Yuan · Official and Scholar

Yuelubuhua 月魯不花

Attested AD 1333 - AD 1341

Passages: 14
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Yuelubuhua was an official and Scholar.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Courtesy name	Yanming	彥明	Yanming
Posthumous name	Zhongsu	忠肅	Zhongsu

Life and dates

Death

Killed by Japanese pirates · At Tieshan 鐵山
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passages 139-141

Attested activity

AD 1333 元統元年
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 83
AD 1341 至正元年
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 86

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Child of Tuotiemuer (脫帖穆耳)
father 父
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 80
Child of Mother of Yuelubuhua (月魯不花母)
mother 母
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 95
Kin of Baijianu (百家奴)
nephew 侄
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 143
Kin of Tongshou (同壽)
nephew 侄
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 136
Parent of Lao'an (老安)
second son 次子
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 143
Spouse of Wife of Yuelubuhua (月魯不花妻)
wife 妻子
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 137

Origins and identity

Mongol 蒙古
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 78
Xundusi clan 遜都思氏
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 78

Career and standing

Darughachi of Baoding Circuit 保定路達魯花赤
Appointed
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 105
Darughachi of Dadu Circuit 大都路達魯花赤
Appointed
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 119
Darughachi of the Taizhou Circuit Recorder's Office 台州路錄事司達魯花赤
Appointed · From Source Date: Text: 元統元年 · Western Year: AD 1333
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 83
Meritorious Subject Who Gathers Loyalty, Proclaims Martial Worth, Upholds Rectitude, and Follows Righteousness 攄忠宣武正憲徇義功臣
Posthumously granted
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 145

Places and affiliations

Polity Id yuan · Relation Served
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 83

Learning and skills

Earned
AD 1333 元統元年 · Credential Presented Scholar 進士
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 83

Works and attributed material

Memorial · Author
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passages 98-99
Speech · Speaker · With Tongshou (同壽)
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 136
Speech · Speaker
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passages 90-92

Events and relationships

Accepted surrender
Diplomatic · Envoy · With Cheng Sizhong (程思忠)
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passages 123-124
Defended Baoding
Military · Commander
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passages 111-113
Relation Student of · Person Han Xing (韓性)
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passage 80

Assessments and attributes

Assessment fair in appointments; trusted by Baoding people · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · History of Yuan 145, passages 101, 116

References in the histories

Search passages

History

14 passages

History of Yuan, Chapter 145Volume 145 Biographies 32: Yilianzhenban, Lianhuishanhaiya, Yuelubuhua, Dalimashili · 14 passages

○月魯不花 ○ Yuelubuhua

月魯不花，字彥明，蒙古遜都思氏。 Yuelubuhua, whose style was Yanming, belonged to the Mongol Xundusi clan.

未幾，太師、右丞相脫脫南征，辟從軍事，督饋餉，饋餉用舒。 Before long Grand Preceptor and Right Chief Councillor Toqtogha marched south; Yuelubuhua was recruited to his staff to supervise supplies, and the army's provisions were amply met.

適朝廷有建議欲於河間、長蘆置局造海船三百艘者，月魯不花即為書具言其非便。 When the court proposed establishing shipyards at Hejian and Changlu to build three hundred seagoing vessels, Yuelubuhua wrote at once explaining in detail why the plan was impracticable.

月魯不花請輸京倉以便之。 Yuelubuhua petitioned that the grain be delivered to the capital granaries instead.

廷議發五省八衛軍出戍外鎮，月魯不花疏願留其兵護本郡，遂兼統黑軍數千人及團結西山八十二寨民義軍，勢大張。 When the court debated sending troops from five provinces and eight guards to garrison distant posts, Yuelubuhua memorialized to keep those troops for local defense; he then took command of several thousand Black Army troops and militia from eighty-two stockaded villages in the Western Hills, and his forces grew formidable.

朝廷以月魯不花夙負民望，令入城招諭之，抵城，賊堅壁不出，民多竊出謁拜者。 Because Yuelubuhua had long enjoyed the people's trust, the court ordered him into the fallen city to offer terms; the rebels held the walls and would not emerge, but many people slipped out secretly to greet him.

有執政以故中書令耶律楚材先塋地冒奏與蕃僧為業者，月魯不花格之，卒弗與。 When a chief minister falsely petitioned to grant the ancestral grave-land of the former Central Secretariat Director Yelü Chucai to Tibetan monks, Yuelubuhua blocked the grant and would not allow it.

詔令月魯不花招撫之，眾悉難其行，月魯不花毅然曰：「臣死君命，分也，奈何先計禍福哉！」 The court ordered Yuelubuhua to offer terms of surrender; everyone thought the mission perilous, but he said firmly, 'A subject dies at his sovereign's command—that is his duty. How can one weigh fortune and disaster beforehand!'

有權臣以免役事來謁，月魯不花面斥曰：「聖訓在耳，不敢違。」 When a powerful minister came seeking exemption from corvée labor, Yuelubuhua rebuked him to his face: 'The emperor's words are still in my ears—I dare not disobey them.'

月魯不花乃由海道趨紹興，為政寬猛不頗。 Yuelubuhua traveled by sea to Shaoxing and governed with balanced firmness and leniency.

會張士誠據浙西，僭王號，度弗可與並處，謂侄同壽曰：「吾家世受國恩，恨不能刺賊以報國，矧乃與賊同處邪！」 When Zhang Shicheng seized Western Zhejiang and declared himself king, Yuelubuhua judged that he could not remain under such rule and told his nephew Tongshou, 'Our family has received the dynasty's grace for generations; I regret that I cannot strike down this rebel for the state—how could I live under him!'

於是賊即登舟攫月魯不花，令拜伏，月魯不花罵曰：「吾朝廷重臣，寧為賊拜邪！」 The pirates then boarded and seized Yuelubuhua, ordering him to bow; he cursed them, saying, 'I am a high minister of the court—would I bow to bandits!'

事聞，朝廷贈攄忠宣武正憲徇義功臣、銀青榮祿大夫、遼陽等處行中書省平章政事、上柱國，謚忠肅。 When word reached the court, he was posthumously granted the title Meritorious Subject Who Gathers Loyalty, Proclaims Martial Worth, Upholds Rectitude, and Follows Righteousness; made Silver-and-Green Grand Master and Regional Chancellor of the Liaoyang Branch Secretariat and Pillar of the State, with the posthumous name Zhongsu (Loyal and Solemn).