   xun yu (163â212), courtesy name wenruo, was a strategist and statesman who served as an advisor to the warlord cao cao in the late eastern han dynasty. ==early life== xun yu was a native of yingchuan (ç©å·; present-day xuchang, henan), and was born in a family of government officials. chen shou's records of three kingdoms described him as a tall and handsome gentleman. xun yu's grandfather, xun shu, served as a local governor and xun shu's eight sons were called the "eight dragons of the xun family"; an uncle of xun yu, xun shuang, served as one of the three excellencies, while xun yu's father xun fan was the chancellor of the feudal principality of jibei. xun yu proved to be a talented youth, and was evaluated by the scholar he yong as "someone capable of assisting kings" (çä½ä¹æ). in 189 he was nominated as a xiaolian (literally: "fillial and incorrupt"; a nominated civil service candidate), and began his career in the government. when dong zhuo seized control of the capital luoyang, xun yu feared for his safety and resigned, returning to ji province (åå·; present day hebei). in the subsequent years, warlords quickly rose in each region; xun yu first served yuan shao, whose power base was in ji province, but later left him and went to serve cao cao in 191. cao cao recognized xun yu's talent and he exclaimed, "here comes my zifang"zifang" was the courtesy name of zhang liang, a prominent advisor to emperor gaozu of han. zhang liang contributed greatly to the founding of the han dynasty.!" when xun yu arrived, and he appointed xun as an army commandant. ==service under cao cao== xun yu's contributions to cao cao's forces and administration are immense. on one hand he recommended many other men of calibre to cao cao, including [[xun y
163_births 212_deaths Officials_under_Cao_Cao Officials_under_Yuan_Shao