Dynasties of ChinaLiao dynastyLiao dynasty lineage
Shence and others · Reign 907—926
He unified the Khitan tribes, proclaimed himself the emperor and established the country, built the capital, created writing, and conquered the Bohai Sea in the east, laying the foundation of the 200-year-old dynasty.
Yelü Abaoji, whose Han name is Yi, is from the Khitan Diela tribe. He was born into a noble family and served as the leader of the tribe. He was tall and good at riding and shooting. In 901, he was appointed by Khan Dejin Khan of Yaonan clan as Yili Jin of Diela tribe. He was responsible for conquests. He raided Shiwei, Xi, Jurchen tribes, Hedong and Daibei tribes in successive years, capturing a large number of people and livestock. In 905, he became brothers with Li Keyong, the governor of Hedong Jiedu in Yunzhou. In 907, he replaced Hende Jin as Khitan Khan.
Abaoji was the Khan for a long time and refused to give up his throne. His younger brother Ci Ge and others rebelled three times, and it took him three years to put them down. In 916, he imitated the Central Plains system and proclaimed himself emperor, established the Yuan Shenxian, and established his eldest son Yelü Bei as the Crown Prince. After that, he built the imperial capital, created the Khitan script, formulated laws, appointed Han Yanhui, Han Zhigu and other Han advisers, established prefectures and counties to resettle Han people, and started the Liao dynasty pattern of "governing according to customs".
In 924, he personally led an army to the west, reaching as far as the Uyghurs' ancient city in Mobei; in 926, he also marched east to the Bohai Sea, conquered its capital Huhan City, and renamed the Bohai Sea as the Dongdan Kingdom, with Yelü Bei guarding it as the Human Emperor. In July of the same year, Abaoji died of illness in Buyeo Prefecture on his way to the army. He was fifty-five years old. Empress Shu Lüping immediately proclaimed herself emperor, and the following year she established her second son Yelü Deguang as emperor. This paved the way for the struggle for the throne between the eldest son and the second son.
Abaoji started as a tribal leader, unified the Khitan tribes, and transformed the position of the elected khan into a hereditary throne. He also absorbed the Central Plains system to build cities, create writing, and establish prefectures and counties, turning the nomadic tribes into a multi-ethnic country. He destroyed the Bohai Sea in the east and conquered Mobei in the west, establishing the territorial scale of Liao Dynasty. However, he failed to establish a stable inheritance system during his lifetime. The eldest son and the second son fought for decades, which became the source of political turmoil in the early Liao Dynasty.
MilitaryRen Die La tribe was removed from Jin
He was appointed as Yili Jin of the Diela tribe by Khan De Jin of the Yaonan clan, commanding the troops and horses of his headquarters and specializing in conquests. In the next few years, they successively destroyed the Wei, Xi, Jurchen and other tribes, and went south to plunder Hedong and Daibei, capturing a large number of Han people and livestock.
DiplomacyYunzhou Alliance
They formed an alliance with Li Keyong, the governor of Hedong Province, in Yunzhou, exchanged robes and horses, and became brothers. They agreed to attack Zhu Wen of Later Liang together. Soon Abaoji sent an envoy to make peace with Zhu Wen, and Li Keyong hated Zhu Wen for breaking the promise.
PoliticsThat is, the Khitan Khan position
In the first month of the first month, he replaced Hende Jinyi Khan of Yaonan clan, burned firewood to the sky, and became the Khitan Khan. The rule of the Yaonian clan over the Khitan tribal alliance ended, and the Yelv clan of the Diela tribe began to hold the highest power for generations.
PoliticsPut down the rebellion among the brothers
His younger brothers Cige, Diela, Yindishi, and Anduan coveted the throne and rebelled three times. In 913, the rebels once burned and looted Abaoji's camp. Abaoji led his army to pursue the rebellion, and it took three years to completely put down the rebellion.
PoliticsProclaimed Emperor Jianyuan
In February, he was proclaimed emperor. The ministers honored him with the title of Great Sage and Emperor of Tomorrow, Jianyuan Shenxian, the name of the country, Khitan, and the eldest son Yelü Bei as the Crown Prince. The Khitan thus transformed from a tribal alliance into a monarchy with a hereditary throne.
Lasting legacyThe name of Khitan spread to the west along with merchants. In the Middle Ages, Europeans called northern China "Cathay". Today, Russians still call China "Kitai" (Kitai), which is derived from "Khitan".
SocietyBuild an imperial capital
The imperial capital was built on the Xilou site north of the Huanghe River. It was built by Kang Moji, a Han Chinese, and was renamed Shangjing Linhuang Mansion in 938. The city is divided into two parts, N & S, with the Khitan Imperial City in the north and Hancheng in the south where Han people and craftsmen were accommodated.
Lasting legacyThe ruins of Liao Shangjing are located in Lindong Town, Balinzuo Banner, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia today. The remains of the city wall still exist and it is a national key cultural relic protection unit.
CultureCreation of Khitan characters
Yelv Tu Lu Bu, Yelu Lu Bu Gu and others were ordered to create Khitan characters with reference to Chinese characters, and they were promulgated in September of the same year. Later, the emperor's younger brother Yelu Diela was inspired by the Uighur script and created Khitan small script with more pinyin components. The two scripts have been in parallel with Chinese characters for a long time.
Lasting legacyKhitan inscriptions were abandoned and lost after the Jin Dynasty. Today they are only found in epitaphs, inscriptions, bronze mirrors and other cultural relics, and scholars have not yet been able to fully interpret them.
PoliticsThe method of dividing Tibet and Han
The imperial edicts formulated the laws governing the Khitan and other tribes, while the Han people settled cases according to the laws and regulations of the Tang Dynasty. This was the beginning of dynasty's "governing according to customs", which later developed into a dual system with officials in the north and officials in the south running in parallel.
MilitaryGoing south to Hebei was frustrated
At the invitation of Jin general Wang Yuzhi, he went south, captured Zhuozhou, and besieged Dingzhou. King Li Cunxu of the Jin Dynasty personally led the cavalry to the rescue and defeated the Khitan army in Wangdu and other places. However, there was heavy snowfall, and the Khitan troops suffered many casualties due to hunger and cold, so they had to retreat north.
PoliticsDivide the overlapping part into two
The Diela tribe has a large population and powerful power, making it difficult to control. Abaoji divided it into two parts, the Fifth House and the Sixth House, each with Yi Li Jin as commander, in order to weaken the threat of the nobles of the department to the power of the Khan.
MilitaryExpedition to Mobei in the West
He personally led the army to the west and arrived at the ancient Uighur City (now on the Orkhon River in Mongolia). He carved stones to record his achievements in three languages: Khitan, Turkic and Han.
MilitaryAttack the Bohai Sea
At the end of 925, he personally conquered the Bohai Sea. In the first month of the following year, he besieged the capital of Huhan City. The last king of the Bohai Sea, Dacheng, surrendered. In February, Bohai was renamed Dongdan Kingdom, and Crown Prince Yelü Bei was appointed as the human emperor, allowing him to use the emperor's ritual system.
PeopleDied of illness in Buyeofu
In July, he died of illness in Buyeo Prefecture on his way to class. He was fifty-five years old. Queen Shulu was called Zhi, and she killed dissenters in the name of burial. She severed her right wrist and placed it in a coffin. The following year, she presided over the establishment of her second son, Deguang, as emperor.
He was a Uighur at first, and he was courageous and often accompanied Abaoji in battles. When he put down the rebellion of his brothers, he led troops to guard the camp. After Taizu's death, he claimed the throne and urged his second son, Tokumitsu, to ascend the throne. She was known as the "Queen Mother with Broken Arms".
A Baoji tribesman and his best friend as a teenager. In 907, he took the lead in persuading the advance and supported Abaoji as khan. After that, he led military expeditions and was in charge of tribal military affairs for a long time. He was respected as the first among the heroes who served the emperor. He died of illness in 916.
The eldest son of Taizu, who was established as the Crown Prince in 916, was proficient in Chinese culture, good at reading and painting. After destroying Bohai, he was granted the title of King of Renhuang and governed the Dongdan Kingdom. Taizu failed to succeed to the throne after his death.
The second son of Taizu, he was appointed as the general marshal of the world's military forces in 922. He followed his father to conquer Mobei in the west and destroyed the Bohai Sea in the east. He made many military exploits and was loved by his mother Shu Lüping. He ascended the throne in 927 as Taizong of Liao Dynasty.
A native of Youzhou, he was originally the envoy of Yan Shuai Liu Shouguang. He was detained by Abaoji and put into a high position. He suggested building a city wall and establishing a city to resettle the Han people so that they could live and work in peace, and the number of escapees would be greatly reduced. He served as an official for four dynasties.
A native of Yutian, Jizhou, he was kidnapped by the Khitans when he was young. Later, he followed Shu Lüping into Abaoji's family, where he was appreciated. His grandson was Han Derang, a famous official in the mid-Liao Dynasty.