Liaoxi, Xia, Jin, Mongol top literary officials

Author: Wei Jian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-02-02
Features: Self-cultivation, family harmony, governing the state, and peace for all under heaven are the ideals of the Chinese scholar-officials. When scholars are in the wilderness, they lack a stage to showcase their talents and can only focus on self-cultivation and family harmony, as the saying goes, "When impoverished, one cultivates oneself." However, scholars in the wilderness are not completely oblivious to the affairs of the world. They care about the people's livelihood and are concerned with the rise and fall of the nation. They observe, analyze, and accumulate wisdom and learning, ready to intervene in social life and realize their ambitions of governing the state and bringing peace to the world once the opportunity arises, as the saying goes, "When prosperous, one benefits all under heaven." These people are what we now call true intellectuals. They are not bookworms or ignorant scholars. Whether in power or in exile, they cannot forget their sense of responsibility for the nation.
Liaoning, Western Xia, Jin, Mongol Yuan. This was a period that forged heroes and marked the rise, reform, and leapfrog development of these northern ethnic groups. Once the timing was ripe, they entered the Central Plains, continuously injecting fresh vitality into the formation of China's diverse yet unified culture.
Yelü Chucai: Believing that Genghis Khan was not inherently cruel or demonic, he argued that the killings and destruction were rooted in the superstitions of nomadic culture and a lack of understanding of agricultural civilization. In this regard, Yelü Chucai could be considered a confidant of Genghis Khan. To reduce the disasters brought by war to the people, Yelü Chucai used his knowledge to cleverly advise Genghis Khan multiple times to follow the will of heaven and cherish and preserve the lives of the people.
Han Tingwei: After leaving a book of nostalgic poems for Abaoji, Han secretly left to join Later Tang. The ruler of Later Tang, Li Cunxu, loved watching plays and often took the stage himself, adopting the stage name "Li Tianxia" (meaning "Li the Worldly King"), but his governance was "inept and ineffective." In Later Tang, Han faced exclusion from eunuchs and even threats to his life, leading him to consider returning to the Khitan. A friend advised him, "If you go back now, it's no different from suicide!" Han, however, was confident and smiled, saying, "If the Khitan lose me, it's like losing both my hands and my eyes. If I return, they will welcome me with open arms!" Indeed, when Abaoji saw him return, he was overjoyed and specially granted him the Khitan name "Xialie" (meaning "coming again").
Zhang Yuan: Before escaping the Song Dynasty and joining Western Xia, Zhang Yuan was a frustrated scholar in the Song Dynasty. After failing the imperial examinations multiple times and unable to realize his ambitions, he turned to Western Xia. Later, he gained the favor of Yuanhao and contributed to attacking the Song Dynasty with his strategies, earning great merits. Some cursed him as a traitor who sought personal gain at the expense of the people of the Central Plains, calling him a "pest." Others said he spread new production methods in the frontier regions, promoting cultural exchange between the frontier and the interior, making him a "hero of history." Right or wrong, merits or demerits—can they all be summed up in a single sentence?