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Xun Yu (荀彧), courtesy name Wenruo (文若), was a Chinese military official and politician who served as an adviser to the warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.
Xun Yu was nominated as a xiaolian (civil service candidate) in 189 and began his career in the civil service. When the warlord Dong Zhuo seized control of the capital Luoyang, Xun Yu feared for his safety and resigned, returning to Ji Province. 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 recognised Xun Yu's talent and he exclaimed, "Here comes my Zifang!" when Xun Yu arrived, and he appointed Xun as an army commandant.
In 211, Xun Yu, whose ideals were for Cao Cao to continue being the protector of the Han dynasty, opposed a proposal by Dong Zhao for Cao Cao to set up his own self administrated feudal state within the Han Dynasty. Displeased, Cao Cao sent him an empty food box, a sign that he should commit suicide. Xun Yu died under suspicious circumstances of illness in Shouchun in 212.
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