Chapter 121 Section 4 National Integration

As the main ethnic group of the Liao Dynasty, the Khitan nationality once created a very glorious Liao Empire, but with the demise of the Western Liao Empire, the Khitan nationality also disappeared without a trace. There is no Khitan nationality among the fifty-six ethnic groups today.So after the demise of Xiliao, where did this nation go? After the Jin destroyed the Liao Dynasty, because they had a sworn hatred with the Liao Dynasty, they wantonly destroyed the palaces and tombs of the Liao Dynasty to vent their anger.As the ruling nation, Jurchen incorporated the Khitan people into the social organization of the Jin Dynasty at the beginning, but did not dismantle the Khitan people.Jin's social organizations were Meng'an and Mouke. Meng'an was a thousand households, and Moke was a hundred households. Jin organized the Khitan people into Meng'an and Mouke.Under Jin's rule, the Khitan people changed from the original ruling nation and the main nation into a ruled nation.Jin was very defensive and hostile to the Khitan people, and did not allow the Khitan people to have their old surnames. The Yelu family was changed to the Yila family, and the Xiao family was changed to the Shimo family.

When Jin Shizong was in power, he dispersed Meng'an and Mouk of Khitan and let them live with Jurchen, Han or other ethnic groups.In this way, many Khitan people were integrated into other ethnic groups.Later, Genghis Khan of Mongolia rose in Mobei and launched a fierce attack on Jin.Many Khitans took the opportunity to rise up, intending to restore their homeland, cooperate with the Mongols to fight against Jin, and once established the Eastern Liao and Later Liao regimes in Northeast China today.Of course, these two regimes are short-lived and very short-lived, and they will be over in one or two, two or three years.Some Khitan people have restored their old surnames, and of course there are some who have not.In this way, the Khitan people changed from two surnames to four surnames, Yelu, Xiao, Shimo, and Yila.After the rise of the Mongols, many Khitans also surrendered to Mongolia. For example, the famous Khitan official Yelu Chucai and his son Yeluzhu mentioned above. Their tombs are in the Summer Palace in Beijing today. Both of them were in Mongolia. A senior official at the order level.Many Khitan people integrated into the Mongolian nation in this way, and of course many of them integrated into the Han nationality.By the time of the Yuan Dynasty, all ethnic groups in the north, including the Khitan, were collectively referred to as Han people.