Lu You

Life

Lu You showed literary talent early, could compose poetry and prose by the age of twelve, and entered officialdom through hereditary privilege as a dengshilang. Accounts differ on his examination career: one places him first in the Liangzhe Transport Office’s locked-hall examination in 1153, followed by a high placing in the Ministry of Rites examination the next year, after which Qin Hui suppressed and rejected him for advocating recovery; another gives 1154 as his Ministry of Rites examination, where he ranked near the top; a third says that in 1162 he received a specially bestowed degree after coming first in the recommendation stage of the locked-hall examination, and later received the Presented Scholar degree.

After Qin Hui’s death, Lu You became registrar of Ningde in Fuzhou in 1158, an editor in the Edicts Office in 1160, and an assistant judge of the Court of Judicial Review concurrently serving in the Office of the Imperial Clan in 1161. After Xiaozong’s accession in 1162, he became a compiler in the Privy Council and an examiner in the office for classifying the emperor’s governance, and was granted Presented Scholar status. For remonstrating against Long Dayuan and Zeng Di for seizing power and building a faction—elsewhere summarized as having displeased the emperor through political remonstrance—he was sent out as assistant prefect of Jiankang, transferred to Longxing in 1165, and eventually dismissed for associating with censorial officials, stirring controversy, and forcefully advocating Zhang Jun’s military campaign.

In 1170 he was appointed assistant prefect of Kuizhou; in 1172 he accepted Wang Yan’s invitation to join the Sichuan Military Pacification Commission as an administrative aide. He later served as acting assistant prefect of Shuzhou and as prefect of Jiazhou and Rongzhou. In 1175, when Fan Chengda led the Sichuan administration, Lu You joined the Chengdu Pacification Office as an adviser; impeached in 1176 for drinking and lax conduct while acting as prefect of Jiazhou, he was removed and assigned a sacrificial-retirement post, after which he adopted the sobriquet Fangweng.

In 1178 he became superintendent of the Fujian circuit’s Ever-Normal granaries and tea administration, and in 1179 was transferred to the Jiangnan West circuit. He was impeached and assigned to sacrificial retirement after memorializing for the release of grain to relieve disaster victims. In 1186 he became prefect of Yanzhou, and in 1188 was summoned as assistant superintendent of the Military Equipment Office; after Guangzong’s accession he became a Minister of Rites and an examiner in the Academy of Veritable Records, but was soon removed again. In 1202, under Ningzong, he was ordered to help compile the histories and veritable records of Xiaozong and Guangzong, serving as associate compiler of the Veritable Records Office and concurrently as secretary of the Palace Library. He retired in 1203; the title held at retirement appears as either Baomo Ge daizhi or Baozhang Ge daizhi. He was ennobled as Baron of Weinan in 1207; his death is dated either to the second year of Jiading (1209) or to 1210, and his age is given as eighty-five.

Family and associations

His father was Lu Zai (1088–1148), and his father-in-law was Tang Yi. His younger brother Lu Shou was born in 1139; his wife, née Wang, lived from 1127 to 1197, and an unnamed concubine is also listed. His children included Lu Ziyu and his fourth son, Lu Zitan; his nephew Lu Zicheng lived from 1155 to 1207, while his paternal cousins included Lu Zhu and Lu Yang, and his nephew Sang Shichang was also associated with the family.

His friends included Zhou Bida, Fan Chengda, Yang Wanli, You Mao, and Zheng Qiao.

Literary work and thought

Lu You wrote poetry, ci lyrics, and prose, and was also accomplished in historical studies. His poetry is described as combining a subdued, intricately modulated manner with forceful and impassioned works; he was counted with You Mao, Yang Wanli, and Fan Chengda among the four major writers after the Southern Crossing. Throughout his life he advocated resistance to the Jin and the recovery of lost territory, and he became known as a patriotic poet; his poems were said to number ten thousand.

Works

His principal works include 《劍南詩稿》, 《渭南文集》, 《南唐書》, 《老學庵筆記》, and 《放翁詞》.

Bibliographical traditions differ: 《劍南詩稿》 is listed as eighty-five juan, while 《劍南詩稿》 and 《續稿》 are elsewhere counted together as eighty-seven; 《渭南文集》 appears as either forty-one or fifty juan, 《南唐書》 as either fifteen or eighteen, and 《放翁詞》 as either one or two, while 《老學庵筆記》 is ten juan.

Other works attributed to him include 《放翁家訓》, 《放翁題跋》, 《齋居紀事》, 《感知錄》, 《陳氏老傳》, and 《天彭牡丹譜》. Further titles include 《老學庵續筆記》, 《避暑漫抄》, 《書包明事》, 《書二公事》, and 《姚平仲小傳》.