Wan Yu (died 272) was a Chinese politician of the state of

Eastern Wu Wu (Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' <

: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in hi ...

during the late

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...

period (220–280) of China.

Life

Wan Yu's origins were not recorded in history. He served as the Prefect (令) of Wucheng County (烏程縣; present-day

Huzhou Huzhou (, ; Huzhounese: ''ghou² cieu¹'') is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province (Hangzhou–Jiaxing–Huzhou Plain, China). Lying south of the Lake Tai, it borders Jiaxing to the east, Hangzhou to the south, and the provin ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...

) during the reign of the third Wu emperor,

Sun Xiu Sun Xiu (235 – 3 September 264), courtesy name Zilie, formally known as Emperor Jing of Wu, was the third emperor of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Early life Sun Xiu was born in 235 to Wu's founding emper ...

( 258–264). During this time, he befriended

Sun Hao Sun Hao (243 – January or February 284), courtesy name Yuanzong, originally named Sun Pengzu with the courtesy name Haozong, was the fourth and last emperor of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the son ...

, who was then the Marquis of Wucheng. Later, he was promoted to be a Left Ceremonial Officer (左典軍). In 264, when Sun Xiu became critically ill, he entrusted his eldest son and

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

Sun Wan (孫𩅦) to the care of

Puyang Xing Puyang Xing (died December 264), courtesy name Ziyuan, was a Chinese politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the eighth Imperial Chancellor of Eastern Wu. Family background Puyang Xing's ancestr ...

(濮陽興), his Imperial Chancellor. After Sun Xiu's death, however, Puyang Xing did not assist the underage Sun Wan in becoming the new emperor. Around the time, as Eastern Wu faced several threats (e.g. external invasion, internal uprisings), the officials hoped for an older and more mature emperor to lead them. Wan Yu then used the opportunity to recommend Sun Hao to Puyang Xing and the general Zhang Bu – the regents in the interim period – to be the new emperor, in the hope that he would be rewarded later. He told Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu that Sun Hao was wise, decisive and similar to

Sun Ce Sun Ce () () (175–200), courtesy name Bofu, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the eldest child of Sun Jian, who was killed during the Battle of Xiangyang when ...

(a founding father of Eastern Wu), and managed to persuade them to help Sun Hao. Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu, in turn, succeeded in convincing Sun Xiu's widow, Empress Zhu, to let Sun Hao inherit the throne. After ascending the throne, Sun Hao appointed Wan Yu as a Central Regular Mounted Attendant (散騎中常侍), along with Wang Fan, Lou Xuan and Guo Chuo (郭逴). Later into his reign, Sun Hao turned out to be a cruel, extravagant and inept emperor, so Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu started regretting their decision to put him on the throne. When Wan Yu heard about their complaints, he secretly reported them to Sun Hao, who had them executed along with their families. Among his colleagues, Wan Yu got along well the most with Lou Xuan and the least with Wang Fan. He particularly detested Wang Fan as he believed that Wang Fan leveraged on his close relationship with Sun Hao to gain the emperor's favour. Wan Yu and another official, Chen Sheng (陳聲), often slandered Wang Fan in front of Sun Hao. Over time, Sun Hao also gradually hated Wang Fan more and more because the latter often spoke up against his outrageous behaviour. Sun Hao finally found an excuse to execute Wang Fan in 266. In 266, Sun Hao split the office of Imperial Chancellor into two, and appointed Wan Yu as Right Imperial Chancellor (右丞相) and

Lu Kai Lu Kai (198 – December 269 or January 270), courtesy name Jingfeng, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in the influential Lu clan of the Wu region towa ...

as Left Imperial Chancellor (左丞相). The reason for splitting the office was that he wanted Wan Yu to balance against the influential and more senior Lu Kai. In the spring of 267, Sun Hao ordered Wan Yu to supervise military affairs in

Jing Province Jingzhou or Jing Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China referenced in Chinese historical texts such as the '' Tribute of Yu'', ''Erya'' and '' Rites of Zhou''. Jingzhou became an administrative division during the reign of Empe ...

and station at Baqiu (巴丘; present-day

Yueyang Yueyang, formerly known as Yuezhou or Yochow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern shores of Dongting Lake and Yangtze in the northeastern corner of Hunan Province in the People's Republic of China. Yueyang has an administrative area of ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangx ...

), effectively replacing Lu Kai, who had been performing that task for years. In 268, Sun Hao decided to wage war against Eastern Wu's rival state, the Jin dynasty, so he ordered Wan Yu and Shi Ji to lead the Wu forces in Jing Province to attack the Jin dynasty. Wan Yu led troops to attack Xiangyang Commandery (襄陽郡; present-day

Xiangyang Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The p ...

), but was defeated and driven back by the Jin general

Hu Lie HU or Hu may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Hu Sanniang, a fictional character in the ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature * Tian Hu, one of the antagonists in the ''Water Margin'' * Hollywood U ...

(胡烈). After Lu Kai died in 269, Sun Hao summoned Wan Yu back to Jianye (建康; present-day

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

), the Wu imperial capital, in the following year. During this time, Wan Yu recommended Lou Xuan to serve as a Captain of the Imperial Guards. In the winter of 270/271, despite strong objections from his subjects, Sun Hao launched a military campaign against the Jin dynasty and set off from Niuzhu (牛渚; present-day

Dangtu County Dangtu County () is one of three counties under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Ma'anshan in the southeast of Anhui Province, China. Dangtu is one of the longest established counties in eastern China and formed part of the Taip ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...

). Along the way, the Wu army encountered a snowstorm and could not advance. During this time, the Wu soldiers started grumbling and complaining; there was even talk among them about defecting to the Jin dynasty. Before Sun Hao ordered the troops to retreat back to Eastern Wu, Wan Yu had already secretly made arrangements with the generals Ding Feng and Liu Ping (留平) to return to Wu without informing the emperor. When Sun Hao found out, he was extremely furious but he did not immediately take action against them because the three of them held important positions in his government. After Ding Feng died of illness later that year, Sun Hao exiled his family to Linchuan (臨川郡; around present-day

Linchuan District Linchuan District () is one of two districts of the city of Fuzhou, Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China. Before A.D. 762, the administration region located in Chi gang, since then, the administration region moved to western bank of Lianfa ...

Fuzhou, Jiangxi Fuzhou (,), also known as Gandong (), is a prefecture-level city in the northeastern part of Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China. Fuzhou is located to the south of the provincial capital Nanchang, bordered in the east by Fujian Province ...

). In the following year, Sun Hao secretly instructed a servant to serve poisoned wine to Wan Yu, but the servant added too little poison so Wan Yu survived. Nevertheless, upon realising that the emperor wanted him dead, Wan Yu took his own life. One month later, Liu Ping also died in distress and frustration. Sun Hao exiled Wan Yu's family to Luling Commandery (廬陵郡; northwest of present-day

Taihe County, Jiangxi Taihe County () is a county of southwest Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China, situated on the west (left) bank of the Gan River. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Ji'an, to the north-northeast. Its area is ...

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220� ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms () by Pei Songzhi (372-451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After leaving his native land, Pei ...

'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Wan, Yu Year of birth unknown 272 deaths Chinese chancellors Chinese politicians who committed suicide Eastern Wu politicians Suicides by poison Suicides in Eastern Wu

Life

See also

References