Yelü Bei

Yelü Bei (Chinese: 耶律倍) (899[1] – January 7, 937[2][3]), also known as Yelü Tuyu (耶律突欲 or 耶律圖欲), posthumously honored Emperor Wenxian Qinyi (文獻欽義皇帝) with the temple name Yizong (Simplified: 辽义宗, Traditional: 遼義宗), formally known as Renhuang Wang (人皇王, "imperial king of men") during his lifetime (including his period as the King of Dongdan), known as Dongdan Muhua (東丹慕華) (931) and then Li Zanhua (李贊華) (931–937) as a Later Tang subject, was the eldest son of Emperor Taizu of Liao, the founder of the Liao dynasty.

Rather, after the accession of his younger brother Yelü Deguang (Emperor Taizong), he fled to the Shatuo-led Later Tang dynasty, where he was killed in 937.

When Emperor Taizu pointed out that the Buddha was not a Chinese god, Yelü Bei advocated offering first to Confucius.

Emperor Taizu was pleased by the suggestion and built a temple for Confucius, having Yelü Bei offer sacrifices to him twice a year.

[1] Yelü Bei subsequently served as Emperor Taizu's forward commander in campaigns against the Wugu (烏古) and the Tangut tribes.

Yelü Bei, angry over this turn of events, took several hundred soldiers and wanted to flee to Later Tang (Jin's successor state), but was intercepted by Khitan border guards.

)[9][10] In 931, Emperor Mingzong made Yelü Bei the military governor (Jiedushi) of a newly created Huaihua Circuit (懷化, headquartered in modern Baoding, Hebei), and gave him a new name of Dongdan Muhua.

However, there was no sign that Li Zanhua ever reported to Huaihua, and in 932, Emperor Mingzong instead stated an intention to give him a command south of the Yellow River.

Lady Xia eventually could not endure seeing this and, after requesting permission from Emperor Mingzong, divorced Li Zanhua and became a Buddhist nun.

The communication went the other way around, too, as when his grandmother Grand Empress Dowager Yaonian died in 933, his mother and brother notified him of her death.

In early 936, Li Congke, apprehensive over the prospect that his brother-in-law Shi Jingtang the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) might rebel and enlist Khitan aid in doing so, had his officials Li Song and Lü Qi (呂琦) draft a plan under which such an alliance would occur – but then abandoned the plan.

[2] Later in the year, Shi Jingtang did rebel, and Later Tang forces was initially successful in advancing to Hedong's capital Taiyuan Municipality and putting it under siege.

However, they were thereafter crushed by aid troops that Emperor Taizong himself commanded and trapped by Khitan forces at Jin'an Base (晉安寨, near Taiyuan).