Lu (state)

State of Lu 魯國
c. 1042 BC–249 BC
Lu was a state in the northeast, south of Qi
Capital	Qufu
Religion	Chinese folk religion, ancestor worship, Taoism
Government	Monarchy
Duke
History
• Established	c. 1042 BC
• Annexed by Chu	249 BC

Lu
"Lu" in seal script (top), traditional (middle), and simplified (bottom) characters
Traditional Chinese	魯
Simplified Chinese	鲁
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lǔ Wade–Giles Lu3 IPA [lù] Wu Suzhounese Lou Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Lóuh Jyutping Lou5 IPA [lɔw˩˧] Southern Min Tâi-lô Lóo Middle Chinese Middle Chinese /luoX/ Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *r.ŋˤaʔ Zhengzhang *raːʔ

Lu (Chinese: 魯, c. 1042 – 249 BC) was a vassal state during the Zhou dynasty of ancient China located around modern Shandong. Founded in the 11th century BC, its rulers were from a cadet branch of the House of Ji (姬) that ruled the Zhou dynasty. The first duke was Boqin, a son of the Duke of Zhou, who was brother of King Wu of Zhou and regent to King Cheng of Zhou.^[1]

Lu was the home state of Confucius as well as Mozi, and, as such, has an outsized cultural influence among the states of the Eastern Zhou and in history. The Annals of Spring and Autumn, for instance, was written with the Lu rulers' years as their basis. Another great work of Chinese history, the Zuo Zhuan or Commentary of Zuo, was traditionally considered to have been written in Lu by Zuo Qiuming.