Lou Xuan 樓玄

Lou Xuan, courtesy name Chengxian, was a man of Qi County in Pei Commandery. Under Sun Xiu he became Censor Supervising Agriculture. When Sun Hao took the throne, he and Wang Fan, Guo Chuo and Wan Yu all became Palace Cavalier Regular Attendants; he went out to be Administrator of Kuaiji and then came back to court as Minister of Agriculture. Records, Wu 20 §8

Formerly the ruler had chosen those in charge of the palace from among his intimates, but Wan Yu submitted that close and confidential posts should be filled with good men. Sun Hao ordered the responsible office to seek loyal and incorruptible gentlemen, and in the end made Lou Xuan Guard Commander of the Inner Palace (gongxia zhen jinzhong hou) and put him in charge of affairs within the palace. Though one of the Nine Ministers, Lou Xuan took up a post bearing a sword as a guard, kept himself upright to lead the others and acted in accordance with the law. But his answers were earnest and frank and repeatedly went against Sun Hao's wishes, so that he gradually incurred reproach and anger. Records, Wu 20 §8

Later someone falsely reported that Lou Xuan and He Shao had met, stopped to whisper to each other, laughed loudly and slandered the government. Lou Xuan was censured by edict and sent to Guang Province. The biography of He Shao records that those close to the throne who feared He Shao together made this slander, so that both men were censured; Lou Xuan was sent to the southern province, while He Shao was pardoned and restored to office. Records, Wu 20 §9 · 29

The Director of the Eastern Pavilion Hua He submitted a memorial saying that among all the officials there was no one better than Lou Xuan to be trusted with affairs, and that Lou Xuan, incorruptible and loyal in serving the public, was foremost in his age, so that all admired his integrity. He then asked that Lou Xuan's past faults be pardoned so that he might renew himself, and that he be promoted to a ministerial post and called on to show results in future. Records, Wu 20 §10–11

When Chancellor Lu Kai fell ill in the 1st year of Jianheng (269), he told the Prefect of the Palace Secretariat Dong Chao, whom Sun Hao had sent, that Yao Xin, Lou Xuan, He Shao and several others were all pillars of the altars of state and fine supporters of the nation, and that they should be consulted on the affairs of the day. In the memorial Lu Kang submitted on hearing that Xue Ying had been imprisoned, he named the former Minister of Agriculture Lou Xuan, the Palace Cavalier Regular Attendant Wang Fan and the Minister Steward Li Xu as outstanding talents of the age, said that all of them had been executed or banished, and said that he had been hoping Lou Xuan would be pardoned and recalled. Records, Wu 16 §28–29Records, Wu 13 §77–78

Sun Hao hated Lou Xuan's reputation, and he moved Lou Xuan and his son Lou Ju again, handing them over to Zhang Yi, a commander in Jiaozhi, to prove themselves in battle, while secretly issuing a separate order to Zhang Yi to kill him. Lou Ju died of illness on reaching Jiaozhi. Lou Xuan, alone, followed Zhang Yi in suppressing bandits, carrying a sword and wading across rivers on foot, and bowed to Zhang Yi every time he saw him, so that Zhang Yi could not bring himself to kill him. Records, Wu 20 §12

When Zhang Yi happened to die suddenly, Lou Xuan, while preparing Zhang Yi's body for burial, found the edict in a container, went back and at once killed himself. Chen Shou's main text does not record the year of his death. The biography of He Shao records that in the 1st year of Tiance (275), the year He Shao was put to death, an edict was also issued to kill Lou Xuan's sons and grandsons. Records, Wu 20 §12 · 29

In his assessment, Chen Shou, borrowing the words of Xue Ying, called Lou Xuan 'pure and principled, with talent and reasoning that flowed unimpeded.' He also recorded that Hu Chong held that 'Lou Xuan, He Shao and Wang Fan were all pure and outstanding in their time, with hardly any difference between them, but if one had to choose, Lou Xuan should stand first and He Shao next.' Records, Wu 20 §84