Zhou Chu

Zhou Chu (; 236?–297), courtesy name Ziyin, was a Western Jin-era Chinese general. He was the son of Zhou Fang, a famous Eastern Wu general. Zhou Chu had a reputation for uprightness and integrity and once indicted the Prince of Liang, Sima Rong. When the nomadic people in Guanzhong rebelled against the Jin dynasty, Zhou Chu was ordered by Sima Rong to fight the 20,000-strong enemy head-on with 5,000 soldiers and no supply. He died in the battles. Zhou Chu is depicted in the woodcut print Wu Shuang Pu (無雙譜, Table of Peerless Heroes) by Jin Guliang. Eradicating the Three Scourges A folk story about Zhou Chu appeared in the 430 book A New Account of the Tales of the World and proved to be very popular. The story claims that Zhou Chu was such a cruel and violent ruffian in his younger days that he was called one of the "Three Scourges" by the villagers in his native (present-day city of Yixing, Jiangsu), along with a tiger and a dragon. Prompted by a villager, Zhou Chu took on the challenge to seek out and kill the tiger and the scaly dragon that lived in a stream (the jiao). His battle with this dragon endured for 3 days in Lake Tai, and the villagers were celebrating the demise of the two scourges when Zhou Chu returned triumphant with the dragon's head. That was when he realized that he was the last scourge that the villagers feared. Determined to mend his old ways, he sought out Eastern Wu generals Lu Ji and Lu Yun (陸雲), and received encouragement. Eventually he became an accomplished general beloved by his people.