Lu Huaishen

Lu Huaishen (盧懷慎) (died December 11, 716), formally Count Wencheng of Yuyang (魚陽文成伯), was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. He was known for his honesty as an official, but was criticized both in his time and posterity for not making decisions of his own and simply yielding to his colleague Yao Chong.

Background

It is not known when Lu Huaishen was born. His family was originally from Fanyang (范陽, in modern Beijing), and traced itself to a line of prominent officials of Han Dynasty, Cao Wei, Jin Dynasty (265-420), Former Yan, Later Yan, Northern Wei, and Northern Qi. During Tang Dynasty, Lu Huaishen's grandfather Lu Zhe (盧悊) served as the magistrate of Lingchang County (靈昌, in modern Anyang, Henan), and thus relocated his family to Lingchang. Lu Huaishen's father Lu Ting (盧挺) served as an official at Tan Prefecture (roughly modern Changsha, Hunan).

Lu Huaishen was said to be highly intelligent as a child, and he impressed his father's friend, the imperial censor Han Siyan (韓思彥). It was said that he was careful with his behavior when he was young, and after he passed the imperial examinations, he served as Jiancha Yushi (監察御史), a low-level imperial censor, probably during Wu Zetian's reign.