Name Du Yu | Died 285 AD | |
Du Yu (222–285), courtesy name Yuankai, was a military general and Confucian philosopher of the state of Cao Wei in the late Three Kingdoms period and early Jin dynasty. He came from Duling (杜陵) in the metropolitan region Jingzhao (京兆; near modern Xi'an, Shaanxi) and was married to a daughter of Sima Yi, grandfather of Sima Yan, the first emperor of the Jin dynasty. A prolific author, Du Yu was a self-proclaimed addict of the Zuo Zhuan and wrote an influential commentary to it. Du Yu was one of the most important commanders under Zhong Hui during the conquest of Wei's rival state, Shu Han. He also followed in leading an army in the conquest of the state of Eastern Wu. Du Yu managed to lay waste to the Wu army with great force in not the greatest of length of time, and received the surrender of Sun Hao, the last Wu emperor.
Du Yu was also the ancestor of the Tang dynasty poet Du Fu. Unlike his predecessors, Du Yu used the Zuo Zhuan to comment on the Chunqiu Classic. He therefore combined the two books in one, which has been the common practice since.