Early life

Not much is known about Lü Long's early life, and his birthdate is not known, and virtually nothing is known about his father Lü Bao. He was described as handsome and skilled at horsemanship and archery. Late in the reign of his uncle Lü Guang (Emperor Yiwu) he served as a general, but he did not have the same prominence that his younger brother Lü Chao (呂超) had.

In 401, Lü Chao assassinated Lü Guang's son Lü Zuan (Emperor Ling) and killed Lü Zuan's brother Lü Wei (呂緯) the Duke of Longxi, and then offered the throne to Lü Long. Initially, Lü Long was hesitant to accept, but Lü Chao compared this to riding a dragon up to heaven and not being able to get off, and Lü Long accepted, using the title "Heavenly Prince" (Tian Wang), roughly equivalent to emperor. He honored his mother Lady Wei as empress dowager, and created his wife Lady Yang as empress. He created Lü Chao the Duke of Anding and entrusted most governmental and military affairs to him.

Reign

Lü Long, however, instead of correcting Lü Zuan's rule (which was considered violent and arbitrary), continued the violence by slaughtering many strong clans within his state for the purpose of showing his authority, and the people were further alienated. After hearing this, in summer 401, the Later Qin emperor Yao Xing sent his uncle Yao Shuode (姚碩德) to launch a major attack on Later Liang. The Later Qin army quickly reached Guzang and put it under siege. Many of the non-natives in Guzang planned a rebellion to give the city to Later Qin, but were discovered, and Lü Long slaughtered them, but with Yao Shuode's pressure, Lü Chao suggested nominal submission to Later Qin, which Lü Long agreed with, sending his nephews and some 50 clans to the Later Qin capital Chang'an as hostages to guarantee his faithfulness. Per Yao Shuode's recommendation, Yao Xing created him the Duke of Jiankang, although Lü Long continued to internally use the title of Heavenly Prince. Yao Shuode then withdrew.

However, Lü Long continued to be under constant attack by both Southern Liang and Northern Liang, and just a few months after Yao Shuode's withdrawal Lü Chao suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Southern Liang general Tufa Rutan. Due to the wars, there was a severe famine, so much so that more than 100,000 people were starved. Everyday, hundreds of the residents of Guzang pleaded to exit the city, even knowing that they would be captured to be slaves. Lü Long was angry at these behaviors, believing that this damaged his regime's image, and therefore executed these people. Lü Long tried to make peace with both Southern Liang and Northern Liang, and in 402 had a brief peace with both, even obtaining some famine relief from Northern Liang's prince Juqu Mengxun, but the peace did not last, nor did Later Qin military assistance stop the attacks.

By 403, Lü Long was desperate. Meanwhile, Later Qin officials advised Yao Xing to take control of Later Liang territory directly, believing that if Lü Long somehow survived this crisis, he would no longer be a vassal. Yao Xing therefore summoned Lü Chao to Chang'an, intending to use his absence to force Lü Long to submit. When Lü Long received the order, he decided to end the state of siege altogether by offering his territory—now not much more than Guzang itself—to Later Qin. Yao Xing sent his general Qi Nan (齊難) with a large force to protect and escort Lü Long to Chang'an. Lü Long welcomed him and then, after saying farewell to Lü Guang's temple, left for Chang'an. Later Qin took over the city, and Later Liang was no more.

Under Later Qin rule

Lü Long was made a Later Qin official, and he used his Later Qin-bestowed title of Duke of Jiankang. Little is known about most of the duration that he spent under Later Qin rule. However, late in Yao Xing's reign, he became involved in the plot by Yao Xing's son Yao Bi (姚弼) the Duke of Guangping to seize the position of crown prince from his brother Yao Hong, and in 416, after a failed attempt by Yao Bi's associates to seize power in a coup, Yao Bi was forced to commit suicide, and Lü Long, along with other co-conspirators, were arrested. He was executed by Yao Hong shortly after Yao Xing then died the next day, as was his brother Lü Chao.

Era name

• Shending (神鼎 shén dǐng) 401–403

Family

• Father

　• Lü Bao (呂寶), posthumously honored Emperor Wen, brother of Lü Guang (Emperor Yiwu)

• Mother

　• Lady Wei

• Wife

　• Empress Yang

• Brother

　• Lü Chao

生平

呂隆長得俊美，擅長騎射。呂光時曾任北部護軍。咸寧三年（401年），呂隆弟呂超以兵變弒殺天王呂纂，隨後就擁立呂隆。呂隆面有難色，但呂超說：「現在就好像騎著龍飛在天上，豈可以中途下來！」呂隆於是登位，改元神鼎。

呂隆登位後多殺豪望以圖立威，反不得人心，令人人自危。魏安人焦朗遂招請後秦將領姚碩德攻涼，姚碩德聽從並率軍進攻，兵臨姑臧。呂隆派了呂超及呂邈抵抗但大敗而還，呂邈更戰死，呂隆只得嬰城固守。不過，後秦軍接著數月的圍困令城中原來自東面的人圖謀叛變，將軍魏益多更煽動人們殺呂隆及呂超，呂隆遂在事件被揭發後誅殺共三百多家人。當時後涼群臣勸呂隆和後秦請和，呂隆原本不肯，但在呂超勸諫下向後秦請降。姚碩德於是表呂隆為鎮西大將軍、涼州刺史、建康公。

神鼎二年（402年），北涼沮渠蒙遜率兵進攻姑臧，呂隆請得南涼將禿髮傉檀援救，但傉檀未到呂隆就擊敗蒙遜。蒙遜於是與呂隆結盟，並留下萬多斛穀。但其時姑臧穀價已經高達五千文一斗，發生人吃人事件，死了十多萬人。百姓因為姑臧整天關上城門而無法出城找食物，於是每日都有數百人請求出城當別人奴婢以求生，呂隆怕他們會動搖人心，遂將這些人都盡數殺害，屍體堆滿路上。然而，接著後涼仍不斷受到北涼及南涼攻擊，呂隆被逼於神鼎三年（403年）借後秦徵呂超入侍的機會命其帶著珍寶，請後秦派兵迎其離開。秦將齊難等於該年八月到達姑臧，呂隆率眾隨之東遷長安，呂隆獲後秦授散騎常侍，後涼至此滅亡。後秦弘始十八年（416年），受後秦皇帝姚興子廣平公姚弼謀反案牽連，被殺。

妻子

• 楊皇后

註釋