Zhou Yu () (175-210) was a famous and one of the most capable military strategists for
Sun Ce and his successor
Sun Quan during the
Three Kingdoms era; the turbulent years leading to the
end of Han Dynasty in China.
Life
Early life
Zhou Yu was born in
Lujiang District. Zhou Yu was born into a cultured family that produced many officials, and when
Sun Jian was attacking
Dong Zhuo, he moved his family to live together with Zhou Yu's family. Sun Jian's son
Sun Ce and Zhou Yu studied together and became lifelong friends. Soon, Zhou Yu's uncle became the governor of
Danyang, and the whole family relocated to Danyang, where they served
Yuan Shu.
Sun Ce, under a commission from Yuan Shu, entered
Yangzhou in order to aid his relatives,
Wu Jing and
Sun Ben, who were attacked by
Liu Yao. Zhou Yu and his uncle,
Zhou Shang, were among the first to join Sun Ce's army, superseded only by a fellow officer of Yuan Shu,
Lü Fan, and the former retainers of Sun Jian. After Sun Ce defeated Liu Yao and his allies, Zhou Yu and his uncle were summoned to return to Yuan Shu while Sun Ce continued his conquests.
In 197, confident that he had Sun Ce's support, Yuan Shu declared himself Emperor. Sun Ce, citing loyalty to
Emperor Xian, declared independence and allied with
Lü Bu,
Cao Cao, and
Liu Bei to oppose his former master. It was at this time that Zhou Yu returned to Sun Ce's army, this time bringing a wealthy merchant named
Lu Su, who would go on to serve the Sun family as Zhou Yu's successor.
It was around this time that Zhou Yu and Sun Ce wed the
Two Qiaos, daughters of
Qiao Xuan, a famed scholar and critic. Very soon afterwards, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu pacified most of Yangzhou Province south of
Yangtze and extended their power both south into the native
Yue area and north into the
Huai River region, defeating
Liu Xun and the remnant forces of Yuan Shu in the north as well as
Huang Zu and the forces of
Liu Biao to the west.
Campaigns against Huang Zu and Cao Cao
In 200, Sun Ce was assassinated and he passed down his power to his brother,
Sun Quan. Zhou Yu took over the military affairs while
Zhang Zhao was given the domestic affairs. Around this time, Cao Cao defeated
Yuan Shao and he demanded that Sun Quan send a family member hostage. Zhou Yu advised against sending a hostage. This raised Zhou Yu's respect within the Sun family, and he was treated as an elder brother by
Sun Quan. In 206, Zhou Yu attacked the local bandits and captured over ten thousand people and resettled them. Then he repelled an attack by Liu Biao and captured enemy general
Deng Long.
In 208, Sun Quan ordered an attack on
Jiangxia, which was protected by the Sun family's nemesis, Huang Zu. Zhou Yu led the navy, and along with
Gan Ning,
Lü Meng,
Dong Xi and
Xu Sheng, defeated Huang Zu at
Xiakou, killing him. It was not shortly thereafter that Cao Cao began a general campaign aimed at wiping out all opposition in southern China and reunifying the empire. As his army conquered
Jingzhou and was closing in on Sun Quan, Sun Quan's court was divided on the issue of whether to surrender or resist. Sun Quan consulted Zhou Yu, who replied: "Although Cao Cao pretends to be a minister of Han, he is actually a thief who is attempting to steal the empire from Han. Your majesty, with your brilliant talent and your father and brother's military prowess, have ruled and pacified Eastern Wu. The territory stretches thousand of
li, the soldier are well trained, brilliant advisors of great talents are at your disposal. It is the time to get rid Cao Cao and help the Han dynasty to reunify China. Cao Cao came down south and presented himself as an opportunity for you, your majesty. Now I will analyse for you the dire situation Cao Cao has placed himself into: Even if the north has been completely unified, can Cao Cao's ground based army fight against our superior navy and marines? The truth is that the north has not been completely pacified.
Ma Chao will remain a thorn in Cao Cao's flesh. Cao Cao's superior cavalry is useless against the mountainous and watery terrain of the south. Winter is upon us, and yet Cao Cao's large army has to depend on a long supply line halfway across China. Cao Cao's army are mainly composed of northerners, and they are not used to the environment of the south, thus they will easily become sick. With all of these problems, I promise you that with thirty thousand men, I can easily break him." Greatly relieved, Sun Quan decided to fight.
The famous
Battle of Red Cliffs ensued. Contrary to popular belief,
Zhuge Liang did not contribute much and Zhou Yu was the supreme commander of the united forces against Cao Cao. In this battle, a series of stratagems were employed by Zhou Yu to destroy Cao Cao's giant fleet.
Huang Gai proposed a plan in which he pretended to surrender to Cao Cao and infiltrated Cao Cao's camp. There, he set his own ships on fire and rammed them into Cao Cao's ships before jumping into the river. Many of Cao Cao's ships were destroyed and Cao Cao was forced to flee back to
Xuchang.
Afterwards, Zhou Yu led his army in pursuit of Cao Cao and laid siege to the strategic town of Nanjun (
Battle of Jiangling). While on the front lines, Zhou Yu was struck by a stray arrow and seriously wounded with his right ribs broken by the arrows. Though the wound was not fatal, it was the illness developed from the infection of the wound that would eventually kill Zhou Yu later. He withdrew from the frontlines, leaving
Cheng Pu, who had shared command responsibilities with Zhou Yu, to command the siege.
Cao Ren, the defending general, heard of Zhou Yu's wounds and attempted to launch a counterattack, but Zhou Yu personally inspected his troops and sent them into battle, nearly slaying Cao Ren's officer,
Niu Jin. After a year of siege, Nanjun was taken and Zhou Yu was named Governor of Nanjun.
Death
In 210, Zhou Yu proposed to Sun Quan his plan to attack
Liu Zhang of
Yizhou and unify all of southern China under Sun Quan against northern China under Cao Cao. Further, he proposed an alliance with
Zhang Lu of
Hanzhong and Ma Chao of
Xiliang, whom Zhou Yu correctly predicted would soon oppose Cao Cao (indeed, Ma Chao rebelled one year later, and Zhang Lu supported him). While preparing for the long expedition, he died at age thirty-five in
Baqiu (巴丘).
He was buried in his ancestral home in Lujiang. He was succeeded in his military command by Lu Su and in his nobility rank by his eldest son,
Zhou Xun.
Qualities
Zhou Yu was intelligent and young, and he was also considered a very handsome man by his contemporaries. He was very open and made friends with his humbleness. Cheng Pu was an elder general of Sun Jian and he made fun of Zhou Yu's youth. Yet Zhou Yu took all of the abuse stoically and they eventually became great friends. He was a man of many talents, who was also well versed in music and poems. There was a saying at that time: "Should the tune be in error, Zhou Yu takes note." ("曲有誤, 周郎顧")
He was also famous for his loyalty. Even though Sun Quan saw Zhou Yu as an older brother, Zhou Yu never crossed the line, and he always served Sun Quan with humility and care.
In classical culture
In
Luo Guanzhong's historical novel
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhou Yu was portrayed as a jealous man who relentlessly tried—and failed—to outwit Zhuge Liang. Furthermore, his role was deliberately overshadowed by Zhuge Liang, especially in the Battle of Red Cliffs. For example, the arrow-stealing ploy employed by Zhuge Liang is attributed to Sun Quan in many other texts. Zhuge Liang even causes Zhou Yu's death: having been poisoned by Wei in a previous ambush, Zhou Yu is thrice provoked by Zhuge Liang and dies a bitter man, his last words being: "Having born Yu, wherefore also Liang?" ("既生瑜, 何生亮?")
On the
Kunqu stage, Zhou Yu appears as a zhiweisheng, as in the scene "The Swaying Reeds", where he is captured and ultimately set free by
Zhang Fei.
In Chinese opera, Zhou Yu is played by the
xiaosheng (young man) or
wusheng (military man), even when sharing the stage with Zhuge Liang, who was actually the younger of the two.
Modern references
- In the anime series Ikki Tousen, the character of Shuuyu Koukin is roughly based upon Zhou Yu. His cousin and ward, Sonsaku Hakufu, is based on Zhou Yu's close friend Sun Ce. Like his counterpart in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Shuuyu Koukin resents Zhuge Liang, though for a different reason.
- In the anime series Koutetsu Sangokushi, Zhou Yu (again in the original Japanese as Shuuyu Koukin) was not able to prevent Sun Ce's assassination, but serves as Sun Quan's level-headed advisor and admiral, as well as something of a story foil to the more impulsive and brash Taishi Ci (in Japanese Taishiji).
- In the Koei video game series Dynasty Warriors, Zhou Yu is portrayed as a powerful, highly intelligent, long hair, and a handsome man. He wears a red gown with gold decorations and wields a very long, lavishly decorated dao called the "Elder's Sword." In Dynasty Warriors 6 he has a ponytail, whiter skin, and wields a bo staff. After the battle of Chi Bi Zhou Yu passes away and is succeeded by Lu Meng and later Lu Xun.
- In DW5, he continues to fight in honor of Sun Ce. In DW6, he helps Sun Ce unite the land, but they give the power to Sun Quan, taking off to explore. In DW4 Xtreme Legends, Zhou Yu tries to prevent Zhuge Liang from leaving Chi Bi. In DW5 Xtreme Legends, he and Sun Ce must prove their love for the Qiao sisters.
- In Warriors Orochi, he was a prisoner of Orochi but was freed by his best friend Sun Ce. He fought alongside him and helped him search for his father Sun Jian. In the Shu storyline, Zhou Yu fought alongside Sun Ce against Sima Yi. They were in danger of being captured but Zhao Yun, Yukimura Sanada and their allies came to their aid. In the Wei storyline he is seen on a ship alongside Sun Ce after Cao Pi allows them to escape. He also aided Nobunaga in the battle against Orochi by orders of Sun Ce, but Zhou Yu said it was Nobunaga that inspired him to fight Orochi.
- In Warriors Orochi 2, he teams up with Xiao Qiao, Okuni, and Ling Tong to defeat Dong Zhuo and Ishikawa Goemon. Zhou Yu and Ling Tong both suspect a soon assault on the kingdom of Wu. Zhou Yu later works with Tachibana Ginchiyo and the Nanman on repelling Wei forces. He discovers that Cao Pi attacked Wu to spur them into action. After Lu Bu's base falls, Zhou Yu felt that the occupation was too easy and suspects a trap. In Dream Mode, he teams up with Zhuge Liang, Takeda Shingen, Gan Ning, and Taishi Ci to defeat Shima Sakon's forces, Sima Yi, and Uesugi Kenshin.
Family
- *Zhou Rong - the Imperial Secretary (尚书令) in charge of reading and interpreting reports to the emperor.
- *Zhou Jing - first the governor of Yuzhou (豫州刺史), and then became Imperial Secretary and finally Imperial Minister of Defence (太尉).
- *Zhou Yi - Mayor of the capital city Luoyang.
- *Zhou Xun - succeeded Zhou Yu's rank of nobility and was said to possess his father's talents, and he was married to Sun Quan's eldest daughter Sun Dahu (Princess Quan). He died suddenly and was succeeded by his younger brother.
- *A daughter, Zhou Ying, was married to Sun Deng, Sun Quan's eldest son.
- *Zhou Jun - served Wu as a notable military officer and participated in numerous battles under the command of Lu Xun.
- Sworn Brother and brother in law
