The Yujiulü clan (; reconstructed
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...
: ''ʔjuk kjǝu ljwo'') was the ruling clan of the
Rouran Khaganate
The Rouran Khaganate, also Juan-Juan Khaganate (), was a tribal confederation and later state founded by a people of Proto-Mongolic Donghu origin.*Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (2000)"Ji 姬 and Jiang 姜: The Role of Exogamic Clans in the Organizati ...
, which ruled over Northern China, the Mongolian Steppe and Southern Siberia.
Origin
According to
Book of Wei
The ''Book of Wei'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Wei Shu'', is a classic Chinese historical text compiled by Wei Shou from 551 to 554, and is an important text describing the history of the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei from 386 to ...
and
History of the Northern Dynasties
The ''History of the Northern Dynasties'' () is one of the official Chinese historical works in the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' canon. The text contains 100 volumes and covers the period from 386 to 618, the histories of Northern Wei, Western W ...
, the surname Yujiulü is of
Donghu origin. The first known Yujiulü was a slave caught by
Xianbei
The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into th ...
mounted raiders under the reign of
Tuoba Liwei
Tuoba Liwei () was the first leader of the Tuoba clan of the Xianbei people, in 219–277. He was the ancestor of the future Northern Wei Dynasty and was thus posthumously honored as Emperor Shenyuan, with the temple name Shizu. Later, Emperor Wen ...
. The slave, whose hairline started at his eyebrows' level, was called ''Mùgúlǘ'' (木骨閭) - "bald-headed" in the
Xianbei language
The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into the ...
. When grown-up, Mugulü was noted for his strength, emancipated and recruited as a cavalry soldier. For tarrying past the deadline, he was sentenced to death by beheading. But he fled to the mountains and ravines in the
Gobi desert
The Gobi Desert ( Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world.
Geography
The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast a ...
, where he gathered another 100 fugitives. The fugitives sought refuge under the
Gaoche
The Tiele (, Mongolian ''*Tegreg'' " eople of theCarts"), also transliterated as Dili (), Chile (), Zhile (), Tele (), also named Gaoche or Gaoju (, "High Carts"), were a tribal confederation of Turkic ethnic origins living to the north of Chin ...
tribe called Hetulin (紇突隣). The descendants of Mugulü and his companions became the nucleus of the future Rouran Khaganate.
Alexander Vovin
Alexander (Sasha) Vladimirovich Vovin (russian: Александр Владимирович Вовин; 27 January 1961 – 8 April 2022) was a Soviet-born Russian-American linguist and philologist, and director of studies at the School for Ad ...
proposes that ''Mùgúlǘ'' (木骨閭), in reconstructed
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...
*''muwk-kwot-ljo'', transcribed Tuoba Xianbei *''moqo-lo'' ~ ''muqo-lo'' 'bald head', which is analysable as 'one
ho/hich has cut-off/fallen-off
air
The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...
and cognate with
Mongolic lexical items like
Written Mongolian ''moɣutur ~ moqutur'' 'blunt, hornless, bald tail' (cf. Chinese gloss: 禿尾 'bald tail'), ''moqu-ɣar'',
Middle Mongol
Middle Mongol or Middle Mongolian, was a Mongolic koiné language spoken in the Mongol Empire. Originating from Genghis Khan's home region of Northeastern Mongolia, it diversified into several Mongolic languages after the collapse of the empire ...
'hornless', moqo-dag 'blunt'; all of those are from
Proto-Mongolic *''muqu'' 'to be cut off, break off, fall off', which in turn would produce the semantic variation 'blunt ~ hornless ~ hairless ~ bald'.
Later on, his dynasty was called ''Yujiulü'', which sounded like ''Mugulü''.
Róna-Tas suggests that Yujiulü renders *''ugur(i)'' > ''Uğur'', a secondary form of
Oğur.;
Peter B. Golden
Peter Benjamin Golden (born 1941) is an American historian who is Professor Emeritus of History, Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University. He has written many books and articles on Turkic and Central Asian Studies, such as ''An i ...
additionally proposes connection with Turkic ''uğurluğ'' "feasible, opportune", later "auspicious fortunate" or ''oğrï'' "thief", an etymology more suited to the dynasty's founder's activities; additionally Yujiulü may be comparable to
Middle Mongolian
Middle Mongol or Middle Mongolian, was a Mongolic koiné language spoken in the Mongol Empire. Originating from Genghis Khan's home region of Northeastern Mongolia, it diversified into several Mongolic languages after the collapse of the empire ...
''uğuli'' "owl" (>
Khakha
The Khakha of Kashmir are descendants of Khakha and converts to Islam.
Sikh Empire
During the Sikh conquest of Kashmir, the Khakha and also the Bhamba tribe, occasionally ventured into the valley on looting expeditions and thus annoyed the Sik ...
ууль ''uul), as personal names based on bird names are common in
Mongolic.
Family tree
Other members
*
Consort Yujiulü (died 452), formally Empress Gong, a consort of
Tuoba Huang
Tuoba Huang (拓拔晃) (428 – July 29, 451''wuchen day'' of the 6th month of the 1st year of the ''Zhengping'' era, per Emperor Gongzong's biography in ''Book of Wei''), Xianbei name Tianzhen (天真), formally Crown Prince Jingmu (景穆太� ...
, a crown prince of the
Northern Wei
Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern dynasties, it ruled northern China from 386 to 535 during t ...
, and the mother of
Emperor Wencheng.
*
Lü Pi (闾毗) - Duke of Hedong (河东王), d. April 461.
* Yujiulü Ruowen (郁久閭若文) - Prince of Puyang, senior official at court of
Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei
Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei ((北)魏文成帝) (July or August 440 – 20 June 465), Chinese name Tuoba Jun (拓拔濬), Xianbei name Wulei (烏雷), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China. He became emperor aged 12 ...
.
*
Empress Yujiulü (525–540), formally Empress Dao (悼皇后), consort of
Emperor Wen of Western Wei
Emperor Wen of Western Wei ((西)魏文帝) (507 – 28 March 551), personal name Yuan Baoju (元寶炬), was an emperor of Western Wei—a branch successor state to Northern Wei. In 534, Yuan Baoju, then the Prince of Nanyang, followed his cousi ...
.
Dissolution and legacy
Yujiulü clan lost its dominant power in steppe to
Ashina tribe
The Ashina (; Middle Chinese: ( Guangyun) ), were a Turkic speaking tribe and the ruling dynasty of the Göktürks. This clan rose to prominence in the mid-6th century when the leader, Bumin Qaghan, revolted against the Rouran Khaganate. The two ...
in 555. Surviving members of royal clan sinicized, changing their surnames to Lǘ (闾). Some of them even served
Sui dynasty
The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and la ...
, such as Yujiulü Furen (d. 29 November 586). Chinese author
Wang Anyi
Wang Anyi (born 6 March 1954) is a Chinese writer, vice-chair of the China Writers Association since 2006, and professor in Chinese Literature at Fudan University since 2004.
Wang widely write novels, novellas, short stories and essays with dive ...
wrote that her mother
Ru Zhijuan
Ru Zhijuan ( Wade–Giles: Ju Chih-chüan, 30 October 1925 – 7 October 1998) was a Chinese writer best known for her short stories. Ru was one of the most important writers of her generation. Her second daughter Wang Anyi
Wang Anyi (born 6 M ...
might be descended from Rouran.
Genetic
References
{{Rouran rulers
Rouran
Nomadic groups in Eurasia
History of China
History of Mongolia
Inner Asia
Mongolian nobility