Yelu Lü (耶律履) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Yelu Lü as a diplomat, envoy, official, and painter. This record brings together 9 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	Yelu Lü	耶律履	Yēlǜ Lǚ
Courtesy name	Hailin	海鄰	Hǎilín
Given	Lü	履	Lǚ
Surname	Yelu	耶律	Yēlǜ
Personal name	Yelu Lü	耶律履	Yēlǜ Lǚ
Alternate name	Yelu Lü	耶律甗履	Yēlǜ Lǚ

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · liaoshi:086:s0078

Roles

Diplomat
Envoy
Official
Painter

Life and dates

Death

Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0095

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 清寧間 · Reign Id: liao-qingning · Western Interval: Start: AD 1055 · End: AD 1064
Explicit event contextual date · liaoshi:086:s0088
Source Date: Text: 咸雍中 · Western Interval: Start: AD 1065 · End: AD 1074
Explicit event contextual date · liaoshi:086:s0095
Source Date: Text: 重熙間 · Western Interval: Start: AD 1032 · End: AD 1055
Explicit event contextual date · liaoshi:086:s0080

Family

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

Spouse of Wife of Yelu Lü (耶律履妻)
Union Category: marriage · Relationship State: formed
Union Category: marriage · Relationship State: formed
Descendant of Pugu Zhi (蒲古只)

Origins and identity

Label: descendant of Puguzhi, yilijin of the Six Divisions / 六院夷離堇蒲古只之後
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0078

Career and standing

Label: Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent / 太子太師 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 咸雍中 · Western Interval: Start: AD 1065 · End: AD 1074
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0095
Label: Associate Director of the Inspection Office / 同知點檢司事 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 重熙間 · Western Interval: Start: AD 1032 · End: AD 1055
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0080
Label: Associate Commissioner of the Southern Chancellery Palace Secretariat / 同知南院宣徽事 · Action: appointed
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0086
Label: Commissioner of the Yongxing Palace / 永興宮使 · Action: appointed
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0081
Label: detailed commander of the Right Palace Attendant Gentlemen Company / 右祗候郎君班詳穩 · Action: appointed
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0081
Status: exile · Action: entered
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0085
Status: sentence-reduced · Action: commuted-to-lifelong-frontier-exile
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0085
Status: death-penalty-proposed · Action: prosecuted
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0084

Places and affiliations

Polity Id: liao · Relation: served
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0080

Learning and skills

Skill: portraiture / 寫真 · Level: miraculous
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0090
Skill: painting / 畫 · Level: skilled
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0079

Works and attributed material

Work: portrait of Emperor Shengzong / 聖宗真 · Relation: painter
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0085

Events and relationships

Kind: diplomatic · Role: envoy · Action: again envoy to Song · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 清寧間 · Reign Id: liao-qingning · Western Interval: Start: AD 1055 · End: AD 1064
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0088
Kind: political · Role: absentee · Action: failed to hurry to aid throne during Chongyuan rebellion
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0091
Kind: homicide · Role: perpetrator · Action: killed maid by stratagem to secure marriage · Other Person Id: Maid of Qin-Jin Senior Princess (秦晉長公主婢)
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0083
Kind: diplomatic · Role: envoy · Action: New Year congratulations to Song; painted Song ruler
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0087
Kind: diplomatic · Role: envoy · Action: secured release of Xiao Huzhu from Tangut after three missions · Other Person Id: Xiao Hudu (蕭胡睹)
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0081

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: shameful to kill a maid for marriage and paint the sovereign to escape death · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0188
Kind: appearance · Statement: bearing bright and elegant
Explicit · liaoshi:086:s0079

References in the histories

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

History of Liao, Chapter 86Volume 86 Biographies 16: Yelu Hezhu, Liu Jing, Liu Liufu, Ye Luniaolu, Niu Wenshu, Du Fang, Xiao Heshang, Yelu Helizhi, Yelu Pode · 9 passages

Open chapter

耶律合住劉景劉六符耶律甗履牛溫舒杜防蕭和尚 Yelu Hezhu, Liu Jing, Liu Liufu, Yelu Lü, Niu Wenshu, Du Fang, and Xiao Heshang

耶律履，字海鄰，六院夷離堇蒲古只之後。 Yelu Lü, whose style name was Hailin, was a descendant of Puguzhi, yilijin of the Six Divisions.

駙馬都尉蕭胡睹為夏人所執，奉詔索之，三返以歸，轉永興宮使、右祗候郎君班詳穩。 When Commandant of Escort Xiao Huzhu was captured by the Tangut, Lü was ordered to secure his release and brought him back after three missions. He was then made commissioner of the Yongxing Palace and detailed commander of the Right Palace Attendant Gentlemen Company.

履將娶秦晉長公主孫，其母與公主婢有隙，謂履曰：「能去婢，乃許爾婚。」 Lü was to marry a granddaughter of the Qin-Jin Senior Princess. The girl's mother bore a grudge against one of the princess's maids and told Lü, "Remove that maid, and I will consent to the marriage."

履以計殺之，婚成。 Lü contrived her death, and the marriage went ahead.

履善畫，寫聖宗真以獻，得減坐，長流邊戍。 Because he was a skilled painter, he painted a portrait of Emperor Shengzong and presented it, winning a reduced sentence and lifelong exile to the frontier garrisons.

宴酣，顧履曰：「重元事成，卿必得為上客！」 As the banquet grew lively, the emperor turned to Lü and said, "If Chongyuan had succeeded, you would surely have been his honored guest!"

履大慚。 Lü was deeply ashamed.

裏殺人婢以求婚，身負罪釁，畫其主容，以冀免死，亦可醜也。 Lü murdered a maid to secure a marriage; stained with a capital crime, he painted his sovereign's portrait in hope of escaping death—a shameful affair indeed.