Yú Yǔnwén 余允文 (fl. 1163–1172)
Zì Yǐnzhī 隱之. Native of Jiànān 建安 (modern Jiànōu 建甌, Fújiàn). A 12th-century Confucian jūshì (gentleman-scholar) of the Southern Sòng, otherwise unfortunately attested.
His reputation rests on a single work — the Zūn Mèng biàn 尊孟辨 (3 juàn, with xùbiàn 續辨 in 2 juàn and biélù 別錄 in 1 juàn) — preserved at KR1h0014. The work was written in defence of Mencius against the anti-Mencian Northern-Sòng critics: Sīmǎ Guāng’s 司馬光 Yí Mèng 疑孟, Lǐ Gòu’s 李覯 Chángyǔ 常語, Zhèng Shūyǒu’s 鄭叔友 Yìpǔ zhézhōng 藝圃折衷, Wáng Chōng’s 王充 Lùnhéng cì Mèng 論衡刺孟, and Sū Shì’s 蘇軾 Lúnyǔ shuō 論語說 — and is the principal counterpart to Zhāng Jiǔchéng’s contemporary Mèngzǐ zhuàn (KR1h0013).
Zhū Xī read the Zūn Mèng biàn sympathetically — his “Dú Yúshì Zūn Mèng biàn shuō” 讀余氏尊孟辨說 is preserved at the close of the WYG copy of KR1h0014 — and accepted Yú Yǔnwén’s defence of Mencius into the Lǐxué mainstream. The Sìkù tíyào at KR1h0014 is, however, censorious of Yú’s character: it cites Zhū Xī’s letter to Liú Gòngfù 劉共父 reporting that Yú Yǔnwén “interfered in the property affairs of the Sòng [household] and spoke immoderately” (gānyù Sòngjiā chǎnyè, chūyán bù xùn 干預宋家産業, 出言不遜) — i.e. that Yú was a man of dubious local conduct, even by his Sòng contemporaries’ standards. The Sìkù editors note this and conclude that despite the man’s failings, his book itself stands on its merits.
The dating “fl. 1163–1172” follows the catalog meta and is consistent with Zhū Xī’s mention of him in a Lóngxìng / Qián-dào-era letter. Lifedates are not recoverable.