Liu Yu

Also known as Zi Deyu · Songwu Di

Liu Yu, courtesy name Deyu and childhood name Jinu, was registered at Pengcheng but grew up poor in Jingkou. He rose in the Northern Garrison army fighting the rebel Sun En, and in 404 led a rising at Jingkou that overthrew the usurper Huan Xuan and restored Emperor An of Jin. Holding power at the Jin court, he destroyed Southern Yan in 410, beat back Lu Xun's attack on Jiankang, and carried out the Yixi registration drive, which entered migrant households on the rolls of the places where they lived. In 417 his northern expedition took Chang'an and ended the Later Qin. He accepted the abdication of Emperor Gong in 420, naming his dynasty Song and his reign Yongchu, and died in 422 with the temple name Gaozu and the posthumous title Emperor Wu. Centuries later Xin Qiji, writing at Jingkou, recalled the lanes where Jinu was said to have lived.