Yu Chao'en (魚朝恩; 722 – April 10, 770[1]), formally the Duke of Han (韓公), was a Chinese eunuch, military general, and politician during the Tang dynasty.
Late in Emperor Xuanzong's Tianbao (742–756) era, Yu was an eunuch attached to the examination bureau of government (門下省, Menxia Sheng).
For his contributions to the campaign, he was put in charge of the eunuch bureau (內侍省, Neishi Sheng) and given a general title.
After a failed attempt by Tang forces to capture Luoyang, instigated by Yu and opposed by Li Guangbi, Shi tried to attack west toward Chang'an, but was repelled by the general Wei Boyu (衛伯玉), who was under Yu's command, at Shan Prefecture (陝州, in modern Sanmenxia, Henan).
In 763, when the Tibetan Empire launched a sudden attack against Chang'an, Emperor Daizong was forced to flee to Shan Prefecture.
When he fled, very few imperial guard soldiers accompanied him, and it was not until Yu Chao'en met him at Huayin (華陰, in modern Weinan, Shaanxi) that he was protected by an army.
Emperor Daizong gave Yu the title of monitor of troops over the entire realm (天下觀軍容宣慰處置使, Tianxia Guanjunrong Xuanwei Chuzhishi).
[2] Also in 765, Yu, because he believed himself capable in literary matters, was made the acting principal of the imperial university (國子監, Guozijian).
In 766, when the university's construction was completed, Yu personally lectured about the I Ching, tried to satirize the chancellors by talking about how a ding (a large cooking vessel often used to symbolize chancellorship) would overturn if imbalanced.
In 767, Yu donated his mansion outside Chang'an to be rebuilt into a Buddhist temple dedicated to Emperor Daizong's deceased mother Consort Wu.
That year, at the anniversary of Consort Wu's death, Yu held a feast in her honor—at which he openly talked about how the chancellors were incompetent and should yield their seats.
Yuan began to bribe two close associates of Yu's; Zhou Hao (周皓) the commander of the imperial guard archery corps, and Huangfu Wen (皇甫溫) the military governor of Shan Circuit (headquartered in modern Sanmenxia).
In spring 770, at Yuan's suggestion, Emperor Daizong carried out several moves that were intending to be preludes to eliminating Yu—moving the general Li Baoyu from being the military governor (jiedushi) of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji) to Shannan West Circuit (山南西道, headquartered in modern Xi'an, Shaanxi, to the southwest of Chang'an), while moving Huangfu, then the military governor of Shan Circuit (headquartered in modern Sanmenxia) to Fengxiang—while allaying Yu's suspicions by transferring control of four counties near Chang'an to the imperial guards, under Yu's command.