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Yu Dayou
Ming general from Jinjiang who fought the wokou pirates along the coasts of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong, was paired with Qi Jiguang, and wrote the staff-fighting manual Jianjing
At dusk on a hilltop, a large tent stands open with a table holding a map marked with small stones inside, a saddled horse tethered outside, and fire stands burning; campfires dot the river plain below, and one tiny sentry stands on the slope.
Also known as Zi Zhifu · Hao Xujiang
- Roles
- Commanders
Yu Dayou, courtesy name Zhifu and literary name Xujiang, came from Jinjiang in Fujian; as a young man he studied the Book of Changes and learned swordsmanship and military method. He passed the military examination in 1535 and was made a battalion commander, after which he fought in Guangdong, Guangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian. In 1555 he and the supreme commander Zhang Jing crushed a pirate force at Wangjiangjing, though Zhao Wenhua and others claimed the credit. Impeached many times, he was jailed and dismissed more than once before being recalled. In 1563 he joined Qi Jiguang and Liu Xian to retake Xinghua and destroy the pirates at Pinghaiwei, and he later put down bandits and sea raiders in Guangdong. He spent his last years in commands in Guangxi and elsewhere and died in 1579 with the posthumous name Wuxiang. He wrote the staff-fighting manual Jianjing and the collection Zhengqitang ji, and contemporaries called him and Qi Jiguang the dragon Yu and the tiger Qi.
Life and times
Dates 1503 CE–1579 CE (birth by another account 1504)