Wu Yu

Life

Wu Yu was the son of Wu Daiwen and the younger brother of Wu Chong; his family included his fourth son Wu Anchang, sixth son Wu Anben, and ninth son Wu Anxian, his sons-in-law Han Zongyan and Pang Yuanying, and his grandsons Wu Chou, Wu Yan, and Wu Qiu.

In the fifth year of Emperor Renzong's Tiansheng era (1027), he passed the jinshi examination. He was first appointed Evaluator of the Dali Court. He later served as magistrate of Lin'an and Zhuji, and also governed Xiangcheng County.

In the first year of the Jingyou era (1034), he was selected through the examination for Worthy and Upright men and transferred to serve as assistant prefect of Suzhou. He also passed the *才識兼茂明於體用科* examination and was promoted to Assistant Secretary.

Returning to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, he submitted the regulations known as the Taichang New Rituals and Qingli Sacrificial Ceremonies. He then served as Right Rectifier, Director of the Remonstrance Office, Drafter of Edicts, and compiler of the Daily Records, before becoming a Hanlin Academician and prefect of Kaifeng; he also held the post of Direct Academician of the Jixian Institute.

In the fifth year of the Qingli era (1045), he was appointed Right Remonstrator (右諫議大夫) and Vice Commissioner of the Privy Council (樞密副使), then made canzhi zhengshi (參知政事) and again Vice Commissioner. He also held the offices of Minister of Rites in 1045, Associate Director of the Privy Council from 1046 to 1047, and Menxia sheng jishizhong (門下省給事中) beginning in 1048. He was forthright whenever issues arose.

After leaving the post of canzhi zhengshi in the seventh year of Qingli (1047), he became prefect of Xuzhou. He subsequently governed Cai, Henan, Shaanxi, Yongxing, and Ruzhou, and presided over the Western Capital's detached censorate. His regulations as a local administrator were concise, easy to implement, and not to be violated.

He later presided over the Department of State Affairs, then became military and pacification commissioner for the Fuyan Circuit and prefect of Yanzhou; he was transferred to Hezhong and then to Henan. At the beginning of Jiayou, he was Grand Academician of the Zizheng Hall, Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, and prefect of Hezhong, before transferring to Henan; he ended his career as prefect of Henan.

In the third year of Jiayou (1058), he died in office from illness at the age of fifty-five. He was posthumously named Zhengsu.

Works and afterlife

His collected works comprised fifty volumes and are now lost; he also wrote the ten-volume *Collected Examination Essays of Wu Zhengsu*. Six poems are included in the present selection.

Ouyang Xiu wrote his epitaph, *Epitaph of Mr. Wu*, and a funeral text; Shen Gou wrote another funeral text. Sima Guang and Song Qi sent letters to Wu Yu, while Wei Liaoweng and Zhen Dexiu supplied colophons and headings for his books and calligraphic pieces.