Xu Yanruo
Xu Yanruo (徐彥若) (died 901), courtesy name Yuzhi (俞之), formally the Duke of Qi (齊公), was an official of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong. Background and early career It is not known when Xu Yanruo was born. He was a sixth-generation descendant of Xu Yougong (徐有功), a famed judge during the reign of Wu Zetian. His family claimed to be originally descended from mythical Xia Dynasty judge Gao Yao and traced its ancestry through a line of officials of Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty, Cao Wei, Jin Dynasty (266–420), Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang Dynasty, Chen Dynasty, and Tang Dynasty. His grandfather Xu Zai (徐宰) served as a judge at the supreme court (大理寺, Dali Si), and his father Xu Shang was a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Yizong. Xu Yanruo had at least four younger brothers, Xu Rensi (徐仁嗣), Xu Renju (徐仁矩), Xu Renfan (徐仁範), and Xu Renxu (徐仁勗). Xu Yanruo passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi (進士) class in 872, during Emperor Yizong's reign. Late in the reign of Emperor Yizong's son Emperor Xizong, he became a low-level official at the executive bureau of government (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng)