Xiao Liu (蕭柳) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Xiao Liu as a general, official, poet, and writer. This record brings together 10 passages from 1 chapter across 1 history, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Xiao Liu	蕭柳	Xiao Liu
Courtesy name	Tumen	徒門	Tumen
Surname	Xiao	蕭	Xiao
Personal name	Xiao Liu	蕭柳	Xiao Liu

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Explicit · liaoshi:085:s0055

Roles

General
Official
Poet
Writer

Life and dates

Death

Explicit · liaoshi:085:s0076, liaoshi:085:s0077

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 十七年 · Reign Id: liao-tonghe · Regnal Year: 17 · Western Year: AD 999
Explicit event contextual date · liaoshi:085:s0058, liaoshi:085:s0059
Source Date: Text: 統和中 · Western Interval: Start: AD 983 · End: AD 1012
Explicit event contextual date · liaoshi:085:s0057

Family

Immediate source-linked family. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select a person to open their record.

Descendant of Agu Zhi (阿古只)
Kinship Term: fifth-generation descendant / 五世孫 · Generation Distance: 5 · Line: paternal
Child of Father of Xiao Liu
Kinship Term: father / 父 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: father · Object Role: son
Kin of Paiya (排押)
Kinship Term: paternal uncle / 伯父 · Subject Role: paternal-uncle · Object Role: nephew · Line: paternal
Kin of Xiao Hengde (蕭恒德)
Kinship Term: paternal uncle / 叔父 · Subject Role: paternal-uncle · Object Role: nephew · Line: paternal

Career and standing

Label: Commander of the Four Armies / 四軍兵馬都指揮使 · Action: appointed
Explicit · liaoshi:085:s0065
Label: Commander of the Northern Jurchen / 北女直詳穩 · Action: appointed
Explicit · liaoshi:085:s0066
Label: Eastern Route Commander-in-Chief / 東路統軍使 · Action: appointed
Explicit · liaoshi:085:s0067
Status: retirement · Action: retired
Explicit · liaoshi:085:s0072

Places and affiliations

Polity Id: liao · Relation: served
Explicit · liaoshi:085:s0055

Works and attributed material

Work: Winters Cold / 歲寒集 · Relation: author
Explicit · liaoshi:085:s0078
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quoted: true
Explicit · liaoshi:085:s0059, liaoshi:085:s0061, liaoshi:085:s0070, liaoshi:085:s0074, liaoshi:085:s0075, liaoshi:085:s0076

Events and relationships

Kind: military · Role: vanguard · Action: charged · Other Person Id: Yelü Longqing (耶律隆慶) · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 十七年 · Reign Id: liao-tonghe · Regnal Year: 17 · Western Year: AD 999
Explicit · liaoshi:085:s0059, liaoshi:085:s0062, liaoshi:085:s0063, liaoshi:085:s0064

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: liked jesting; contemporaries likened him to a court entertainer · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · liaoshi:085:s0073

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

History of Liao, Chapter 85Volume 85 Biographies 15: Xiao Talin, Xiao Guanyinnu, Yelu Tizi, Yelu Xieli, Yelu Nugua, Xiao Liu, Gao Xun, Xi Heshuonu, Xiao Taliege, Yelu Sahe · 10 passages

Open chapter

蕭撻凜蕭觀音奴耶律題子耶律諧理耶律奴瓜蕭柳高勛奚和朔奴蕭塔列葛耶律撒合 Xiao Talin, Xiao Guanyinnu, Yelu Tizi, Yelu Xieli, Yelu Nugua, Xiao Liu, Gao Xun, Xi Heshuonu, Xiao Taliege, and Yelu Sahe.

蕭柳，字徒門，淳欽皇后弟阿古只五世孫。 Xiao Liu, whose style name was Tumen, was a fifth-generation descendant of Aguzhi, younger brother of Empress Chunqin.

時皇弟隆慶為先鋒，問諸將佐誰敢當者，柳曰：「若得駿馬，則願為之先。」 The emperor's younger brother Longqing commanded the vanguard and asked which officers would face the enemy formation. Liu said, "Give me a fine warhorse and I will lead the charge."

柳攬轡，謂諸將曰：「陣若動，諸君急攻。」 Liu took the reins and told the other commanders, "When their line stirs, press the attack at once."

柳中流矢，裹創而戰，眾皆披靡。 Liu was struck by a stray arrow, bound the wound, and kept fighting until the enemy ranks collapsed.

時排押留守東京，奏柳為四軍兵馬都指揮使。 Paiya was then regent at the Eastern Capital and memorialized to appoint Liu Commander of the Four Armies.

柳曰：「壯士安懼此！」 Liu said, "What sort of brave man shrinks from this!"

柳好滑稽，雖君臣燕飲，詼諧無所忌，時人比之俳優。 Liu loved jesting; even at formal banquets between emperor and ministers his wit knew no bounds, and contemporaries likened him to a court entertainer.

耶律觀音奴集柳所著詩千篇，目曰《歲寒集》。 Yelu Guanyinnu collected a thousand of Liu's poems into a collection titled 《Winters Cold》.

論曰：遼在統和間，數舉兵伐宋，諸將如耶律諧理、奴瓜、蕭柳等俱有降城擒將之功。 Commentary: During the Tonghe era Liao repeatedly campaigned against Song, and commanders such as Yelu Xieli, Yelu Nugua, and Xiao Liu all won renown for compelling cities to submit and capturing enemy generals.