In Grousset's Empire of the Steppes, it is reported that Ögedei would mock him, asking "Are you going to weep for the people again?". The wise chancellor had the great words to temper the barbaric leanings of Mongol practices, stating to Genghis Khan's son and successor to the throne, that while empires may be conquered on horseback, they could not be ruled on horseback. Yelü Chucai used his office to save other fellow Confucian scholars from punishment and mistreatment by Mongol rulers. He also helped them gain offices as bureaucrats and tutors to the Mongol princes. While Northern China was capitulating to the Mongol onslaught, Yelü Chucai instituted several administrative reforms, like separating civil and military powers and introducing numerous taxes and levies. In response to the tough resistance the Mongol army faced while trying to conquer the Jurchen Jin's southern capital of Kaifeng, some Mongol officers in high command recommended the complete razing of Kaifeng and the deaths of all its occupants. But Yelü Chucai convinced Genghis Khan to rule and tax the people, and make use of their extraordinary talents instead of killing all of them in order to further their own riches. He was six-foot eight-inches tall and had a waist-length beard. He was buried by Kunming Lake in Beijing, and a temple constructed in his memory stood until 1966, when it was razed during the looting of the Summer Palace by communist Red Guards as part of the Cultural Revolution. Yelü Chucai was the last recorded person to be able to speak the Khitan language and read and write the Khitan large and small scripts. See also Temple of Azure Clouds References External links Biography on Bookrags.com Biography on ColdSiberia.org Translation of Yelu Chucai's description of Central Asia, based on travels with Chinggis Khan's army Translation of Yelu Chucai's official Yuanshi biography 1190 births 1244 deaths Politicians from Beijing 12th-century Khitan people Yuan dynasty politicians Last known speakers of a language Yelü clan 13th-century Khitan people