Wu Yan (260–before 315), courtesy name Shize, was a military general of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China and later for the Jin dynasty (266–420). He is most known for his valiant defence of Jianping (建平; southwest of present-day Xiayi County, Henan) during Jin's conquest of Wu. After Wu fell, Wu Yan served in administrative positions under Jin, with his most notable being the Inspector of Jiaozhou, succeeding Tao Huang, who was also a former official of Wu. Service in Eastern Wu Wu Yan was from Wu County in Wu Commandery and came from a poor background. The Book of Jin describes him as 8 chi tall (6 ft 2 in) and capable of fighting beasts with his bare hands. He began serving Wu as a minor official in Tongjiang County. In December 269, Wu Yan saw the general Xue Xu leading a large army in order to attack Jiaozhi Commandery, which caused Wu Yan to sigh out of frustration. A face reader named Liu Zhe (劉劄) examined Wu Yan's face and told him "Sir, based on your appearance, you too will reach the same height in your career one day. There is no need to yearn." Wu Yan received his first military role under the Grand Marshal of Wu, Lu Kang. Lu Kang appreciated Wu Yan's talents, but because he had plucked him from obscurity, he could not promote him further out of fear that the other generals would disapprove. Lu Kang devised a plan to gather the generals together. Secretly, he had asked someone to pretend to be crazy and surprise the generals while swinging his sword. The generals fled in fear when they saw the supposed madman, but Wu Yan remained calm and even defended himself with a small desk. The generals present all praised his bravery, so Lu Kang was finally able to promote Wu Yan to important positions. Wu Yan was eventually transferred to Jianping where he served as its administrator. In 272, the Inspector of Yi Province, Wang Jun, was tasked with constructing battleships in preparations for the conquest of Wu. Wood wastes from the construction floated down to Wu's territories which caught the attention of Wu Yan. He brought a piece of the wood to the Wu emperor, Sun Hao, as evidence that Jin was planning an invasion, and to persuade him to reinforce the northwestern border. However, Sun Hao