courtesy name
A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theob ...
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 of China.
Life
Tian Yu was from Yongnu County (),
Yuyang Commandery
Yuyang Commandery ( zh, 漁陽郡) was a commandery in imperial China from Qin dynasty to Tang dynasty. It was located in present-day Hebei province as well as Beijing and Tianjin municipalities.
The commandery was established by the state of Yan ...
Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
. During
Liu Bei
Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the ...
's stay with
Gongsun Zan
Gongsun Zan () (before 161 - April or May 199), courtesy name Bogui, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty.
Life
Little is known of Gongsun Zan's early life. He and Liu Bei stu ...
, the young Tian Yu placed himself under Liu Bei's foster care, and Liu Bei was greatly impressed by Tian Yu. When Tian Yu left to care for his ageing mother, Liu Bei tearfully expressed his regret at not being able to work with Tian Yu.
Later Tian Yu served under Gongsun Zan as the Prefect of Dongzhou County (). One of Gongsun Zan's generals, Wang Men (), betrayed Gongsun Zan and joined Yuan Shao, and lead an attack on his former master with more than 10,000 troops. Tian Yu personally visited Wang Men and managed to shame the latter into retreating. Although Gongsun Zan knew of Tian Yu's intellect, he could not appoint important roles for Tian Yu. After Gongsun Zan's defeat, Tian Yu's friend Xianyu Fu hired him as an adjutant. He recommended that Xianyu Fu join Cao Cao, who subsequently hired Tian Yu as well in various official positions.(太祖召豫为丞相军谋掾，除颍阴、朗陵令，迁弋阳太守，所在有治。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 26.
Records of 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 ...