Stories from Ancient China: The Honourable Yelu Chucai

Yelu Chucai, born in 1190, was a descendant of Khitan and the imperial lineage of the Liao dynasty of ancient China. His father, Yelu Lu, was an official of the Jin dynasty, which at that time had started to decline. Yelu Lu emotionally told others, "I had my son when I was sixty and he has shown great promise. Later in his life he will be a man of great ability and will hold of position of great importance in a different country." He thus named his son Yelu Chucai. Chucai was based on an allusion to the fact that talented people from the Chu country were being employed by Jin, according to Zuochuan, an ancient writing in the annalistic style of historical records and a classic of the Confucian school.

After growing up, Yelu Chucai was well read, having particularly mastered classics of Buddhism. He had a profound understanding of the doctrines of magical calculations and Daoism (Cultivation of the Way). In 1218, he joined Genghis Khan and became the head of his secretariat, a rank equivalent to prime minister. Prior to a military deployment, Genghis Khan would ask him to perform divination to determine the successes and failures of the campaign. His forecasts were highly accurate, so much so that Genghis Khan placed a great deal of confidence in him.

When the Mongolian army marched to the Irongate Pass in the East Indies, a wild animal with a horn on its head, a body shaped like a deer, and a horse's tail, said to them: "You shouldn't attack this place. Please call off the battle as soon as possible." Upon hearing this, Genghis Khan was so greatly shocked that he immediately sought the advice of Yelu Chucai who commented: "It is a good omen animal and is called the Good Omen Horn. It can speak many local languages. It is a being whom greatly cares for lives and detests killing indiscriminatingly. His appearance is a warning to the Great Khan from Heaven. I hope that you will follow Heaven's will." Genghis Khan therefore withdrew his troops and returned home.

During the early days of the Mongolian reign, government officials often killed people willfully, committed sexual assaults on women and took others' goods and properties. Yelu reported these affairs to Genghis Khan when he heard about them, who in turn then ordered his official to stop killing casually and all capital punishments had to be reported to him. Otherwise, the official who violated the rule would be executed. Thus, the situation of killing the innocent at will slowly changed

Genghis Khan was an emperor who was devoted to territorial expansion. When he attacked the southern regions, Yelu Chucai made hundreds of little flags that were distributed to the people who surrendered and pledged loyalty to him. They not only preserved their lives but were also able to return to their hometowns with these flags.

When the Mongolian army attacked Bianliang (today's Kaifeng City, Henan Province), they encountered stubborn resistance. After the Mongolian army won the battle, some military officers advocated burning down the whole city and killing all citizens to retaliate for their resistance. Yelu Chucai advised Genghis Khan: "The purpose of your military operations was to acquire territory and people. If we kill all the people in the whole city, you will gain only the territory but without people. So what is the point?" "Besides, all the exquisite engineering works and the wealthy families who hid their valuables are all inside the city. If we burn and kill the people in the whole city, we will end up with nothing. Wouldn't that be a pity!" Genghis Khan thus gave up idea of massacring the city and so the lives of tens of thousands were saved. At the time, so many people who had been taken prisoner escaped that a military order was issued: All those who take in or provide financial assistance to those escaped people, will have their whole families executed. After Yelu advised Genghis Khan, that order was abolished.

Yelu Chucai had served three generations of the Yuan dynasty. When he died, many literati moaned, even the Mongolian citizens were choked with tears. The posthumous title of Guangning Lord was conferred on him and his son, Zhu, occupied an official position as vice premier. Most of his eleven grandsons served in high governmental positions.

From Lishi Ganying Tongji