The victor is the hero, the loser is the rebel

The saying “The victor is the hero, the loser is the rebel” expresses a stark Khitan political calculus: defeat does not merely cost a ruler power but strips his cause of legitimacy. Yelu Hongji uses it when his uncle’s rebellion has left him facing capture, and the phrase helps explain both his despair and the perilous choice Xiao Feng makes in response.

Meaning and Political Context

The saying appears amid a succession crisis rooted in Liao’s imperial history. Yelu Hongji’s grandfather, Yelu Longxu, had designated his elder son Yelu Zongzhen as successor, although the Empress Dowager favored her younger son Yelu Zhongyuan and plotted to put him on the throne. Yelu Zongzhen disclosed the scheme to his brother, and it was thwarted. Grateful, he made Yelu Zhongyuan the royal emperor brother and next in line to succeed him. Yet after Yelu Zongzhen’s death, the throne passed instead to his son, Yelu Hongji.

Once on the throne, Yelu Hongji sought to secure his uncle’s loyalty with extraordinary honors: he named Yelu Zhongyuan the royal emperor uncle, reaffirmed his place next in succession, and made him supreme commander of the army. He also gave Yelu Zhongyuan’s son, Yelu NieLuGu, the title Prince of Chu and control of the Southern Chancellery. The rebellion therefore grows out of a court order in which family rank, succession, and military command overlap; the saying reduces that contested history to the blunt verdict delivered by the battlefield.

The Saying in the Crisis

When news of rebellion in the capital reaches the imperial hunting party, Yelu Hongji orders an immediate return. The revelation that the Prince of Chu has rebelled is especially grave because his father, Yelu Zhongyuan, commands the army and stands next in line to the throne. The officers and soldiers initially respond to Yelu Hongji’s personal leadership: he promises rewards and promotions, dons golden armor, and rides out at the head of his troops. But after the army suffers a crushing defeat, the earlier show of command cannot guarantee his survival or restore his authority.

By the following morning, Yelu Zhongyuan and his son are advancing north with a vast force. Yelu Hongji tells Xiao Feng that the rebels will be victorious and that he himself will become their prisoner. He says he cannot endure humiliation as emperor and intends to die for his country. The saying is his explanation for rejecting Xiao Feng’s proposal to escape, regroup, and fight again: in his account, a defeated ruler cannot simply resume the struggle, because Khitan judgment will name the victor a hero and the loser a rebel.

Xiao Feng’s Answer and the Reversal

Xiao Feng answers the political verdict with a personal one. He refuses to leave his sworn brother, insisting that whether Yelu Hongji is emperor or commoner, he remains his brother and Xiao Feng will share his danger. That promise turns the saying’s opposition between victor and rebel into a test of loyalty: Xiao Feng does not wait to learn which side history will honor before deciding whom to stand beside.

The reversal comes when Xiao Feng captures Yelu Zhongyuan and brings him to Yelu Hongji. The rebels, deprived of their leader, lay down their weapons after Yelu Zhongyuan calls on them to seek the emperor’s pardon. Yelu Hongji then pardons his uncle on Xiao Feng’s advice and appoints Xiao Feng Prince of Chu and Lord of the Southern Chancellery, ordering him to lead the former rebel army back to the capital. The defeated emperor has regained control, while the captured rebel becomes a supplicant; the saying’s categories prove contingent on the turn of events.

Consequences and Significance

The restored order does not leave the saying behind as an empty maxim. Yelu Hongji later tells Xiao Feng that, as Lord of the Southern Chancellery, he must be based in Nanjing and prepare to lead an expedition south against the Song when circumstances favor it. Xiao Feng is startled by the command and objects that the invasion is a grave undertaking and that the troops are not ready. Yelu Hongji explains that the empire must first recover from the rebellion and that it should wait for internal disorder in the Song before acting. The episode thus carries the language of victory and rebellion from the struggle for the Liao throne into the state’s ambitions beyond its borders.

The phrase is both a description of political danger and a measure of its instability. Before the battle, Yelu Hongji’s imperial title and command do not protect him from becoming a captive; after Xiao Feng’s intervention, the defeated side regains authority and the rebels submit. Xiao Feng’s conduct complicates that calculus further: his decisive act is not pursuit of office or reward, but fidelity to a friend. The saying names the verdict power imposes after conflict, while the story shows how quickly the identities of hero, ruler, and rebel can shift with the outcome.