Wan Yu (died September 272The ''Records of Jiankang'' indicated that Wan Yu died in the 8th month of the 1st year of the ''Fenghuang'' era. This corresponds to 10 Sep to 8 Oct 272 in the Julian calendar. (...改明年为凤皇元年。秋八月，左丞相万彧以泄禁中语，因会饮毒，不死，自杀。) ''Jiankang Shilu'', vol. 04) was a Chinese politician of the state of

Eastern Wu Wu (Chinese language, Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, was a Dynasties of China, dynastic state of China and one of the three major sta ...

during the late

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

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,

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

) during the reign of the third Wu emperor, Sun Xiu ( 258–264). During this time, he befriended Sun Hao, 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 is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

Sun Wan (孫𩅦) to the care of Puyang Xing (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 – 5 May 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 Xian ...

(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 towar ...

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 early Chinese texts such as the ''Yu Gong, Tribute of Yu'', ''Erya'', and ''Rites of Zhou''. Jingzhou became an administrative division during the reign of E ...

and station at Baqiu (巴丘; present-day Yueyang,

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

), 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,

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

), but was defeated and driven back by the Jin general Hu Lie (胡烈). After Lu Kai died in 269, Sun Hao summoned Wan Yu back to Jianye (建康; present-day

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

), 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,

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

). 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, Fuzhou, Jiangxi). 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 killed himself. 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).

References

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

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' is a Chinese official history written by Chen Shou in the late 3rd century CE, covering the end of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE). It is regard ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). '' Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Wan, Yu Year of birth unknown 272 deaths Chinese chancellors Chinese politicians who died by suicide Eastern Wu government officials Suicides by poison Suicides in Eastern Wu

Life

See also

References