Yu Zijun

Life

In 1451 he passed the metropolitan examination, taking the twenty-eighth place in the second class; he had earlier been a government student and a provincial graduate. His first post was as a secretary in the Jiangxi bureau of the Ministry of Revenue, from which he was promoted to vice-director of the Fujian bureau; during ten years in the ministry he was known for his probity and competence. From 1460 to 1466 he served as prefect of Xi'an, where he relieved a famine by distributing 100,000 shi of grain.

In 1466, on the recommendation of Lin Cong, he became a right counsellor in the Shaanxi provincial administration; within a year he was promoted to right administration commissioner, and in 1470 he became left administration commissioner and was transferred in that capacity to Zhejiang. In 1471, on the recommendation of the minister of War Bai Gui, he was appointed right vice censor-in-chief and governor of Yansui.

The former governor Wang Rui had proposed a long-term programme of forts and walls, but the work lapsed when he was dismissed; Yu memorialized for its resumption, while the minister Bai Gui argued that the people of Shaanxi were too exhausted and asked that the labour be postponed. On taking up his post Yu moved his headquarters from Wubao to Yulin and built more than 1,700 li of frontier wall. When the Mongols invaded, he drove them back in concert with Zhu Yong and Xu Ning; the raiders repeatedly entered the Ordos region, where Ming expeditions achieved nothing. He was later promoted to left vice censor-in-chief and, for his success in the raid on the camp at Hongyanchi, to right censor-in-chief.

In 1474 he asked leave to retire on account of his mother's age, but was retained in office. He was subsequently transferred to the governorship of Shaanxi, and in 1476 he opened a canal at Xi'an that ran past the old Han city wall as far as the Wei River, known to the people as Yugongqu, or Yu's Canal; at Jingyang he also cut through the hills to irrigate more than a thousand qing of farmland. These works were said to have benefited the region for generations.

In 1477 he was recalled as minister of War. He fixed the scale of rewards for military merit and restrained the governor of Guizhou from wantonly opening hostilities. In 1478 he served as a reader of the palace examination papers. He later argued that Chen Yue had ambushed and killed tribute envoys; the emperor, out of regard for Wang Zhi, pardoned Chen, who then repeatedly slandered Yu; on the death of his mother he retired for mourning.

At the end of his mourning he was appointed minister of Revenue in 1483 and granted the title of junior guardian of the heir apparent, given in some accounts as guardian of the heir apparent. In 1484 he was additionally made left vice censor-in-chief and charged with supervising military affairs at Datong and Xuanfu, where he built frontier walls for the two garrisons. He was soon impeached by the vice-minister of Works Du Qian and others for wasting military supplies, lost the title of junior guardian and retired; one account attributes his dismissal instead to a false impeachment by the eunuch Wei Jing. Recalled the following year, 1485, as minister of War, he also held the offices of left censor-in-chief and governor of Datong and retained the title of junior guardian of the heir apparent. In 1487 he was again appointed minister of War.

In 1488, the first year of the Hongzhi reign, he submitted a memorial on ten matters and died soon afterwards; some accounts give 1489 as the year of his death. He was posthumously granted the title of Grand Guardian and the posthumous name Sumin.

Writings

A collection of his memorials, the Zouyi, in six juan, is recorded.

Family and associates

Yu Zijun's family came from Qingshen. Recorded are his great-grandfather Yu Decheng, his grandfather Yu Yongtai and his father Yu Xiang, his mother née Zhang and his father's principal wife née Zhu, his younger brother Yu Ziwei and his wife née Wei; he had a son, Yu Zhi, and grandsons Yu Zhengfa, Yu Chengzu and Yu Jizu. Li Dongyang and Qiu Jun wrote his biography, Chu Quan a sacrificial address and Liu Chun a shrine inscription. While serving as governor he established a garrison school at Yulin and invited Ji Wen to teach there with due ceremony; the ministry official Zhou Jilin was likewise held in esteem by Yu Zijun and Ma Wensheng. He was reckoned both a filial son and an upright official.