Zuo Liangyu

Zuo Liangyu (1599–1645) was a Ming dynasty general. He was born in Linqing, Shandong Province.

He started his military career in Liaodong. In 1628, after the Ningyuan mutiny, he was briefly demoted and then reinstated in his post. That same year, he led a successful expedition in Liaodong against the Later Jin. Zuo was eventually transferred to Hunan to fight the nascent peasant rebellions. In 1633 he turned back some bandit incursions into Shandong, thanks to his collaboration with Deng Qi. and then defeated and killed the bandit Ma Shouying in the summer. Already predisposed to sail down the Yangzi River by strategic considerations, as Shun remnants could sweep down on Huguang fleeing from the Qing, Zuo accepted Hou Fangyu's plea to intervene on behalf of a group of prosecuted scholars against Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng.