Mother Lü

Mother Lü, other wise known as Lu Mu, was born during the Western Han Dynasty of Ancient China. Lu Mu lived in Haiqu County (present day Rizhao, Shandong), and was considered to be wealthy. Lu Mu was known for her generosity and compassion for the community. Lu Mu would provide rice to starving peasants and once helped pay for a funeral for a family that could not even afford a coffin. 

 Wang Mang, the chief minister, proclaimed himself Emperor of the Xin Dynasty in 9 AD.  In an effort to gain support, Mang abolished slavery in China and began implementing policies on taxation and conscription that many wealthy landowning class individuals opposed, as well as worsening the situation for peasants that were  already struggling. 

Lu Mu’s son, Lu Yu, was a county constable, whom in 14 CE, refused to punish citizens that were unable to pay their taxes. Due to following his own moral ethics, Lu Yu was executed by the County Magistrate for insubordination.

Like any Mother, Lu Mu wanted to avenge her son's wrongful death. Selling all her assets, Mother Lu began plotting a rebellion. She opened a tavern that was used for a place of recruitment, stockpiling weapons, and buying horses. She would go from house to house explaining how the government’s policies are making life difficult for the common people. While recruiting and focusing on avenging her son’s death, Mother Lu still made it a priority to take care of those in need by providing food, clothing, and wine on credit. Once Mother Lu had obtained a strong base of supporters, she obtained the status of General, becoming the first peasant leader to rise up against Wang Mang. 

Mother Lu’s supporters fought against the chinese government on land and at sea. Many more came to join and support Lu Mu due to tax rates’ continuous rise. Mother Lu organized her troops into units of 100 and enforced strict rules, one of which included not taking land from peasants. In 17 CE, Mother Lu’s rebel’s marched on Haiqu, leading to the capture of the County Magistrate that executed her son. The officials had begged for mercy for the magistrate, but Mother Lu reminded them that they had not shown her son any mercy. Mother Lu and the rebels’ then beheaded the County Magistrate and offered his head on the altar of Lu Yu (Lu Mu’s son). 

With news of the victory at Haiqiu, Lu Mu’s name spread far and wide, thus resulting in the rebellion gaining many more supporters (more than 10,000 total), and continued attacks on the Mang government, resulting in Mang becoming vary of Mother Lu’s growing power.  Unfortunately, Mother Lu passed away in 18 AD from an illness. Despite this tragic loss, her supporters would continue to fight against the Chinese government by joining other rebel armies. 

Mother Lu is credited with starting the wave of uprisings that led to the restoration of China’s status quo.

Images:

“County Magistrate.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Sept. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_magistrate.

“Wang Mang Biography: Xin Dynasty Emperor (45 BC–23 AD).” Totally History, 25 Apr. 2012, http://totallyhistory.com/wang-mang/.

“Where Is Rizhao, China?” WorldAtlas, 15 Oct. 2015, https://www.worldatlas.com/as/cn/37/where-is-rizhao.html.

Context: 

“Mother Lü.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Oct. 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Lü.

“Lu Mu- Mother of a Revolution.” Lu Mu - Mother of a Revolution - ColorQ Articles Etc, http://www.colorq.org/Articles/article.aspx?d=asianwomen&x=lumu.