Yelü Chucai
| Yelü Chucai | |||||||||
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Statue of Yelü Chucai at the Wuyi Mountains Tea Theme Park
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| Born | 24 July 1190 Yanjing, Jin dynasty |
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| Died | 20 June 1244 (aged 53) Karakorum, Yuan Dynasty（Mongol Empire） |
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| Issue | Yelü Tao 耶律鑄 | ||||||||
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| Father | Yelü Lü 耶律履 | ||||||||
| Mother | Lady Yang | ||||||||
| Full name | |
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| Family name: Yelü 耶律 Given name: Chucai 楚材 Courtesy name: Jìnqīng 晉卿 |
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| Posthumous name | |
| Prince of Guangling 廣寧王 Wenzheng 文正 |
Yelü Chucai (Yeh-lu Chu-tsai; Chinese: 耶律楚材; pinyin: Yēlǜ Chǔcái; Wade–Giles: Yeh1-lü4 Ch'u3-ts'ai2; Mongolian: Urtu Saqal, 吾圖撒合里, "long beard"; the components of his name also variously spelt Yeh-Lu, Ye Liu, Yeliu, Chutsai, Ch'u-Ts'ai, etc.) (July 24, 1190 - June 20, 1244) was a statesman of Khitan ethnicity with royal family lineage to the Liao Dynasty, who became a vigorous adviser and administrator of the early Mongol Empire in the Confucian tradition. He was the first of Genghis Khan's retainers to formulate policy during the Mongol conquests, and he also introduced many administrative reforms in North China during the reign of Genghis Khan and his successor Ögedei.
Yelü Chucai was a Confucian scholar who was born close to Beijing, during the Jin dynasty. Well versed in Buddhist scriptures and a practitioner in Daoism, Yelü Chucai has become best known for his service as the chief adviser to Genghis Khan. Yelü Chucai's father Yelu Lu, served with the Jurchen Jin dynasty, which defeated the Liao Dynasty in 1125. When the unified Mongolian army under Genghis Khan began a war of conquest against the Jin dynasty in 1211, both Jurchen and Khitan rebels joined the Mongols in the fight against the Jin dynasty. Yelü Chucai then joined Genghis Khan's administration in the year 1218 at the age of 28.
The Khitans and Mongols, as well as the Southern Song, were united by their common enemy in the Jurchen Jin dynasty. This is shown in the well-known words spoken by Genghis Khan, when at the end of July, he met Yelü Chucai for the first time at Ordos in the Sāri Steppe (west of the great bend of the Kerulen River): "Liao and Jin have been enemies for generations; I have taken revenge for you." To which Yelü Chucai replied, "My father and grandfather have both respectfully served the Jin. How can I, as a subject and a son, be so insincere in heart as to consider my sovereign and my father as enemies?" The Mongol is said to have been impressed by this frank reply, as well as by Yelü Chucai’s looks (he was a very tall man with a magnificent beard reaching to his waist) and sonorous voice. He gave him the nickname "Urtu Saqal" (Long Beard) and placed him in his retinue as an adviser. Because he was experienced in writing and knew the laws of other settled societies, Yelü Chucai was useful to the Empire.
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