Lu Mao

Lu Mao (died 239), courtesy name Zizhang, was an official of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period.

Life
Lu Mao was a younger brother of Lu Xun. He was a native of Wu county (吳縣), Wu commandery (吳郡), which is in present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu. At a young age, he was already known for being a keen learner and for valuing righteousness. Some of his friends — Chen Rong (陳融) of Chen, Puyang Yi (濮陽逸) of Chenliu (陈留), Jiang Zuan (蔣纂) of Pei commandery (沛郡), and Yuan Di (袁迪) of Guangling (广陵) — were from humble backgrounds but had great ambitions. Lu Mao, who was from a more affluent family, often shared his wealth with them. There was a man called Xu Yuan (徐原), who was also from Wu commandery, but later moved to Kuaiji (会稽; around present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang). Xu Yuan had never met Lu Mao before. However, before he died, he wrote to Lu Mao and requested for Lu to take care of his young son. Lu Mao had a proper tomb constructed for Xu Yuan and adopted Xu's son. Lu Mao's relative Lu Ji died early, leaving behind his two sons and one daughter, who were still very young then. Lu Mao adopted Lu Ji's children and raised them. They left him only after they reached adulthood. The commandery officials wanted to recruit Lu Mao to join the civil service but he refused.

Ji Yan (曁豔), an imperial secretary serving in Eastern Wu, was known for being very critical. When he was in charge of the three bureaus, he often went around spreading news of scandalous incidents involving his colleagues, for the sake of showing that he was harsh in his criticism of others. Lu Mao advised him to forgive others for their transgressions and focus on praising them for their goodness and contributions instead. He also urged Ji Yan to help in promoting and strengthening a civil culture that might be beneficial to Wu's future developments. Ji Yan ignored Lu Mao's advice and eventually met his downfall.

In 232, Lu Mao was summoned to the Wu imperial court and was appointed as a Consultant (議郎) and Secretary in the Selection Bureau (選曹尚書). The Wu emperor Sun Quan hated the Liaodong warlord Gongsun Yuan for breaking his promise to ally with Wu against Wu's rival state Cao Wei, and planned to personally lead an army to attack Gongsun Yuan. Lu Mao wrote a memorial to Sun Quan to dissuade him from launching the campaign, in which he explained the perils of travelling far to attack a distant enemy and pointed out some negative consequences that may result from the campaign, such as the Shanyue tribes taking advantage of Sun Quan's absence to cause trouble in the Wu region. Sun Quan did not agree with Lu Mao. Lu Mao then wrote another memorial to Sun Quan, advising him to refrain from attacking Gongsun Yuan, and focus on maintaining stability in Wu and making long term defence preparations instead. Sun Quan felt that Lu Mao's memorial was written in a very sincere manner so he abandoned the idea of attacking Gongsun Yuan.

Wen Renmin (聞人敏), a man from the same hometown as Lu Mao, once visited the Wu capital. The reception he received was better than that received by nobles. Lu Mao felt that it was inappropriate, and he was proven right later. He died in 239.

Family and relatives
Lu Mao's elder brother, Lu Xun, was a prominent general and politician in Eastern Wu. He held office for about a year as the third Chancellor of Wu before his death in 245. As Lu Xun and Lu Mao were orphaned when they were young, they were raised by their granduncle Lu Kang, who served as the Administrator (太守) of Lujiang commandery (廬江郡) in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Lu Kang's son, Lu Ji, was a scholar who served as an official under Wu's founding emperor Sun Quan. Lu Ji was also one of the 24 Filial Exemplars.

Lu Mao had at least three sons. There are no details about his first son in historical records. His second son was Lu Xi (陸喜), courtesy name "Wenzhong" (文仲). Lu Xi was known for being studious and sociable. He served as a Secretary in the Selection Bureau (選曹尚書) and later as the Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel (吏部尚書) during the reign of the last Wu emperor Sun Hao. After Wu was conquered by the Jin dynasty in 280, Lu Xi served in the Jin government as a Regular Attendant of Scattered Cavalry (散騎常侍).

Lu Mao's third son, Lu Ying (陸英), served as a Regular Attendant of Scattered Cavalry and as the Chancellor of Gaoping (高平相) in the Jin dynasty. Lu Ying's son, Lu Ye (陸曄), whose courtesy name was "Shiguang" (士光), also served in the Jin government and rose to the position of General of Chariots and Cavalry (車騎將車). Lu Ye's younger brother Lu Wan (陸玩), whose courtesy name was "Shiyao" (士瑤), was known for being magnanimous. Lu Wan also served in the Jin government and held office as the Minister of Works. He was posthumously granted the position of Grand Commandant.

Appraisal
Chen Shou, who wrote Lu Mao's official biography in the Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi), appraised Lu as such, "Lu Mao valued righteousness and gave pertinent advice. He may be regarded as a junzi."