# Mu Jiang

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**Mu Jiang** or **Miu Chiang** (Chinese: 穆姜; 621 BC – 6 May[1] 564 BC), was the duchess consort of [Duke Xuan of Lu](/source/Duke_Xuan_of_Lu) (r. 608 – 591 BC) during the [Spring and Autumn period](/source/Spring_and_Autumn_period) of [Chinese history](/source/History_of_China).[2]

She was the daughter of one of the dukes of [Qi](/source/Qi_(state)). She married Duke Xuan of Lu and became the mother of future [Duke Cheng of Lu](/source/Duke_Cheng_of_Lu) (r. 590–573 BC).

Both her spouse and her son were passive and weak-willed rulers, and Mu Jiang had great influence over the affairs of state during their rule, supported by her status as a member of the ruling family of Qi, on which Lu was dependent. She influenced the decisions of war and peace and participated in negotiations with foreign states.[2] Her main focus was to crush the powerful Ji (季) and Meng (孟) clans. In 575, she finally convinced her son to have them punished on the excuse of treason.[2] He promised to do so on return from the war, but in his absence, she had her lover Shusun Qiao act against them.[2] Their action failed and ended in a coup, during which her lover was forced to flee while she was placed in house arrest in the Eastern Hall by the Ji and Meng clans.[2]

She remained in house arrest until she died on 6 May 564 BC. According to the *[Zuo Zhuan](/source/Zuo_Zhuan),* when she first moved to the Eastern Hall, she divined by [dried yarrow](/source/Achillea_millefolium) to see if she would leave someday. While the diviner provided a positive answer, she disputed the interpretation, claiming that it did not apply to her, who "[had] taken up evil."[1] She was laid to rest on 27 July.

She is included in the "Biographies of Pernicious and Depraved Women" (孽嬖) of the [*Biographies of Eminent women* (*Lienü Zhuan*)](/source/Biographies_of_Exemplary_Women).[2]

## References

1. Durrant, Stephen; Li, Wai-yee; Schaberg, David (2016). *Zuo Tradition/Zuozhuan: Commentary on the "Spring and Autumn Annals"* (1st ed.). Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-99915-9

1. Lily Xiao Hong Lee, A. D. Stefanowska, Sue Wiles. 2007.

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