Lu Wan

Early life and career

Lu Wan was from Feng Village (豐邑), which is in present-day Feng County, Xuzhou, Jiangsu. His father and Liu Bang's father were close friends, as were Liu Bang and him. He was born on the same day as Liu Bang and studied in the same school as him.

In around 209 BC, when Liu Bang rebelled against the Qin dynasty, Lu Wan supported him in the struggle against Qin forces. After the collapse of the Qin dynasty in 206 BC, Xiang Yu, the de facto leader of the rebel forces that overthrew Qin, divided the former Qin Empire into the Eighteen Kingdoms, each ruled by a king who nominally paid allegiance to Emperor Yi of Chu, the puppet monarch controlled by him. Liu Bang became the "King of Han" (漢王) and was given Hanzhong and the Bashu territories (covering parts of present-day Sichuan and Chongqing) as his domain. He appointed Lu Wan as a General (將軍) and "Palace Attendant" (侍中). Later on, when Liu Bang engaged Xiang Yu in a power struggle – historically known as the Chu–Han Contention (206–202 BC) – for supremacy over China, Lu Wan accompanied him into battle as a "Grand Commandant" (太尉). Because of his close friendship with Liu Bang, he received many gifts from Liu and was allowed to enter Liu's living quarters freely. Even Liu Bang's other close aides, including Xiao He and Cao Shen, did not receive the same level of treatment from their lord as Lu Wan. Liu Bang also enfeoffed Lu Wan as the "Marquis of Chang'an" (長安侯).

Service under the Han dynasty

In the winter of 202 BC, after Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu at the Battle of Gaixia, he ordered Lu Wan and Liu Jia (劉賈) to lead troops to attack Gong Wei, the King of Linjiang (臨江王). They defeated Gong Wei, conquered Linjiang, and returned by the seventh month of that year. Lu Wan later followed Liu Bang to attack Zang Tu, the King of Yan (燕王), who was defeated. By then, Liu Bang had unified most – if not all – of the Eighteen Kingdoms under his control and established the Han Empire with himself as its first ruler; he is historically known as "Emperor Gao" (or Emperor Gaozu) of the Han dynasty. Although he had already awarded vassal king titles to seven men who were not from the Liu clan, he wanted to make Lu Wan a vassal king as well so he sought his subjects' opinions. They were aware of the emperor's intention, so they nominated Lu Wan on the grounds that he had made great contributions in the military campaigns against the rival kingdoms. In the eighth month of 202, Lu Wan was formally enfeoffed as the "King of Yan".

Secretly contacting Chen Xi and the Xiongnu

In the autumn of 196 BC, Chen Xi (陳豨) started a rebellion and declared himself the "King of Dai" (代王). Emperor Gao personally led an army to suppress the rebellion, while Lu Wan led another army to help the emperor by attacking Chen Xi from the northeast. Chen Xi sent Wang Huang (王黃) as a messenger to seek help from the Xiongnu; Lu Wan also sent his subordinate, Zhang Sheng (張勝), to meet the Xiongnu and spread news that Chen Xi was going to be defeated and urge the Xiongnu to refrain from helping Chen Xi. On his way to Xiongnu territory, Zhang Sheng met Zang Yan (臧衍), Zang Tu's son, who was living in exile. Zang Yan told him that the Kingdom of Yan was able to remain stable and continue existing because the Han central government was occupied with suppressing the rebellions. He further explained that as long as there was conflict, Yan would continue to serve a useful function: to help the Han central government fight opposing forces. If conflict ceased, Yan would lose its purpose and might end up like the other vassal kingdoms which had already been dismantled (and their rulers were killed, some on false charges of treason). Zhang Sheng heeded Zang Yan's advice to secretly arrange with the Xiongnu to help Chen Xi attack the Kingdom of Yan. When Lu Wan heard that Zhang Sheng was plotting with the Xiongnu to attack his domain, he wrote a memorial to Emperor Gao to seek permission to have Zhang Sheng's family executed because Zhang committed treason. However, after Zhang Sheng returned and explained everything to him, Lu Wan realised his folly and spared Zhang Sheng's family. He then sent Zhang Sheng to continue to remain in contact with the Xiongnu, and sent Fan Qi (范齊) to contact Chen Xi and secretly arrange to help Chen prolong the survival of his rebel regime.

Emperor Gao's suspicions towards Lu Wan

In 195 BC, Emperor Gao led an army to attack Ying Bu, a vassal king who had rebelled against him. At the same time, he ordered Fan Kuai to lead another army to attack Chen Xi. One of Chen Xi's subordinates who surrendered to Fan Kuai revealed that Fan Qi, Lu Wan's subordinate, had been secretly maintaining contact with Chen Xi. Emperor Gao became suspicious of Lu Wan and summoned him to the capital for questioning, but Lu refused to comply and claimed that he was ill. The emperor then sent Shen Yiji (審食其) and Zhao Yao (趙堯) to fetch Lu Wan to the capital and conduct an investigation in the Kingdom of Yan. Lu Wan became very fearful when heard about it so he pretended to be ill and confined himself at home and refused to meet Shen Yiji and Zhao Yao. He told his close aides, "Of all the non-imperial clan nobles, only Wu Chen (吳臣; the King of Changsha) and I are left. Han Xin and Peng Yue lost their lives because of Empress Lü. His Majesty is ill and has entrusted all state affairs to the Empress. The Empress is seeking excuses to eliminate all the non-imperial clan nobles and subjects who have made great contributions." He continued to pretend to be sick. When Shen Yiji returned to the capital, he reported to Emperor Gao what Lu Wan said to his aides. The emperor was furious. Later, after learning from Xiongnu prisoners-of-war that Lu Wan had sent Zhang Sheng to contact the Xiongnu, Emperor Gao became angrier and more convinced that Lu Wan was plotting a rebellion.

Death

In the second month of 195 BC, Emperor Gao ordered Fan Kuai to lead an army to attack Lu Wan. Lu Wan brought along all his family members and subordinates (numbering a few thousand people), escaped from Yan, and settled down at a location near the Great Wall. He planned to turn himself in to Emperor Gao and plead for forgiveness after the emperor had recovered from his illness. However, Emperor Gao died two months later before Lu Wan could do so. When Lu Wan received news of Emperor Gao's death, he brought along his family and subordinates and fled to Xiongnu territory. The Xiongnu gave him the title "King Lu of Donghu" (東胡盧王). Lu Wan suffered during his stay with the Xiongnu and often thought of returning home. He died a year later in exile.

Family and descendants

When Empress Lü Zhi ruled the Han Empire as a regent after Emperor Gao's death, Lu Wan's family members managed to escape from the Xiongnu and return to Han territory. They wanted to meet her but she died of illness before they could meet. Lu Wan's widow also died of illness not long later.

In 144 BC, Lu Wan's grandson, Lu Tazhi (盧他之), in his capacity as "King of Donghu" (東胡王), surrendered to the Han Empire and was enfeoffed as the "Marquis of Yagu" (亞谷侯).