Life

Lu Mao was a younger brother of Lu Xun. His ancestral home was in Wu County, Wu Commandery, which is in present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu. At a young age, he was already known for being a keen learner and for valuing righteousness. Some of his friends – Chen Rong, Puyang Yi, Jiang Zuan (蔣纂) and Yuan Di (袁迪) – were from humble backgrounds but had great ambitions. Lu Mao, who was from a more affluent family, often shared his wealth with them. Xu Yuan (徐原), who was also from Wu Commandery, moved to Kuaiji Commandery. He had never met Lu Mao before, but before his death, he wrote to Lu Mao and requested Lu to help him take care of his young son. Lu Mao obliged, had a proper tomb constructed for Xu Yuan, and adopted Xu Yuan's son. Lu Mao's second cousin-uncle, Lu Ji, died early, leaving behind two sons and one daughter who were still very young then. Lu Mao adopted Lu Ji's children and raised them. They left him only after they reached adulthood. The commandery officials wanted to recruit Lu Mao to join the civil service but he refused.

Ji Yan, one of Lu Mao's colleagues, was notorious for being very critical of others. When he was serving as a Master of Writing in the Selection Bureau (選曹尚書; i.e., the equivalent of a present-day human resources officer), he often went around spreading news of scandalous incidents involving his colleagues just to show how harsh he could be in criticising others. Lu Mao advised him to forgive others for their past transgressions and focus on praising them for their virtues and contributions instead. He also urged Ji Yan to promote and strengthen a civil culture that might be beneficial to Wu's future developments. Ji Yan ignored Lu Mao's advice and eventually met his downfall.

In 232, Lu Mao was summoned to the Wu imperial court and was appointed as a Consultant (議郎) and Master of Writing in the Selection Bureau. The Wu emperor Sun Quan hated the warlord Gongsun Yuan for breaking his promise to ally with him against Wu's rival state, Cao Wei. He planned to personally lead an army to attack Gongsun Yuan. Lu Mao wrote a memorial to Sun Quan to dissuade him from launching the campaign, in which he explained the perils of travelling far to attack a distant enemy and pointed out some negative consequences that may result from the campaign, such as the Shanyue tribes taking advantage of Sun Quan's absence to cause trouble in the Wu region. Sun Quan disagreed with Lu Mao. Lu Mao then wrote another memorial to Sun Quan, advising him to refrain from attacking Gongsun Yuan, and focus on maintaining stability in Wu and making long term defence preparations instead. Sun Quan felt that Lu Mao was very sincere when he wrote the memorial so he abandoned the idea of attacking Gongsun Yuan.

Wen Renmin (聞人敏), a man from the same hometown as Lu Mao, once visited the Wu capital. He received a grand reception that was even better than that normally received by nobles. Lu Mao thought that this was inappropriate according to Confucian rules of propriety because he believed the level of the reception should be based on the person's social status. He was proven right later. He died in 239.

Family and relatives

Lu Mao's elder brother, Lu Xun, was a prominent general and politician in Eastern Wu. He held office for about a year as the third Imperial Chancellor of Wu before his death in 245. As Lu Xun and Lu Mao were orphaned when they were young, they were raised by their granduncle Lu Kang, who served as the Administrator (太守) of Lujiang Commandery (廬江郡) in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Lu Kang's son, Lu Ji, was a scholar who served as an official under Wu's founding emperor, Sun Quan. Lu Ji was also one of the 24 Filial Exemplars.

Lu Mao had at least three sons. There are no details about his first son in historical records. His second son was Lu Xi (陸喜), whose courtesy name was Gongzhong (恭仲) or Wenzhong (文仲). Lu Xi was known for being studious and sociable. He served as a Master of Writing in the Selection Bureau (選曹尚書) and later in the Ministry of Personnel during the reign of the last Wu emperor, Sun Hao. After Wu was conquered by the Jin dynasty in 280, Lu Xi served in the Jin government as a Regular Mounted Attendant (散騎常侍).

Lu Mao's third son, Lu Ying (陸英), served as a Regular Mounted Attendant and as the Chancellor of Gaoping (高平相) in the Jin dynasty. Lu Ying's son, Lu Ye (陸曄), whose courtesy name was Shiguang (士光), also served in the Jin government and rose to the position of General of Chariots and Cavalry (車騎將車). Lu Ye's younger brother Lu Wan (陸玩), whose courtesy name was Shiyao (士瑤), was known for being magnanimous. Lu Wan also served in the Jin government and held office as the Minister of Works. He was posthumously granted the position of Grand Commandant.

Appraisal

Chen Shou, who wrote Lu Mao's official biography in the Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi), appraised Lu Mao as follows: "Lu Mao valued righteousness and gave pertinent advice. He may be regarded as a junzi (Confucian gentleman)."

生平

陸瑁少年好學，於嘉禾元年（232年）受東吳朝廷徵召，擔任議郎、選曹尚書。同年，曹魏遼東太守公孫淵派使者到東吳，向孫權稱藩。孫權十分高興，於是在次年就派太常張彌、執金吾許晏等循海路帶著金銀財寶和賜九錫的各種物品送給公孫淵。但公孫淵卻在他們到後將張彌等人殺害，並送他們首級到曹魏朝廷。孫權知道後十分憤怒，打算親征遼東。陸瑁前後寫了《陸瑁諫吳主孫權書》和《陸瑁復諫吳主孫權書》，以曹魏大敵在近，而遼東位置偏遠，應先集中力量對抗近強敵而非花費軍力去遠征遼東反對孫權征伐遼東的計劃，終得孫權嘉許其論理詳實，並接納他的建言，打消遠征念頭。

赤烏二年（239年），陸瑁逝世。

性格特徵

• 陸瑁有義行，改居會稽的同郡人徐原與陸瑁素不相識，但徐原臨死時寫了一封託孤信給陸瑁，陸瑁就因而為徐原建墓，並收養和教導徐原的兒子。堂叔父陸績死時，遺下只有數歲的二子一女，陸瑁亦撫養他們至成人。

• 陳融、濮陽逸（濮陽興之父）、蔣纂、袁迪等孤貧但有志向的士人曾經與陸瑁交往，陸瑁當時物資雖然不多，但仍然與他們分享，豐儉與共。

家族

祖輩

• 陸紆，字叔盤，東漢城門校尉，敏淑有思學。

• 陸駿，字季才，官至九江都尉。淳懿信厚，為邦族所懷。

兄長

• 陸遜，東吳名將、丞相。

侄子

　• 陸延，遜長子，早卒。

*陸抗，遜次子，大司馬、荊州牧。在父親死後繼承其爵位。陸抗也是著名的吳國大臣和將領，亦是東吳最後一位名將。

侄孫

　　• 陸晏，抗長子，裨將軍。

　　• 陸景，抗次子，偏將軍。

　　• 陸玄，抗三子。

　　• 陸機，抗四子，西晉大將軍司馬穎右司馬。

　　• 陸雲，抗五子，西晉清河內史。

　　• 陸耽，抗六子，西晉平東祭酒。

子

• 陸喜，瑁次子。在東吳官至吏部尚書，吳亡後下野，後獲西晉任命為散騎常侍。

• 陸英，瑁三子，陸喜弟。晉高平國相，員外散騎常侍。

孫

• 陸育，陸喜子，晉尚書郎，弋陽太守。

• 陸術，陸喜子。

• 陸舉，陸喜子。

• 陸粹，陸喜子。

• 陸曄，陸英子，東晉官至左光祿大夫，開府儀同三司。

• 陸玩，陸英子，陸曄弟，官至司空。

• 陸瓘，陸英子，陸玩弟，晉中書侍郎。

親戚

• 陸凱，族子，東吳左丞相。子陸禕。

• 陸胤，凱弟。子陸式。

• 陸康，陸瑁的從祖，東漢盧江太守。

　• 陸績，陸康的幼子。是陸瑁的長輩。有「懷橘陸郎」之典故，後官至東吳鬱林太守。

　　• 陸宏，陸績長子，官至會稽南部都尉。

　　• 陸叡，陸績次子，官至長水校尉。

　　• 陸鬱生，陸績之女，於鬱林所生，所以名為鬱生。