Yelü Helü

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Yelü Helü came from a prominent noble family of the Khitan Diela tribe. His grandfather Yelü Xiamage was the elder brother of Yelü Yundeshi, Abaoji’s grandfather, placing Helü within the core Yelü lineage of the Diela tribe. His father Yelü Ousi served under the Yaonian khagans as yilijin of the Diela tribe, a powerful military leadership position. Helü was the eldest son and was described as plain and sincere in character.

He associated with Yelü Abaoji from childhood. Abaoji’s third paternal uncle Yelü Shilu, then holder of the powerful title yuyue, reportedly saw the two boys together and predicted that they would one day make their family prosper. The remark circulated among Khitan nobles and later came to be understood as foreshadowing the part both men would play in the creation of a new political order.

Bond with Abaoji and Early Political Service

After reaching adulthood, Abaoji and Yelü Helü exchanged fur garments and horses as a sign of close personal friendship. Helü nevertheless became even more deferential in his service to Abaoji. After Yelü Huage killed Yelü Shilu, Abaoji warned Helü that Huage might next turn against him. From then on Helü habitually carried a sword while following Abaoji, prepared to defend him.

When Yelü Ousi became gravely ill, he instructed Helü to lead his younger brothers in wholehearted service to Abaoji, whom he regarded as a man of extraordinary, heaven-given ability. When Abaoji came to visit, Ousi formally entrusted his sons to him. This established a close political and personal alliance between the two branches of the family.

Once Abaoji began taking part in tribal government, he regularly asked Yelü Helü to speak first when military and political affairs were discussed. The source presents this as evidence of the high value Abaoji placed on Helü’s judgment.

Rise as a Founding Commander

Yelü Helü won distinction as Khitan power expanded. He first led only a few riders in bringing the Lesser Yellow Shiwei into submission. He then served as a vanguard in campaigns against the Yuewu and Wugu and repeatedly won merit.

After Abaoji became yilijin of the Diela tribe, he campaigned against the Xi. Their leader Shuli fortified difficult terrain and resisted a prolonged assault. Abaoji therefore sent Helü into the Xi camp carrying an arrow shaft as a token of good faith. Although seized on entry, Helü remained calm. He argued that the Khitan and Xi shared language and should be treated as one people, that Abaoji’s real grievance lay with Han forces who had killed earlier Xi leaders, and that further warfare between Khitan and Xi would benefit neither side. Shuli was persuaded and led his people in surrender. In the Chinese account, the episode demonstrates Helü’s diplomatic skill as well as his courage.

When Abaoji later held the title yuyue and directed state affairs, he wished to appoint Helü yilijin of the Diela tribe. Helü declined, saying that hostile men remained near Abaoji and that he could not leave his side to take up another office. He chose personal protection of Abaoji over a major independent command.

Securing Abaoji’s Accession

In the twelfth month of 906, Khagan Hendejin died and left instructions favoring Abaoji as successor. Khitan officials presented the command and urged Abaoji to take the throne, but Abaoji declined and invoked an earlier ancestor who had refused an improper succession.

Yelü Helü responded that the earlier refusal had occurred because there had been no explicit final command and no auspicious confirmation, whereas in the present case the late ruler’s words, heavenly signs, and popular support all pointed in the same direction. Abaoji still hesitated and privately rebuked Helü for joining the officials who were pressing him to accept.

Helü then argued that generations of irregular succession had confused the distinction between ruler and minister, weakened legal and political order, forced the people into exhausting wars, and subordinated the Khitan to outside powers. The moment for a new royal order, he said, had arrived, and Abaoji should obey both Heaven and the people while honoring the late ruler’s command. Abaoji finally agreed. On the next day he assumed supreme authority and placed Yelü Helü in overall charge of military and state affairs. The Chinese source therefore portrays Helü as a decisive advocate at a crucial moment in the emergence of Abaoji’s imperial rule.

Achievements After the Founding of the State

In the early state, laws and court customs had not yet been regularized, resources were limited, and Abaoji’s brothers, including Lage, continued to harbor ambitions under the older tradition of succession within the ruling family. Abaoji created an inner guard force of more than two thousand strong men selected from the tribes, and Yelü Helü and Xiao Dilu were placed in charge. When the rebellion of Abaoji’s brothers broke out, Helü directed military operations and helped suppress it. He was then appointed yilijin of the Diela tribe.

The population had suffered severely from warfare and plunder. As yilijin, Helü was credited with restoring order, improving coordination within the tribe, increasing livestock, and helping ordinary living conditions recover. He then led a campaign against the rebelling Wugu and defeated them decisively.

After these political, military, and economic successes, Helü urged the establishment of regular court ceremonial and an era name and led officials in presenting Abaoji with an imperial honorific. Abaoji then conferred on him the title “Aludun Yuyue.” The source explains “Aludun” as a Khitan term for “great renown.” Helü also served repeatedly as vanguard in campaigns against southwestern peoples.

In 917, the second year of the Shence era, Helü joined Abaoji in attacking Youzhou. Liao forces defeated Zhou Dewei west of Kehanzhou and besieged Youzhou. Because the summer heat was intense, Abaoji returned north and left Helü and Lu Guoyong to continue the siege. In the eighth lunar month, Li Cunxu sent Li Siyuan and others to relieve the city. With enemy reinforcements arriving and their own force small and unsupported, Helü and his men lifted the siege and withdrew north.

Death and Posthumous Honors

When Yelü Helü became seriously ill, Abaoji personally visited him and asked whether he had any final advice. Helü replied that Abaoji’s rule was flourishing and that he himself had no regrets after receiving such favor, but he urged the ruler to decide without delay the still-unsettled policy of dividing the Diela tribe. After Helü died, Abaoji reportedly wept and said that if he had lived another three to five years, none of the ruler’s plans would have failed.

Yelü Helü died on the fourteenth day of the seventh lunar month in 918, aged forty-seven. Abaoji was deeply shaken, suspended court for three days, and granted funeral assistance beyond what other ministers normally received. After the burial, he named the road to the tomb “Yanda,” explained in the source as meaning an intimate companion or sworn brother, named the mountain Yuyue Valley, and ordered a stele erected to commemorate Helü’s service.

Major Activities

Military Campaigns

Yelü Helü was among Abaoji’s most effective early military commanders. He brought the Lesser Yellow Shiwei into submission with only a few riders, served as vanguard against the Yuewu and Wugu, and in 904 helped ambush Zhao Ba’s reinforcements at Taoshan during a campaign against the Black Cart Shiwei. After the founding of the state he helped suppress the rebellion of Abaoji’s brothers, campaigned again against the Wugu, and repeatedly served as vanguard in southwestern expeditions. In 917 he helped defeat Zhou Dewei west of Kehanzhou and took part in the siege of Youzhou before withdrawing in the face of relief forces.

Diplomatic Persuasion

Helü’s diplomacy was also emphasized in the source. In 901, when Abaoji’s campaign against the Xi had stalled, Helü entered the Xi camp carrying an arrow shaft and persuaded their leader Shuli to submit by stressing linguistic affinity, common interests, and the costs of prolonged warfare. In 905 he accompanied Abaoji to Yunzhou to meet Li Keyong, who reportedly praised Helü’s imposing bearing.

Support for Abaoji’s Accession and State Building

After Khagan Hendejin’s death in 906, Helü twice argued that Abaoji should accept the succession because both the late ruler’s command and popular support favored him. He later urged the establishment of formal court ritual and an era name, led officials in presenting imperial honorifics, and helped supervise Abaoji’s inner guard. The Chinese narrative treats these actions as important contributions to both the accession and the institutional formation of the early Liao state.

Administration and Relief

When Helü served as yilijin of the Diela tribe, the population was recovering from war. He was credited with restoring order, increasing livestock, and improving material conditions. Even on his deathbed he remained concerned with the proposed division of the Diela tribe, which the source presents as evidence of his continued attention to major state policy.

Personal Relations

• Grandfather: Yelü Xiamage, elder brother of Yelü Yundeshi
• Father: Yelü Ousi, yilijin of the Diela tribe under the Yaonian rulers
• Brothers: several younger brothers, all instructed by their father to serve Abaoji
• Yelü Abaoji (Emperor Taizu of Liao): kinsman and childhood companion; the two later became sworn companions, and Helü remained one of Abaoji’s closest supporters and ministers
• Yelü Shilu: Abaoji’s third paternal uncle, who reportedly predicted that Abaoji and Helü would bring greatness to their family
• Xiao Dilu: colleague who jointly supervised the inner guard force
• Yelü Huage: enemy who had killed Yelü Shilu; Helü thereafter stayed armed at Abaoji’s side against possible danger
• Lage and other brothers of Abaoji: launched the rebellion that Helü helped suppress
• Liu Rengong and Zhao Ba: Youzhou forces opposed by Helü at Taoshan
• Zhou Dewei: Tang military commander defeated west of Kehanzhou

Historical Assessment

Liao / Contemporary

• Yelü Shilu was said to have predicted that Abaoji and Helü would be the two men who would make their house prosper.
• Yelü Ousi instructed Helü to serve Abaoji loyally, regarding Abaoji’s strategic ability as heaven-given.
• Li Keyong reportedly reacted to Helü’s appearance by asking who the “great man” was.
• After Helü’s death, Abaoji lamented that had Helü lived another three to five years, all of his plans could have been completed.

Yuan and Ming Periods

The compilers of the History of Liao placed Yelü Helü at the head of the biographical section on early Liao ministers and treated him as one of the foremost founding figures. The work’s praise emphasized that his career and reputation were inseparable from Abaoji’s rise and the establishment of the dynasty.

Qing Period

Qing scholar Li E gathered and examined materials concerning Helü’s persuasion of the Xi and his support for Abaoji’s accession. Zhao Yi discussed early Liao founders and treated Helü as a close imperial kinsman with both civil and military ability who assisted Abaoji in creating the new state.

Modern and Contemporary

Chen Shu called Yelü Helü one of Abaoji’s most trusted assistants and considered him decisive in the transition from the Yaonian order to Abaoji’s rule. Cai Meibiao and other modern historians likewise emphasized his strategic advice, military campaigns, and role in the founding of the Liao. Modern scholarship generally treats him as one of the indispensable founding ministers of the dynasty.