Yu Dachun

Yu Dachun (1880/1883–1940), courtesy name Shenxiu, later changed to Shengxiu, was a native of Doumen Town, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province. He was the eldest son of Yu Mingzhen and the father of Yu Qiwei.

He studied at Jiangnan Military Academy in Nanjing and later pursued further education in Japan at the First Higher School, before moving on to the Berlin Institute of Technology in Germany. During his time in Japan, he joined patriotic groups such as the “Anti-Russian Volunteer Corps,” the “Military National Education Association,” and the Guangfuhui (Restoration Society), actively participating in revolutionary movements.

After the failure of the Anhui-Zhejiang Uprising in 1907, Yu went to Germany, where he met Cai Yuanpei. Upon returning to China, he served in the railway sector as a technical officer and department head. After the 1911 Revolution, he became Director of the Longhai Railway Bureau under the Ministry of Communications, but was forced to resign after offending the Shandong warlord Liu Zhi. Later, with Cai Yuanpei’s recommendation, he transferred to the Ministry of Finance.

Following the “September 18 Incident” of 1931, Yu Dachun traveled several times to Northeast China, conducting field investigations and publishing A Record of On-Site Investigations in the Northeast, which exposed Japan’s aggressive ambitions. In 1940, he was killed under mysterious circumstances in Northeast China.

Yu Dachun married Bian Jiejun, with whom he had four sons and two daughters. He is remembered as both an accomplished engineer and a patriotic intellectual who embodied the spirit of national salvation in modern China.