生平

孫休時期

萬彧早年經歷不詳，在孫休時期曾擔任烏程令。期間與居住於烏程（今浙江省湖州市）的烏程侯孫皓相識，彼此交好。後來，萬彧被提拔為左典軍。

永安七年（264年，魏咸熙元年）七月，孫休託孤於丞相濮陽興後逝世。在孫休死後，濮陽興並未遵從他的意願立太子孫𩅦為帝。當時吳國內憂外患，大臣們考慮著擁立一位較年長的君主。萬彧便趁機向濮陽興和另一位權臣左將軍張布極力推薦孫皓，稱孫皓英明果斷，有長沙桓王孫策的風範，並且行事遵守法度，成功將兩人說服。後由濮陽興與張布出面，勸朱太后將孫皓迎立為帝。

孫晧時期

孫皓即位後，萬彧被任命為散騎中常侍。不久，孫皓開始顯露出驕奢淫逸的一面，當初擁立他的濮陽興、張布私下表露出後悔擁立他的意思。萬彧聽說後，將此事秘密向孫皓告發，結果兩人被處死並滅門。當時與萬彧一同被任命為散騎中常侍擔任這一職務的還有王蕃、樓玄、郭逴。萬彧與樓玄關係較好，但與王蕃關係很差，他認為王蕃覺得他是因為與孫皓有私交才被提拔而輕視自己，便與孫皓的另一位寵臣中書丞陳聲多次向孫皓說王蕃的壞話，孫皓也因王蕃不順從自己而對他早就有所不滿。後來，王蕃因為酒醉失態惹孫皓不滿，被處死。

王蕃死去的同一年，即寶鼎元年（266年，晉泰始二年），孫皓分置左、右丞相，萬彧作為孫皓的親信出任右丞相，以制衡擔任左丞相的老臣陸凱。次年春，萬彧奉命接管原由陸凱鎮守的軍事重鎮巴丘（今湖南省岳陽市）。

寶鼎三年（268年，晉泰始四年），孫皓向晉國開戰，萬彧與左大司馬施績負責荊州方向的攻勢，萬彧負責攻打襄陽（今湖北省襄陽市），後被晉將胡烈擊敗。建衡元年（269年，晉泰始五年）冬十一月，左丞相陸凱病逝。翌年春，萬彧被徵召回朝。其間曾推薦樓玄主持宮禁。

建衡三年（271年，晉泰始七年）正月，孫皓不顧眾人反對，用車載著自己後宮上千人，率大軍從牛渚（今安徽省當塗縣）西進伐晉，結果途中被大雪所阻，士兵們怨聲載道，甚至還出現倒戈的傳言，因此孫皓只好下令還師。孫皓還師前，萬彧與右大司馬丁奉、左將軍留平曾私下商議先自行回去，後被孫皓得知，介於三人都是重臣並沒有馬上處置。當年，丁奉病逝，家屬被孫皓流放。翌年，孫皓試圖用毒酒殺死萬彧，因為傳酒的人私下減少了毒藥的分量，萬彧僥倖未死，但最後還是在苦悶之下自殺，一個多月後，留平也憤懣而終。在萬彧死後，他的家屬被孫皓流放到廬陵（郡治今江西省泰和縣西北）。

評價

• 陸凱評曰：「萬彧瑣才凡庸之質，昔從家隸，超步紫闥，于彧已豐，於器已溢。」（《三國志•吳書•潘濬陸凱傳第十六》）

藝術形象

• 《三國演義》中，萬彧於第一百二十回登場，為忠臣形象，孫休死後與張布一起勸濮陽興改立孫皓，後因勸諫孫皓被殺。

注釋

Life

Wan Yu's origins were not recorded in history. He served as the Prefect (令) of Wucheng County (烏程縣; present-day Huzhou, Zhejiang) during the reign of the third Wu emperor, Sun Xiu ( 258–264). During this time, he befriended Sun Hao, who was then the Marquis of Wucheng. Later, he was promoted to be a Left Ceremonial Officer (左典軍).

In 264, when Sun Xiu became critically ill, he entrusted his eldest son and heir apparent Sun Wan (孫𩅦) to the care of Puyang Xing (濮陽興), his Imperial Chancellor. After Sun Xiu's death, however, Puyang Xing did not assist the underage Sun Wan in becoming the new emperor. Around the time, as Eastern Wu faced several threats (e.g. external invasion, internal uprisings), the officials hoped for an older and more mature emperor to lead them. Wan Yu then used the opportunity to recommend Sun Hao to Puyang Xing and the general Zhang Bu – the regents in the interim period – to be the new emperor, in the hope that he would be rewarded later. He told Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu that Sun Hao was wise, decisive and similar to Sun Ce (a founding father of Eastern Wu), and managed to persuade them to help Sun Hao. Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu, in turn, succeeded in convincing Sun Xiu's widow, Empress Zhu, to let Sun Hao inherit the throne.

After ascending the throne, Sun Hao appointed Wan Yu as a Central Regular Mounted Attendant (散騎中常侍), along with Wang Fan, Lou Xuan and Guo Chuo (郭逴). Later into his reign, Sun Hao turned out to be a cruel, extravagant and inept emperor, so Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu started regretting their decision to put him on the throne. When Wan Yu heard about their complaints, he secretly reported them to Sun Hao, who had them executed along with their families. Among his colleagues, Wan Yu got along well the most with Lou Xuan and the least with Wang Fan. He particularly detested Wang Fan as he believed that Wang Fan leveraged on his close relationship with Sun Hao to gain the emperor's favour. Wan Yu and another official, Chen Sheng (陳聲), often slandered Wang Fan in front of Sun Hao. Over time, Sun Hao also gradually hated Wang Fan more and more because the latter often spoke up against his outrageous behaviour. Sun Hao finally found an excuse to execute Wang Fan in 266.

In 266, Sun Hao split the office of Imperial Chancellor into two, and appointed Wan Yu as Right Imperial Chancellor (右丞相) and Lu Kai as Left Imperial Chancellor (左丞相). The reason for splitting the office was that he wanted Wan Yu to balance against the influential and more senior Lu Kai. In the spring of 267, Sun Hao ordered Wan Yu to supervise military affairs in Jing Province and station at Baqiu (巴丘; present-day Yueyang, Hunan), effectively replacing Lu Kai, who had been performing that task for years.

In 268, Sun Hao decided to wage war against Eastern Wu's rival state, the Jin dynasty, so he ordered Wan Yu and Shi Ji to lead the Wu forces in Jing Province to attack the Jin dynasty. Wan Yu led troops to attack Xiangyang Commandery (襄陽郡; present-day Xiangyang, Hubei), but was defeated and driven back by the Jin general Hu Lie (胡烈). After Lu Kai died in 269, Sun Hao summoned Wan Yu back to Jianye (建康; present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu), the Wu imperial capital, in the following year. During this time, Wan Yu recommended Lou Xuan to serve as a Captain of the Imperial Guards.

In the winter of 270/271, despite strong objections from his subjects, Sun Hao launched a military campaign against the Jin dynasty and set off from Niuzhu (牛渚; present-day Dangtu County, Anhui). Along the way, the Wu army encountered a snowstorm and could not advance. During this time, the Wu soldiers started grumbling and complaining; there was even talk among them about defecting to the Jin dynasty. Before Sun Hao ordered the troops to retreat back to Eastern Wu, Wan Yu had already secretly made arrangements with the generals Ding Feng and Liu Ping (留平) to return to Wu without informing the emperor. When Sun Hao found out, he was extremely furious but he did not immediately take action against them because the three of them held important positions in his government. After Ding Feng died of illness later that year, Sun Hao exiled his family to Linchuan (臨川郡; around present-day Linchuan District, Fuzhou, Jiangxi). In the following year, Sun Hao secretly instructed a servant to serve poisoned wine to Wan Yu, but the servant added too little poison so Wan Yu survived. Nevertheless, upon realising that the emperor wanted him dead, Wan Yu took his own life. One month later, Liu Ping also died in distress and frustration. Sun Hao exiled Wan Yu's family to Luling Commandery (廬陵郡; northwest of present-day Taihe County, Jiangxi).