60 Facts About Khitan Liao

Liao dynasty, known as the Khitan Empire, officially the Great Liao, was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 916 and 1125, ruled by the Yelu clan of the Khitan people.

In 1004, the Khitan Liao dynasty launched an imperial expedition against the Northern Song dynasty.

Tension between traditional Khitan Liao social and political practices and Han influence and customs was a defining feature of the dynasty.

Khitan Liao dynasty was destroyed by the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in 1125 with the capture of the Emperor Tianzuo of Khitan Liao.

However, the remnant Khitan Liao loyalists, led by Yelu Dashi, established the Western Khitan Liao dynasty, which ruled over parts of Central Asia for almost a century before being conquered by the Mongol Empire.

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In 1066, Emperor Daozong of Khitan Liao reintroduced the dynastic name "Great Khitan Liao" and the title remained in official use until the dynasty's collapse.

The Khitan Liao federation presented tribute to the Northern Yan, which in return invested the Khitan Liao khan as Prince Guishan.

Only two Khitan Liao leaders are known from this period: Hechen and Wuyu.

An had a Khitan Liao eunuch named Li Zhuer who worked for him as a teenager but An Lushan used a sword to sever his genitals and he almost died after losing multiple pints of blood.

Abaoji, posthumously Emperor Taizu of Khitan Liao, was born in 872 to the Yila chieftain, Saladi.

Khitan Liao later took charge of the department handing Han Chinese affairs and managed protocols of foreign affairs.

Khitan Liao combined Chinese institutions and Khitan customs to make them easier to understand for Khitans.

Khitan Liao told Abaoji that he could just refuse to be replaced.

Abaoji's rule went unchallenged until 910, when he disregarded Khitan Liao calls for another member of the family to assume the position of Khagan.

Khitan Liao named his eldest son, Yelu Bei, from his primary consort, Shulu Ping, as heir apparent and demanded the entire nobility to swear fealty to him.

Two years later, the Khitan Liao court was moved to the "Supreme Capital", a newly built walled city with a grand park and imperial tents where the Chinese palaces would normally be located.

The Khitan Liao script was used for memorial inscriptions on wood and stone and record keeping in the Northern Administration.

Almost no extensive documents written in Khitan Liao script have survived, suggesting that few were ever produced.

Khitan Liao was wearing a long gown of brocade with a wide sash tied at the back.

Khitan Liao's campaigns continued right up until his death in 926 with the conquest of Balhae and the creation of the puppet Kingdom of Dongdan.

The only information we have from Khitan sources regarding the Kyrgyz indicates that the two powers maintained diplomatic relations.

Khitan Liao had a taste for Chinese culture, music, medicine, and prognostication.

Ideologically, the Khitan Liao therefore regarded itself as the legitimate successor of the Later Jin, and the ruler of China.

Yelu Ruan, posthumously Emperor Shizong of Khitan Liao, was the son of Yelu Bei, and not the designated heir of Emperor Taizong of Khitan Liao, who was Yelu Lihu, Taizong's younger brother.

The deadlock was resolved by a royal cousin named Yelu Wuzhi and ultimately Lihu, who the Khitan Liao nobility viewed as cruel and spoiled, was unable to gain enough support to further challenge Shizong.

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Khitan Liao was only 11 years old at the time of his father's death so actual power fell to the regent, his mother Xiao Yanyan.

Until her death in 1009, the Khitan Liao empire was ruled by her and three ministers, two of whom were Chinese.

Khitan Liao imprisoned minister Xiao Xiaoxian and his wife, killed the tax commissioners and chief military commander, and declared his own Xing Liao dynasty.

Khitan Liao requested aid from Goryeo but they refused to help.

In 1044, some Tanguts living in Khitan Liao territory rebelled and sought refuge in Western Xia.

Khitan Liao forces enjoyed an initial victory but failed to take the Xia capital and were brutally mauled by Yuanhao's defenders.

Yelu Hongji, posthumously Emperor Daozong of Khitan Liao, succeeded his father, Emperor Xingzong of Khitan Liao, having already gained experience in governing while his father was alive.

Khitan Liao placed greater emphasis on Chinese education and the imperial examinations for selection of officials.

Khitan Liao was a close friend of Xingzong and had served as state counselor and viceroy of the Eastern Capital.

Khitan Liao was saved by his servants while his mother, the Empress Dowager Renyi, led the guards to ward off the attackers.

Khitan Liao led a force of Kumo Xi into the capital and armed them with weapons to prepare for combat, but his deputy governor mobilized the Chinese garrison to resist them.

In 1086 Daozong showed him the armour and weapons of Abaoji and Emperor Taizong of Khitan Liao, describing to him the hardships of the campaigns on which the dynasty was founded.

Economically the Khitan Liao dynasty suffered greatly from natural disasters during Daozong's reign.

Tribal borderlands of the Khitan Liao empire were never clearly defined, constituting a zone inhabited by fragmented and unstable tribal groups who were loosely subject to the Khitan Liao court.

Khitan Liao's death did not end warfare with the northwestern tribes and it took another two years to defeat the remaining Zubu forces.

Khitan Liao's first act upon becoming emperor was to desecrate the tomb of Yelu Yixin and all those who brought about the deaths of his grandmother and parents.

The deceased Emperor Daozong of Khitan Liao was interred together with the empress who had been forced to commit suicide.

The Khitan Liao cemented its relations with the Tanguts with a marriage alliance and sent an envoy requesting the Song to stop its attacks on Western Xia.

The Khitan Liao court recognized this and conferred on their chieftains the title of military governor.

The Khitan Liao placed on them the obligation of supplying the Khitan Liao emperor with gyrfalcons called, only bred on the coastal regions and required the Jurchens to fight across the territory of their neighbors, the Five Nations, to access.

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Khitan Liao's invasion was undermined by a plot to dethrone him and install his uncle, Prince Chun.

The new Khitan Liao empire expanded to the Aral Sea, defeating the Kara-Khanid Khanate and Seljuk Empire at the Battle of Qatwan, and establishing their dominance in the region.

The Khitan Liao dynasty inherited these ceremonies as symbolic rituals for the enthronement of the emperor.

Khitan Liao dynasty was further divided into five "circuits", each with a capital city.

Khitan Liao language is closely related to the Mongolic language family; some broader definitions of the Mongolic family include Khitan Liao as a member.

None of this Khitan Liao printing survives, though there is a Sung reproduction of a Khitan Liao printed glossary in Chinese, the Lung Khan Shou Chien, with prefaces dated + 997 and 1034.

Status of women in the Liao dynasty varied greatly, with the Khitan Liao having a much more egalitarian view towards women than the Han Chinese did.

Khitan Liao women were taught how to hunt, and managed family herds, flocks, finances, and property when their husbands were at war.

Women among the Khitan Liao elite had arranged marriages, in some cases for political purposes.

Khitan Liao women had the right to divorce their husbands and were able to remarry after being divorced.

The Khitan Liao began printing Buddhist texts in the 990s and an entire copy of the Tripitaka was completed in 1075.

Buddhist scholars living during the time of the Khitan Liao dynasty predicted that the mofa, an age in which the three treasures of Buddhism would be destroyed, was to begin in the year 1052.

The Khitan Liao believed that the souls of the dead rested at the Black Mountain, near Rehe Province.

Khitan Liao hunters offered a sacrifice to the spirit of the animal they were hunting and wore a pelt from the same animal during the hunt.

The music and songs of the Khitan Liao dynasty are known to have indirectly or directly influenced Mongol, Jurchen, and Chinese musical traditions.