Conquest Dynasties
Throughout history, China has been faced with a distinct geopolitical problem. Its northern border is a flatland steppe open to invasion. Every Chinese dynasty had to make precautions to protect against steppe invaders from the north. Celestial Emperors created buffer zones by establishing protectorates, forged marriage alliances with the Khans, played the nomads against each other, and built fortifications that over the course of centuries emerged as the Great Wall.
Yet, these precautions often faltered. Historian René Grousset claimed that the nomadic conquest of settled lands was “the paramount fact of human history” and “amounted almost to a physical law”. This happened so often that a term emerged to call these successful invaders - Conquest Dynasties. Only two Conquest Dynasties managed to capture all of China - the Mongol Yuan and the Manchu Qing. Many more managed to take control of parts of China and claim the title of the Celestial Emperor. This is the story of the Great Liao, the Conquest Dynasty of the Khitan nomads.
China during the rise of the Khitans (in the north). Image: Britannica
The Rise
At the dawn of the 10th century, the Tang Dynasty collapsed. The Empire fractured into a jigsaw puzzle of clashing kingdoms. Over the next century, five dynasties took control of southern China in quick succession - what is uncreatively called the Five Dynasties Period. Meanwhile, the northern part of China fell to a foreign invader, the protagonist of our story - the Khitans.
As the Tang Empire was collapsing, the Khitans were undergoing serious political changes and territorial expansion. In 901, Abaoji was elected chieftain of one of the eight Khitan tribes, and six years later he became the Khagan of the confederation. He immediately executed the chieftains and centralised the rule around himself, on the model of Chinese Dynasties.
Abaoji assumed the title of the Celestial Emperor, and not just in name. He founded 30 walled cities, built Confucian temples and created the Dual Administration system. The Northern Administration oversaw the steppe nomadic territories. The Southern Administration governed the Chinese population. The two administrations catered to the customs of their subjects. Abaoji began the process of sinicisation, turning his empire into a hybrid of Khitan and Chinese cultures. He ordered the creation of the Khitan written script, which remains undeciphered to this day.
A sample of Khitan writing from the manuscript Nova N 176. Image: V. P. Zaytsev
Gaining the Mandate of Heaven
In 926, Abaoji died and Emperor Taizong ascended to the throne. Taizong continued the policy of his predecessor. He played the southern dynasties against each other, expanding and even gaining the key area of Beijing without fighting. There, Taizong constructed a palace complex and the Buddhist Tianning Pagoda, one of the oldest surviving buildings in Beijing, which stands today at 59m in height.
A series of successful Khitan campaigns south under Taizong resulted in the sacking of the Kaifeng capital. In Kaifeng, the Khitans obtained the Jade Seal of State Transmission - the manifestation of the Mandate of Heaven in physical form. Taizong adopted the dynastic name of Great Liao. If there had been any doubt that the Khitans were ruling a legitimate Chinese Empire, now it was gone.
Tianning Pagoda in Beijing, built by the Khitans. Image: Davidmcbride
The Great Empress
The next three Emperors of the Khitan were less capable than Abaoji and Taizong. Their rule was marred with instability and rebellions. The unlucky streak ended in 982, when the power fell into the hands of Empress Xiao Yanyan - regent for her underage son and an extremely capable leader. At age 50, she personally commanded her army against the Chinese Song Dynasty, crushing the invaders. Xiao conducted a number of political reforms, bringing the Northern part of the Dual Administration in line with the Southern by translating the Chinese legal documents into Khitan language.
The Empress led a successful invasion of Korea, forcing them to become a tributary, and turned her attention south. She led a lightning fast campaign against the Song, only taking cities that chose to surrender, avoiding prolonged sieges. The Song were forced to sign a humiliating treaty, paying heavy annual tribute. Most importantly, the Song had to recognise the Khitans as equals. For the first and last time in history, two Empires that claimed the Mandate of Heaven recognised each other.
A depiction of Empress Dowager Xiao from a 1892 novel. Image: Xiong Damu
The Collapse
Despite the growing economy, the wars conducted by the Empress put a strain on the population. The next 70 years saw the Khitans focus on internal affairs. Increasingly captivated with Chinese culture, art and philosophy, the emperors continued the sinicisation of the realm, forcing all government officials to wear Chinese clothing and adopting more Chinese ceremonies. Yet, the realm was becoming plagued with corruption and was starting to lose grip on its subjects.
These subjects would soon spell doom for the Khitans - the Jurchens, a loose collection of tribes north of Korea. The increasingly oppressive government policy angered the tribes. The custom of raping married women by Khitan envoys was the largest contributing factor. In 1115, chieftain Aguda managed to unify the Jurchens and ally with the Song Dynasty. The Song and the Jurchens launched a joint invasion that devastated the weakened Khitans. Most of the territory went to the Jurchens, but Beijing finally returned to the Song. Aguda claimed the title of Emperor and founded the Jin dynasty. The Khitan administration migrated to the west and established the Qara-Khitai state.
China in 1142, after the Jin invasion (Jin is in grey, Qara-Khitai in green) Image: 玖巧仔
Jurchen Jin Dynasty
The Jurchen Jin Empire went through the same process as the Khitans - of gradual bureaucratic expansion and sinicisation. Like the Khitans, they created a writing system for the Jurchen language. Like the Khitans, they contributed to the artistic and cultural development of the region. The Jin Empire lasted for just over a century - two times shorter than the Khitans. Yet, they managed to build a stronger military and a larger empire. Their alliance with the Song did not last after the fall of the Khitans. In a series of conflicts, the Jurchens captured more and more territory, finally taking the capital Kaifeng.
The Song had allied the Jurchens to destroy the Khitans. Now the Jurchens were destroying the Song. But the Song did not learn their lesson. Because next, to destroy the Jurchens, the Song… would ally the Mongols.
Painting of Khitan hunters. Image: National Palace Museum
Khitan advisor to Genghis Khan
While some of the Khitans migrated with the administration to Qara-Khitai in the west, the majority remained and joined the Jin military and government. One of their descendants was Chucai, a Confucian scholar and a member of the Khitan Liao royal family. Chucai happened to be in Beijing in 1215 - the year Mongol forces laid siege to the city. The scholar watched the great destruction the Mongols unleashed upon the city and its people. Traumatised by the experience, he became a Buddhist monk.
Three years later, Chucai was brought before Genghis. “Liao and Jin have been enemies for generations,” the Khan said, “I have taken revenge for you”. Chucai rejected this - his father served the Jin, and he was bound to serve them too. The monk’s fearless response impressed Genghis, and Chucai became his most valued advisor. The scholar taught the Khan the principles of Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist thought. They spoke endlessly on the matters of philosophy, politics and culture. Chucai may have dissuaded Genghis from invading India. Under Genghis’ son Ögedei, he was made administrator of a large part of northern China.
Time and time again, the scholar attempted to convince the Khans to spare the lives of the people they conquered. “Will you weep for the people again?” - Ögedei mocked him. In 1244, Chucai died, having retreated from public life - reportedly, of grief. He was the last Khitan man to make history.
Head sculpture of Yelü Chucai in Fujian province. Image: Gisling
A footnote in history
The Khitan and the Jin are usually mentioned as footnotes in Mongol history. But if we look at the scale of events and their impact, a different picture arises. At its peak, the Jin Empire was home to 53 million people. For comparison, the entirety of Europe at the same time had 68 million. The Khitans and the Jin were able to field the largest and strongest armies of their time, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, while the Europeans were fielding tens of thousands at best. If we judge the significance of events by the number of people they affect, then the Khitans and the Jin were some of the most significant empires in history. So, why have they been all but forgotten?
The main reason for this is the Eurocentric view modern history tends to take. The other reason is… the Mongols. The wars between the Mongols and the Jin were some of the bloodiest conflicts in human history. Millions of civilians were wiped out, cities were razed to the ground, artefacts and sources were destroyed. The Mongols brought death and destruction on an unprecedented scale. Yet, the history survived.
The Khitans and the Jurchens have contributed greatly to the development of the culture of the region. They built temples and palaces that survive to this day. The Jin political system became the model for the way the Mongols ruled Northern China. The stories of the Khitans and the Jurchens deserve to be told.
Andrey X, 2021
Special thanks to Jackmeister for help with the research
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