Yu Dayou
| Yu Dayou | |
|---|---|
| General of the Ming dynasty | |
| Born | 1503 |
| Died | 1579 (aged 75–76) |
| Names | |
| Traditional Chinese | 俞大猷 |
| Simplified Chinese | 俞大猷 |
| Pinyin | Yú Dàyóu |
| Wade–Giles | Yü Ta-yu |
| Courtesy name | Zhifu (simplified Chinese: 志辅; traditional Chinese: 志輔; pinyin: Zhìfǔ; Wade–Giles: Chih-fu) |
| Posthumous name | Wuxiang (Chinese: 武襄; pinyin: Wǔxiāng; Wade–Giles: Wu-hsiang) |
| Other names | Xujiang (simplified Chinese: 虚江; traditional Chinese: 虛江; pinyin: Xūjiāng; Wade–Giles: Hsu-chiang) (art name) |
Yu Dayou (1503–1579), courtesy name Zhifu, art name Xujiang, was a Chinese general and martial artist best known for countering the wokou pirates along China's southeastern coast during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor in the Ming dynasty.
Yu Dayou was born in present-day Heshi Village, Luojiang District, Quanzhou, Fujian, but his ancestral home was in present-day Huoqiu County, Lu'an, Anhui. He sat for the military version of the imperial examination in 1535 and obtained the position of a wujinshi (武進士; successful candidate). He was awarded the title of a qianhu (千戶; lord over 1,000 households) and appointed as a guard in the imperial palace.
In 1555, Yu Dayou led Ming forces to attack the wokou pirates who were raiding near Jiaxing, Zhejiang and defeated about 2,000 of them. In the following year, he was promoted to garrison commander (總兵) of Zhejiang and was ordered to eliminate the wokou threat. He led Ming forces to attack the wokou base in Zhoushan in northeastern Zhejiang. In 1562, Yu Dayou was reassigned to serve as the garrison commander of Fujian. In the following year, he joined Qi Jiguang and other Ming generals in attacking the wokou at Putian 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, 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" (左都督) and given the posthumous name "Wuxiang" (武襄).
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