Lu Shuang 魯爽

Lu Shuang 魯爽 (d. 454) was a general of the Liu-Song dynasty 劉宋 (420-479), one of the Southern Dynasties 南朝 (420-589). He hailed from among the non-Chinese population of the province of Yongzhou 雍州 (southern parts of what is today Shaanxi).

During the very late years of the Eastern Jin period 東晉 (317-420), Lu's grandfather migrated to Xiangyang 襄陽 (today's Xiangfan 襄樊, Hubei) and was made governor (taishou 太守) of the province of Nanjun 南郡. His father Lu Gui 魯軌 (d. 449), however, returned to the north so serve the Northern Wei dynasty 北魏 (386-534) and received the title of General Pacifying the South (ningnan jiangjun 寧南將軍) as commander of Changshe 長社 (today's Changge 長葛, Henan), where Lu Shuang and his brother Lu Xiu 魯秀 (d. 454) were born. Lu Shuang inherited the military position of his father, but he was an extremely harsh commander, and several times abused his powers, putting him into the danger of being executed.

In 450, Emperor Taiwu 北魏太武帝 (r. 423-451) prepared for a large-scale invasion of south China. Lu and his brother used the chance and fled to the Song empire in the south, taking with then more than thousand military serfs (buqu 部曲). They were received well by Emperor Wen 文皇帝 (r. 424-453), and Lu made a career as General Attacking the Barbarians (zhenglu jiangjun) 征虜將軍, regional inspector (cishi 刺史) of the province of Sizhou 司州 and commander-in-chief (dudu 都督 of Sizhou and Yuzhou 豫州. He obtained the command over the commanderies of Yiyang 義陽 (Xinyang 信陽, Henan), and Song'an 宋安, and was made Household Administrator (neishi 內史) of the Prince of Yiyang 義陽.

In 452, Lu Shuang was entrusted with the conquest of Xu 許 and Luo 洛, but his division was ambushed by the Northern Wei, and ran out of supplies, so Lu had no choice but to retreat. A year later, Lu supported Prince Liu Yixuan 劉義宣 (415-454) in the suppression of the rebellion of Prince Liu Shao 劉劭 (424-453). After the unrest was quelled, he was appointed as Envoy with Special Powers (shichijie 使持節, Commander-in-chief of the provinces of Yuzhou, Sizhou, Yongzhou 雍州, Qinzhou 秦州, and Bingzhou 并州, and was given the title of General of the Left (zuo jiangjun 左將軍). He was also appointed regional inspector of Yuzhou, stationed at Shouyang 壽陽 (present-day Shouxian 壽縣, Anhui).

In 454, Liu Yixuan planned to overthrow Emperor Wen. Lu Shuang, supporting him, was to attack the capital Jiankang 建康 (modern Nanjing 南京, Jiangsu). He arrived as far as Liyang 歷陽 (near Hefei 合肥, Anhui), where he was engaged in a battle by the regional inspector of Yanzhou 充州, Xue Andu 薛安都 (410-469). When charging the enemy, Lu Shuang was drunk, and was killed even before the battle began.