Northern Sòng 北宋 statesman, jìnshì, and controversial political figure — one of the most powerful ministers of the mid-Xī níng 熙寧 reform era under Wáng Ānshí 王安石 (1021–1086). Author of a substantive Daoist commentary on the Dàodé jīng ([[KR5c0069|Dàodé zhēn jīng zhuàn]], DZ 686, presented to Sòng Shénzōng 宋神宗 in 1078).
Lifedates and origins. 1032–1111 (CBDB 1309). Native of Jìn jiāng 晉江 in Quán zhōu 泉州 (modern Fújiàn 福建). Zì Jífǔ 吉甫. His family was locally prominent; his father was a jìnshì of 1024.
Career and political role. Jìnshì 1057. Early career at the local level; rose rapidly after meeting Wáng Ānshí 王安石 (they agreed, in the famous phrase of the Sòng shǐ, “on the interpretation of the classics”, yú jīng shuō xiāng hé 於經說相合) and becoming Wáng’s closest ally and protégé during the Xī níng 熙寧 xīn fǎ 新法 (“New Policies”) reform programme (1068–1077). Under Shénzōng 神宗 (r. 1067–1085), Lǚ served in a range of central positions including Kǎn gōng bù shì láng 堪工部侍郎, Pàn guó shǐ 判國史, and Cān zhī zhèng shì 參知政事 (vice-councillor of state). He was an architect of major xīn fǎ measures — the Qīng miáo fǎ 青苗法 (Green Shoots / agricultural loans), the Miǎn yì fǎ 免役法 (hired-labour service), and the Bǎo jiǎ fǎ 保甲法 (community-defence registers).
Break with Wáng Ānshí. After Wáng Ānshí’s second retirement in 1076, Lǚ’s political manoeuvres alienated his former patron. The break — documented in Xù zī zhì tōng jiàn cháng biān (XCB) and Sòng shǐ 471 — became one of the most famous betrayals in Northern-Sòng political memory. With the accession of Sòng Zhézōng 哲宗 in 1085 and the Yuán yòu 元祐 conservative reaction under Dowager Empress Gāo 高太后, Lǚ was exiled; he was recalled briefly during the Shào shèng 紹聖 restoration of reform (1094–) but never regained his earlier prominence. He died in 1111, under Huīzōng 徽宗.
Scholarly activity. Lǚ’s principal surviving Daoist work is the [[KR5c0069|Dàodé zhēn jīng zhuàn]] (DZ 686, 4 juan, presented 1078), a commentary on the Lǎozǐ distinguished by its sustained Mādhyamika-Buddhist reading of the negative formulas of the scripture. The commentary was cited with variants in multiple later Sòng collected-commentary editions — DZ 706, DZ 718, DZ 724 — and was among the standard Northern-Sòng Dàodé jīng commentaries alongside those of Wáng Pōu 王雱 (Wáng Ānshí’s son, 1042–1076) and Sū Zhé 蘇轍 (1039–1112).
He also produced commentaries on Confucian classics that were part of Wáng Ānshí’s programme of Sān jīng xīn yì 三經新義 — replacing the Confucian orthodoxy of the examination system with a reform-oriented interpretation. These included contributions to the Shàng shū 尚書, Zhōu lǐ 周禮, and possibly the Shī jīng 詩經. Most of these are now lost; fragments survive in later citations.
Family. Brother of Lǚ Hé qīng 呂和卿 (CBDB 1302), Lǚ Shèng qīng 呂升卿 (CBDB 1323), Lǚ Wén qīng 呂文卿 (CBDB 1329), and Lǚ Liáng qīng 呂諒卿 (CBDB 3650). Uncle of Lǚ Yuán 呂淵 (CBDB 1332). Affinal relation of Fāng Zé 方澤 (CBDB 602). Grand-nephew of Lǚ Yán 呂偃 (CBDB 1330). Many of his male relatives held office during his ascendancy, which was held against his family after his political eclipse (see Fú jiàn tōng zhì 147.22b for the coordinated suppression of his family after the break with Wáng Ānshí).
CBDB: 1309. Principal source: Sòng shǐ 宋史 471.13706.