Yu Dayou (1503–1579),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Zhifu,

art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin Chinese), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by artists, poets and writers in the Sinosp ...

Xujiang, was a Chinese martial artist, military general, and writer best known for countering the ''

wokou ''Wokou'' ( zh, c=, p=Wōkòu; ; Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ; ; literal Chinese translation: "dwarf bandits"), which translates to "Japanese pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century to the 17 ...

'' pirates along China's southeastern coast during the reign of the

Jiajing Emperor The Jiajing Emperor (16September 150723January 1567), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizong of Ming, personal name Zhu Houcong, art name, art names Yaozhai, Leixuan, and Tianchi Diaosou, was the 12th List of emperors of the Ming ...

in the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

Life

Yu Dayou was born in present-day Heshi Village,

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

, but his ancestral home was in present-day Huoqiu County, Lu'an,

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 ...

. He sat for the military version of the

imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...

in 1535 and obtained the position of a ' ( zh, c=武進士, l=successful candidate, poj=Bú Chìn-sū). He was awarded the title of a ' ( zh, c=千戶, l=lord over 1,000 households, poj=Chhian-hō͘ ) and appointed as a guard in Jinmen Island (金門島), Fujian. In 1555, Yu Dayou, along with the Zhuang noblewoman, Wa Shi, led Ming forces to attack the ''

'' pirates who were raiding near

Jiaxing Jiaxing (), alternately romanized as Kashing, is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province, China. Lying on the Grand Canal of China, Jiaxing borders Hangzhou to the southwest, Huzhou to the west, Shanghai to the northeast, and the p ...

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 ...

and defeated about 2,000 of them. In the following year, he was promoted to garrison commander ( zh, c=總兵, poj=Chóng-peng) of Zhejiang and was ordered to eliminate the ''wokou'' threat. He led Ming forces to attack the ''wokou'' base in

Zhoushan Zhoushan is an urbanized archipelago with the administrative status of a prefecture-level city in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. It consists of an archipelago of islands at the southern mouth of Hangzhou Bay off the mainland c ...

in northeastern Zhejiang. In 1562, Yu Dayou was reassigned to serve as the garrison commander of

. In the following year, he joined

Qi Jiguang Qi Jiguang (, November 12, 1528 – January 17, 1588), courtesy name Yuanjing, art names Nantang and Mengzhu, posthumous name Wuyi, was a Chinese military general and writer of the Ming dynasty. He is best known for leading the defense on th ...

and other Ming generals in attacking the ''wokou'' at

Putian Putian ( zh, s= , Putian dialect: ''Pó-chéng''), also known as Puyang (莆阳) and Puxian (莆仙), historically known as Hinghwa/Hinghua ( zh, s=兴化, t=興化), is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. I ...

and successfully seized back the city from the enemy. By 1566, most of the ''wokou'' who had terrorised China's southeastern coast had been largely driven away. Yu Dayou was known for being an honest and upright official. When he met representatives from the influential spy agency,

Eastern Depot Eastern Depot or Eastern Bureau () was a Ming dynasty spy and secret police agency run by eunuchs. It was created by the Yongle Emperor. History After the Yongle Emperor usurped the throne in 1402 from his nephew, the Jianwen Emperor, he attempt ...

, he refused to provide bribes to them and ended up being framed on false charges and imprisoned. Although he was saved by Qi Jiguang and Hu Zongxian, he nonetheless felt disappointed with political corruption within the Ming government and died in frustration. He was posthumously honoured as "Left Chief Controller" ( zh, c=左都督, poj=Chó To͘-tok) and given the

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...

"Wuxiang" ( zh, c=武襄, poj=Bú-siong). His son

Yu Zigao Yu Zigao (.1628). was a Chinese admiral. He was responsible for forcing the Dutch to leave Penghu Island. While he enriched himself by way of an association with one notorious pirate, Li Dan (pirate), Li Dan, his position came under pressure becau ...

served as military governor of

. He successfully forced the Dutch to withdraw from Penghu Island to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

in 1624, but was subjected to a series of massive raids in 1627 and 1628 by Zheng Zhilong, culminating in the sack of his base at

Xiamen Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...

Legacy

Dayou Street ( zh, c=大猷街, poj=Tāi-iû-koe) in

Liandu District Liandu District () is the central urban district of the prefecture-level city of Lishui in Zhejiang Province, China. It was formerly Lishui County then Lishui county-level city and then Lishui prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city ...

Lishui Lishui (; Lishuinese: ''li⁶ syu³'' ) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It borders Quzhou, Jinhua and Taizhou to the north, Wenzhou to the southeast, and the province of Fujian to ...

is named after Yu Dayou to celebrate his achievements in defeating the ''wokou''. Yu Dayou's tomb in

Luojiang District Luojiang may refer to the following locations in China: *Luojiang District, Deyang (罗江区), Sichuan *Luojiang District, Quanzhou (洛江区), Fujian *Luojiang, Tibet, Tibet, China *Luojiang, Miluo (罗江镇), a town in Miluo City, Hunan provi ...

Quanzhou Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China, People's Republic of China. It is Fujian's largest most populous metropolitan region, wi ...

has also been designated by the Fujian provincial government as a Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the Provincial Level.

Martial arts

Yu Dayou was also a martial artist who specialised in a style of weapon fighting called "Jingchu Changjian" ( zh, c=荊楚長劍, poj=Keng-chhó͘ Tiông-kiàm; " Jing and Chu Long Sword"). He studied martial arts in

Shaolin Monastery Shaolin Monastery ( zh, labels=no, c=少林寺, p=shàolínsì), also known as Shaolin Temple, is a monastic institution recognized as the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and the cradle of Shaolin kung fu. It is located at the foot of Wuru Peak o ...

, and later wrote and compiled ''Zhengqi Tang Ji'' ( zh, c=正氣堂集, poj=Chèng-khì Tông-chi̍p; "Compilation of Vital Energy"). In his book, there is a section called ''Jian Jing'' ( zh, c=劍經, poj=Kiàm-keng; " Sword Classic" or "Sword Treatise"), which later became a martial arts manual by itself. Around 1560, Yu Dayou travelled to Shaolin Monastery to observe the Shaolin monks' fighting techniques. As a result, he returned to the south along with two monks, Zongqing and Pucong. Over the next three years, he taught them the "Yu Family Staff" ( zh, c=俞家棍, poj=Jû-ka-kùn), a set of staff movement techniques he created based on the "Jingchu Changjian" and "Yang Family Spear" ( zh, c=楊家槍, poj=Iûⁿ Ka-chhiuⁿ). Zongqing and Pucong later returned to Shaolin Monastery and taught other monks what they had learned. Tang Hao, a 20th-century martial arts expert, traced the Shaolin staff style ''Wu Hu Lan'' ( zh, c=五虎攔, l=Five Tigers Interception, poj=Gō͘-hó͘-lân) to Yu Dayou's teachings.

Life

Legacy

Martial arts

References

Further reading