i.e. did them no harm and even granted their sons the title of Male dowager, Lady Qi had made an enemy in the Empress and awaited a miserable fate. 

Lady Qi was stripped of her position and received harsh treatment: her head was shaved and she was compelled to participate in strenuous labor.

At the same time, Empress Lu summoned 12-year-old Prince Ruyi to end his life. However, Emperor Hui sought to protect his half-brother and was known to never leave his side as he was skeptical of his mother’s brutal actions. 

However, one day the emperor rose early and left to go hunting, and Empress Lu had Prince Ruyi forcefully poisoned. 

Then she had Lady Qi killed in a manner beyond inhumane. She ordered her guards to chop off her hands and feet, gouge out her eyes, cut out her tongue, and throw what remained of her into a pit with pigs and human excrement, labeling her human swine. 

The emperor, gravely distressed by her mother’s actions, claimed, “This is something done not by a human. As the empress dowager’s son, I’ll never be able to rule the empire.”. Thus, having declared himself as a monster’s son, Hui took to his bed and the comforts of drinks and consorts, and abandoned his state affairs- ironically leaving the empire for his mother to run.

The Hui emperor had several sons with his concubines. He was finally forced into a marriage with his niece Zhang Yan in 191 BC, after which the childless couple was made to adopt 8 of the several children that Emperor Hui's concubines had given birth to. The biological mothers of all 8 children were killed to prevent any power play. 

Upon Emperor Hui’s death in 188 BC, one of these children was made Emperor: a nominal position that allowed the now Grand Empress Dowager to continue ruling over state affairs. However, when the newly installed king realized that Empress Lu had killed his mother, she had him dispatched and installed his infant half-brother on the throne. 

Towards the end of her reign, she bestowed great titles on members of the Lu Clan allowing them to amass great power. However, when Empress Lu passed away in 180 BC (at the age of 61), the Liu family took back their power and Lu Clan members were stripped of their titles.

This paved the path for Liu Hang ( son of Liu Bang and Consort Bo) to ascend the throne as Emperor Wen. 

As for Empress Lu, while she was earlier entombed in Chingling with Liu Bang, eventually one of her successors had Lu Zhi buried in a separate temple. 

As for her reign, Lu Zhi leaves behind a star-studded legacy as she was the first woman to rise to the position of ruling the country single-handedly. 

While there is no denying that Empress Lu did take actions that crossed the line for inhumane and jarring, it is also undeniable that she had a major impact on the political landscape of China. 

Despite never officially holding the title of emperor, through means of puppet rulers, Empress Lu was able to run the whole of China as per her vision and ideals with nary a dissent. 

Her rule oversaw the advent of peace and prosperity as she managed to serve the people well. 

Moreover, the fact that she was to unofficially hold and centralize political power for another 15 years after Liu Bang’s death is a testament to her political adeptness. 

However, unsurprisingly she is mostly, and often only, remembered for her ruthlessness. Whilst her actions were morbid and horrifying, there were innumerable incidents of members of the royal family engaged in episodes of torture and assassinations; these actions were often seen as necessary to preserve the dynasty’s power and consolidate one’s position.

Empress Lu proved herself to be beyond the spouse of a history-altering emperor and was monumental in chartering a new course for the role of the Empress: A role where one could exercise political power, preside over administration, and command ministers.