Empress Lu (陸皇后, personal name unknown) was briefly an empress of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty in 710. Her husband was Emperor Shang (Li Chongmao).
Very little is known about her. It is known that when Li Chongmao was the Prince of Wen under his father Emperor Zhongzong, she was the Princess of Wen. In 710, after Emperor Zhongzong's sudden death -- a death that traditional historians believed to be a poisoning carried out by Emperor Zhongzong's wife Empress Wei and daughter Li Guo'er the Princess Anle -- Li Chongmao was made emperor, although Empress Wei retained power as empress dowager and regent. Princess Lu was created empress. Less than a month later, Emperor Zhongzong's sister Princess Taiping and nephew Li Longji the Prince of Linzi rose in rebellion and killed Empress Dowager Wei and Li Guo'er. Emperor Shang was subsequently reduced back to princely rank, and Li Longji's father Li Dan the Prince of Xiang became emperor (as Emperor Ruizong). Nothing further was mentioned about Empress Lu, although presumably she became Princess of Wen again. It is not known whether she survived Li Chongmao, who died in 714 without a son, whether by her or any other consort.
Famous quotes containing the word empress:
“We never really are the adults we pretend to be. We wear the mask and perhaps the clothes and posture of grown-ups, but inside our skin we are never as wise or as sure or as strong as we want to convince ourselves and others we are. We may fool all the rest of the people all of the time, but we never fool our parents. They can see behind the mask of adulthood. To her mommy and daddy, the empress never has on any clothes—and knows it.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)