Zhou Yu
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| Names | |
|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese: | 周瑜 |
| Traditional Chinese: | 周瑜 |
| Pinyin: | Zhōu Yú |
| Wade-Giles: | Chou Yü |
| Zi: | Gōngjǐn (公瑾) |
| Other names: | Zhou the fair (美周郎) |
Zhou Yu (175 - 210) was a famous militarist and strategist of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
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[edit] Life
[edit] Early life
Zhou Yu was born in Lujiang District, which is in modern day Lujiang county of Anhui province. Zhou Yu was born into a cultured family that produced many officials, and when Sun Jian was attacking Dong Zhuo, he moved his family to live together with Zhou Yu's family. Sun Jian's son Sun Ce and Zhou Yu studied together and became lifelong friends. Soon, Zhou Yu's uncle became the governor of Danyang, and the whole family relocated to Danyang, where they served Yuan Shu.
Sun Ce, under a commission from Yuan Shu, entered Yangzhou in order to aid his relatives, Wu Jing and Sun Ben, who were attacked by Liu Yao. Zhou Yu and his uncle, Zhou Shang, were among the first to join Sun Ce's army, superseded only by a fellow officer of Yuan Shu, Lu Fan, and the former retainers of Sun Jian. After Sun Ce defeated Liu Yao and his allies, Zhou Yu and his uncle were summoned to return to Yuan Shu while Sun Ce continued his conquests.
In 197, confident that he had Sun Ce's support, Yuan Shu declared himself Emperor of the Cheng dynasty. Sun Ce, citing loyalty to the Han Emperor, declared independence and allied with Lu Bu, Cao Cao, and Liu Bei to oppose his former master. It was at this time that Zhou Yu returned to Sun Ce's army, this time bringing a wealthy merchant named Lu Su, who would go on to serve the Sun family as Zhou Yu's successor.
It was around this time that Zhou Yu and Sun Ce wed the Two Qiaos, daughters of Qiao Xuan, a famed scholar and critic. Very soon afterwards, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu pacified most of Yangzhou province south of Yangtze and extended their power both south into the native Yue area and north into the Huai River region, defeating Liu Xun and the remnant forces of Yuan Shu in the north as well as Huang Zu and the forces of Liu Biao to the west.
[edit] Campaigns against Huang Zu and Cao Cao
In 200, Sun Ce was assassinated and he passed down his power to his brother, Sun Quan. Zhou Yu took over the military affairs while Zhang Zhao was given the domestic affairs. Around this time, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao and he demanded that Sun Quan sent a family hostage. Zhou Yu advised against sending a hostage. This raised Zhou Yu's respect within the Sun family, and he was treated as an elder brother by Sun Quan. In 206, Zhou Yu attacked the local bandits and captured over ten thousand people and resettled them. Then he repelled an attack by Liu Biao and captured enemy general Deng Long.
In 208, Sun Quan ordered an attack on Jiangxia, which was protected by the Sun family's nemesis, Huang Zu. Zhou Yu led the navy, and along with Lu Meng, Gan Ning (himself a former servant of Huang Zu who had defected), Xu Sheng, and Dong Xi, defeated Huang Zu at Xiakou, killing him. It was not shortly thereafter that Cao Cao began a general campaign aimed at wiping out all opposition in southern China and reunify the empire. As his army conquered Jingzhou and was closing in on Sun Quan, Sun Quan's court was divided on the issue of whether to surrender or resist. Sun Quan consulted Zhou Yu, who replied: "Although Cao Cao pretends to be a minister of Han, he is actually a thief who is attempting to steal the empire from Han. Your majesty, with your brilliant talent and your father and brother's military prowess, have ruled and pacified Eastern Wu. The territory stretches thousand of li, the soldier are well trained, brilliant advisors of great talents are at your disposal. It is the time to get rid Cao Cao and help the Han dynasty to reunify china. Cao Cao came down south and presented himself as an opportunity for you, your majesty. Now I will analyse for you the dire situation Cao Cao has placed himself into: Even if the north has been completely unified, can Cao Cao's ground based army fight against our superior navy and marines? The truth is that the north has not been completely pacified. Ma Chao will remain a thorn in Cao Cao's flesh. Cao Cao's superior calvary is useless against the mountainous and watery terrain of the south. Winter is upon us, and yet Cao Cao's large army has to depend on a long supply line halfway across China. Cao Cao's army are mainly composed of northerners, and they are not used to the environment of the south, thus they will easily become sick. With all of these problems, I promise you that with thirty thousand men, I can easily break him." Greatly relieved, Sun Quan decided to fight.
The famous Battle of Red Cliffs ensued. Contarary to popular belief, Zhuge Liang did not contribute much and Zhou Yu was the supreme commander of the united forces against Cao Cao. In this battle, a series of stratagems were employed by Zhou Yu to destroy Cao Cao's fleet. His subordinate Huang Gai proposed a plan in which he pretended to surrender to Cao Cao and infiltrated Cao Cao's camp. There, he set his own ships on fire and rammed them into Cao Cao's ships before jumping into the river. Much of Cao Cao's ships were destroyed and Cao Cao was forced to flee back to Xuchang.
Afterwards, Zhou Yu led his army in pursue and laid siege to the strategic town of Nanjun (Jiangling). While on the front lines, Zhou Yu was struck by a stray arrow and seriously wounded. He withdrew from the frontlines, leaving Cheng Pu, who had shared command responsibilities with Zhou Yu, to command the siege. Cao Ren, the defending general, heard of Zhou Yu's wounds and attempted to launch a counterattack, but Zhou Yu personally inspected his troops and sent them into battle, nearly slaying Cao Ren's officer, Niu Jin. After a year of siege, Nanjun was taken and Zhou Yu was named Governor of Nanjun.
[edit] Death
In 210, Zhou Yu proposed to Sun Quan his plan to attack Liu Zhang of Yizhou and unify all of southern China under Sun Quan against northern China under Cao Cao. Further, he proposed an alliance with Zhang Lu of Hanzhong and Ma Chao of Xiliang, whom Zhou Yu correctly predicted would soon oppose Cao Cao (indeed, Ma Chao rebelled one year later, and Zhang Lu supported him). While preparing for the long expedition, he died at age thirty six in Baqiu (巴丘).
He was buried in his ancestral home in Lujiang. He was succeeded in his military command by Lu Su and in his nobility rank by his eldest son, Zhou Xun.
[edit] Qualities
Zhou Yu was intelligent and young, and he was also considered a very handsome man by his contemporaries. He was very open and made friends with his humbleness. Cheng Pu was an elder general of Sun Jian and he made fun of Zhou Yu's youth. Yet Zhou Yu took all of the abuse stoically and they eventually became great friends. He was a man of many talents, who was also well versed in music and poems. There was a saying at that time: "Should the tune be in error, Zhou Yu takes note." ("曲有誤, 周郎顧")
He was also famous for his loyalty. Even though Sun Quan saw Zhou Yu as an older brother, Zhou Yu never crossed the line, and he always served Sun Quan with humility and care.
[edit] Family
Great Grandfather:Zhou Rong was the Imperial Secretary (尚书令) in charge of reading and interpreting reports to the emperor.
Grandfather: Zhou Jing was first the governor of Yuzhou, (豫州刺史), and then became Imperial Secreatary and finally Imperial Minister of Defence (太尉).
Father: Zhou Yi was the Mayor of the Capital city Luoyang.
Uncle: Zhou Shang was the governor of Danyang, (丹楊太守)
Sons: Zhou Xun succeeded Zhou Yu's rank of nobility and was said to possess his father's talents, and he was married to Sun Quan's eldest daughter. He died suddenly and was succeeded by his younger brother, Zhou Yin.
Daughter: A daughter, name unknown, was married to Sun Deng, Sun Quan's eldest son.
Nephew: Zhou Jun served Wu as a notable military officer and participated in numerous battles under the command of Lu Xun.
[edit] Quotations
Chen Shou, in Sanguo Zhi: "While Cao Cao was at the zenith of his power, and every one in China was fearful of him. Zhou Yu and Lu Su were able to recognize his weakness, convince Sun Quan to go to war, and defeat Cao Cao. They are truly men of great talent."
Sun Ce: "Zhou Yu was handsome and brilliant, we studied together and he is like a brother to me.
Cheng Pu: "To befriend Zhou Yu is like drinking good wine: you become inebriated before you even realize it."
Jiang Gan: "Zhou Yu is refined and cultured, no words can express it."
Liu Bei: "Zhou Yu is skilled at both military and domestic affairs. His talent is so great, I suspect he won't be a subordinate much longer."
Sun Quan: "Zhou Yu has the skill to advise an emperor, without him, who can I rely on?", "Without Zhou Yu I would not have been an emperor."
[edit] In fiction
In Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhou Yu was portrayed as a jealous man who relentlessly tried -- and failed -- to beat Zhuge Liang. Furthermore, his role was deliberately overshadowed by Zhuge Liang, especially in the Battle of the Red Cliffs. For example, the arrow-stealing ploy employed by Zhuge Liang is attributed to Sun Quan in many other texts. Zhuge Liang even causes Zhou Yu's death: having been poisoned by Wei in a previous ambush, Zhou Yu is thrice provoked by Zhuge Liang and dies a bitter man, his last words being: "Having born Yu, wherefore also Liang?" ("既生瑜, 何生亮?")
On the Kunqu stage, Zhou Yu appears as a zhiweisheng, as in the scene "The Swaying Reeds" where he is captured and ultimately set free by Zhang Fei.
In Chinese Opera, Zhou Yu is played by the Xiao Sheng (young man) or Wu Sheng (military man), even when he shares the stage with Zhuge Liang, who was actually the younger of the two.
In the anime short series Ikki Tousen, the character of Shuuyu Koukin is roughly based on Zhou Yu. His cousin and ward, Sonsaku Hakufu, is based on Zhou Yu's close friend Sun Ce.
In the Dynasty Warriors video game series, Zhou Yu is portrayed as a handsome, rather effeminate looking young man. He wields a long, curved sword called the Ancient's Sword. His attack is rather average, but he is very fast and very good in defense. His attacks, which look very artistic in terms of how he moves, involve spinning and upward slashing, making him arguably the best juggler in the game.
There is a movie being made, "The Battle of Red Cliff", with Andy Lau playing Zhou Yu.
[edit] Reference
- Shou, Chen "Sanguo Zhi" [1]
