Yu Cong

Yu Cong (于琮) (died 881), courtesy name Liyong (禮用), was an official of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of his brother-in-law Emperor Yizong. After the agrarian rebel Huang Chao captured the imperial capital Chang'an in 880 and established his own Qi state, he tried to recruit Yu to serve as his chancellor, but Yu refused and was executed. Background It is not known when Yu Cong was born. He was a descendant of the early Tang Dynasty chancellor Yu Zhining, and his great-grandfather Yu Xiulie (于休烈) was a prominent official during the reign of Emperor Suzong. His father Yu Ao (于敖) served during the reign of Emperor Jingzong and was an associate of then-leading chancellor Li Fengji, dying in 830 during the subsequent reign of Emperor Jingzong's brother Emperor Wenzong. Yu Cong was probably his fourth son, and Yu Cong's three older brothers, Yu Qiu (于球), Yu Guī (于珪), and Yu Guì (于瓌, note different character and tone), as well as Yu Cong, all passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi class. However, it was said that although Yu Cong was ambitious, he was not well respected by the people at the time, and he was stuck in administrative positions, despite his heritage. During Emperor Xuānzong's reign During the Dazhong era (847–860) of Emperor Wenzong's uncle Emperor Xuānzong, the imperial scholar (翰林學士, Hanlin Xueshi) Zheng Hao (鄭顥), who was highly honored and who had married Emperor Xuānzong's daughter Princess Wanshou, was said to be impressed with Yu Cong's talents, and Zheng was also friendly with Yu's family. At that time, Emperor Xuānzong was trying to select husbands for his other daughters among the prominent clans, but the sons of those prominent clans were avoiding being selected. Zheng made the comment to Yu: Yu agreed. Zheng thus informed the official Li Fan (李藩), who was in charge of selecting officials for promotion that year. According to Yu's biography in the Old Book of Tang, Li Fan then had Yu made an advisory official, so that he could be set to marry a princess. This appeared to coincide with a record in the Zizhi Tongjian that showed that in 859, Yu was promoted from the position of copyeditor (校書郎, Xiaoshu Lang) at the Palace Library to be Zuo Shiyi (左拾遺), a low-level advisory official at the examination bureau of government (門下省, Menxia Sheng).