Lu Kang (126–195), courtesy name Jining, was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.
Life
Lu Kang was from Wu County, Wu Commandery, which is in present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu. His grandfather, Lu Xu (), served as a minor officer in a commandery in the early Eastern Han dynasty. When the prince Liu Ying plotted to overthrow Emperor Ming, Lu Xu was implicated, arrested and tortured. Emperor Ming eventually pardoned Lu Xu but placed him under permanent house arrest. Lu Xu died of old age. Lu Kang's father, Lu Bao (), had a reputation for his morally upright character. The Han government repeatedly asked Lu Bao to join the civil service but he refused.
Lu Kang was already known for being virtuous and diligent at a young age. He was nominated by Wu Commandery's Administrator, Li Su (), as a xiaolian (civil service candidate), and was appointed as a minor officer in Wu Commandery. After Li Su was executed for committing some offence(s), Lu Kang collected Li's body, brought back to Li's home in Yingchuan Commandery () for burial, and mourned Li's death. Zang Min (), the Inspector of Yang Province, nominated him as a maocai (), so Lu Kang was appointed as the Prefect () of Gaocheng County (高成縣; around present-day Yanshan County, Hebei). Gaocheng County was very remote and its security was poor. Every household in the county was armed with bows and arrows. When the previous Prefects entered office, they made the locals build and repair the city walls. After arriving in Gaocheng County, Lu Kang freed the labourers and governed the county so well that the people were very pleased with him and even criminal activity ceased in the county. The commandery office reported Lu Kang's achievements to the Han imperial court. In 178, during the reign of Emperor Ling, Lu Kang was promoted to serve as the Administrator () of Wuling Commandery (武陵郡; around present-day Changde, Hunan). Later, he was reassigned to be the Administrator of Guiyang (桂陽; around present-day Chenzhou, Hunan) and Le'an (樂安; around present-day Zibo, Shandong) commanderies. He governed his jurisdictions well.
Around the time, Emperor Ling wanted to build bronze statues but realised that the imperial treasury was unable to support his spending, so he issued a decree to increase taxes and recruit labour from the masses. Lu Kang observed that the people were already suffering from natural disasters such as floods and droughts, so he wrote a memorial to Emperor Ling, advising him against constructing the bronze statues and urging him to relieve the people's burdens. The eunuchs (Emperor Ling's close aides) accused Lu Kang of defaming the emperor and showing disrespect in the memorial, so Lu was arrested and brought to the office of the Minister of Justice () for questioning. Liu Dai, an Imperial Clerk (), carefully examined Lu Kang's case and wrote to the imperial court to explain matters for Lu and clear his name. Lu Kang was released but was dismissed from office and sent home. However, not long later, he was recalled back to the court to serve as a Consultant ().
Around 180, Huang Rang (), a bandit chief from Lujiang Commandery (廬江; around present-day Lu'an, Anhui), allied with tribals from Jiangxia Commandery (江夏; around present-day Xinzhou District, Wuhan, Hubei) and formed an army of over 100,000 men. They attacked and conquered four counties in the region. After Lu Kang assumed office as the Administrator of Lujiang Commandery, he was tasked with suppressing Huang Rang's rebellion. While in office, he upheld law and order and succeeded in defeating Huang Rang and forcing Huang's forces into surrender. He received praise from the imperial court for his achievement. By the time Emperor Xian came to the throne in the 190s, the Han Empire was already in a state of chaos as the central government was weak and various warlords were fighting for power. Lu Kang was aware of the high risks involved in paying tribute to the emperor, because his convoy might be attacked and robbed along the way to the capital. In spite of this, he ordered his men to escort the tribute to the capital and they succeeded. Emperor Xian issued a decree to praise Lu Kang, promote him to General of Loyalty and Righteousness (), and increase his income to 2,000 dan ().