Lu was born in Shanghai but his ancestral home was in Xiangshan County, Guangdong. He was a friend of Sun Yat-sen and was involved in activities targeted at overthrowing the Qing dynasty and establishing a republic in China. In 1895, Lu co-founded the Revive China Society in Hong Kong with Sun Yat-sen. In October 1895, they planned to stage an uprising in Guangzhou, but the Qing government got wind of their plan. On 26 October, Lu was preparing to escape from Guangzhou, but decided to return to their base of operations in a church in present-day Beijinglu, Yuexiu District to burn a roster containing the names of the revolutionaries and other important documents. He could not escape in time and was arrested along with other revolutionaries by the Qing government.