Life
Early life
Zhou Yu was born in . 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 . Zhou Yu and his uncle, Zhou Shang, were among the first to join Sun Ce's army, superseded only by a fellow officer of Yuan Shu, Lü Fan, and the former retainers of Sun Jian.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 , 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 reunify 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 '''', 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. Much of Cao Cao's ships were destroyed and Cao Cao was forced to flee back to Xuchang.
Afterwards, Zhou Yu led his army in pursue and laid siege to the strategic town of Nanjun . While on the front lines, Zhou Yu was struck by a stray arrow and seriously wounded. 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 . While preparing for the long expedition, he died at age thirty-five in Baqiu .
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, .
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."
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 Romance of the Three Kingdoms and 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 in a previous ambush, Zhou Yu is thrice provoked by Zhuge Liang and dies a bitter man, his last words being: "Having born Yu, whyfore also Liang?"
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'' or ''wusheng'' , 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, , 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 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 the Koei video game series ''Dynasty Warriors'' , Zhou Yu is portrayed as a powerful, highly intelligent and handsome man. He wears a red gown with gold decorations and wields a very long, lavishly decorated called the "Elder's Sword." In ''Dynasty Warriors 6'' he has a ponytail and wields a bo staff.
*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.
*A film currently showing in theatre titled '''', directed by John Woo featured Tony Leung Chiu Wai as Zhou Yu.
Family
*Great grandfather
**Zhou Rong - the Imperial Secretary in charge of reading and interpreting reports to the emperor.
*Grandfather
**Zhou Jing - first the governor of Yuzhou , and then became Imperial Secretary and finally Imperial Minister of Defence .
*Father
**Zhou Yi - Mayor of the capital city Luoyang.
*Uncle
**Zhou Shang - the Grand Administrator of Danyang
*Wife
**Xiao Qiao
*Children
**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 . He died suddenly and was succeeded by his younger brother.
**Zhou Yin - succeeded Zhou Xun
**A daughter, Zhou Ying, was married to Sun Deng, Sun Quan's eldest son.
*Nephew
**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
**Sun Ce
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