Chapter 25 Section 2 The territory of Liao, Jin and other regimes

The Khitan people who established the Liao Dynasty originated in the Huanghe River (now Xilamulun River and Xiliaohe River) and rose in the early Five Dynasties. In 907 (the first year of Kaiping in the Later Liang Dynasty), Yelu Abaoji took the place of the Yaonian family as the Lord of Khitan, and merged eight tribes into one country. In 916 (the second year of Zhenming in the Later Liang Dynasty), he proclaimed himself emperor.Khitan successively conquered the surrounding tribes such as Xi, Qi (xixi), Heiche Shiwei, Jurchen, Wugu, Shiwei, Tuyuhun, Dangxiang, Tatar, Shatuo and other ministries, and captured Yingzhou, Pingzhou, Liaodong (now Luanhe , Liaohe River Basin), and in the fifth year of Tianzan (926 AD, the fourth year of Tongguang in the later Tang Dynasty), the Bohai State was destroyed in the first month, and in the eleventh year of Tianxian (936 AD, the first year of Tianfu in the Later Jin Dynasty) obtained the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures , became a vast empire in northern China.The stable territory of the Liao Dynasty started from Jinshan (now the Altai Mountains) in the west, went to the northern edge of the Mongolian Plateau and the Outer Xing'an Mountains in the north, and reached Sakhalin Island (now Sakhalin Island) in the east. The border is connected with Xizhou Uighur and Xixia respectively, and the eastern section is bounded by the Northern Song Dynasty in present-day Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Hebei.After the Liao destroyed the Bohai Sea, it still owned a piece of land in the northeast of the Korean Peninsula that originally belonged to the Bohai State. Therefore, the border between the Liao Dynasty and Koryo was roughly on the line from Hamhung, North Korea to the south bank of the Yalu River Estuary.

Like most Central Plains dynasties, the Liao Dynasty also had different jurisdictions within its territory.Its main part, that is, the agricultural areas dominated by Han people set up prefectures and counties, which is no different from the rule of Tang and Song Dynasties.In the nomadic areas in the northwest, border defense cities were built and military control was implemented, similar to the Protectorate of the Han and Tang Dynasties.The rule over the Jurchens in the Northeast Songhua River Basin is similar to that of the Central Plains Dynasty over the ethnic minorities, but it is also different because of the degree of development: taxation is imposed on the "mature Jurchen" west of the river, and taxation on the "birth Jurchen" east of the river. Generally only "tribute" is accepted.

Taizu Yelu Abaoji selected the capital site on the bank of the Langhe River (now Wuliji Linlun River), and it was built in the third year of Shenshu (AD 918), and it was called the imperial capital (the former site is in the south of Bahrain Zuoqi, Inner Mongolia).In the thirteenth year of Tianxian (938 A.D.), it was changed to Shangjing Linhuang Mansion.In the 25th year of Tonghe (1007 A.D.), the Zhongjing Dading Mansion (now West Daming City, Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia) was added.The official capital of Liao has always been Shangjing, but the actual capital of the later period has been moved to Zhongjing.

In the eastern part of Tianshan today's Urumqi, Xinjiang, with the old city of Gaochang in Xizhou (east of today's Turpan City) as its capital, it is also called Gaochang Uighur and Gaochang. At the beginning of the 12th century, the territory expanded to the Tarim River Basin, which is now the area around Kuqa, Xinjiang.Later, it became a vassal state of the Western Liao Dynasty, which was attached to Mongolia in the early 13th century, and became a territory directly under the Yuan Dynasty in the middle. Khotan (tian fill) is an ancient country in the Western Regions. Since the Western Han Dynasty belonged to the Protectorate of the Western Regions, it accepted the jurisdiction of the Central Plains Dynasty on the one hand, and continued to maintain the form of the country and internal rule on the other hand.Therefore, when the Central Plains dynasty was strong and able to control the Western Regions, Khotan was an autonomous regime within the Central Plains dynasty and part of the dynasty's territory.For example, in the Tang Dynasty, Khotan established Bisha Dudu Mansion, which belonged to the Anxi Protectorate; and its capital was placed in Tianzhen, one of the four towns in Anxi, which was not abandoned until the sixth year of Zhenyuan (790 A.D.).However, when the national power of the Central Plains Dynasty was weak and unable to control the Western Regions, it became an independent regime, and Khotan has maintained such a state since the late Tang Dynasty.

The capital of Khotan has always been Khotan (now southwest of Hotan City, Xinjiang). At the beginning of the 11th century, the territory under its jurisdiction included Qiemo, Makiti, the land south of Shache and the Pamirs in present-day Xinjiang.In the Northern Song Dynasty, it was destroyed by the Uighur Black Khan Dynasty. At the end of the 10th century, Ge Luolu (Gaolu) in the Chu River Basin united with some Uyghurs who moved westward to take advantage of the disintegration of the Samanid Dynasty in Central Asia, and obtained the Hejian (between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya) areas, and established In the Black Khan (Karakhan) Dynasty, the Khan Court (the chief's residence) was built in Balasagun (now south of the Chu River east of Tokmak in northern Kyrgyzstan), and the Deputy Khan was stationed in Taluosi and Shule. In the 11th century, the territory included Yining City, Tacheng City and Kashgar City in western Xinjiang, east of Dargan Ata in the middle reaches of the Amu Darya River, east of the middle section of the Syr Darya River, and south of Lake Balkhash.From around 1041, the Black Khan split into two Khans, the East and the West, and the Eastern Khan annihilated Khotan shortly after 1004. In 1140, it was included in Xiliao.

In the second year of Song Yongxi (985 A.D.), Li Jiqian invaded and occupied Yinzhou, and the confrontation with the Song Dynasty began.In the fifth year of Song Xianping (1002 A.D.), Lingzhou was captured and changed to Xiping Mansion, and the capital was established the following year.After his son Li Deming succeeded him, he built a city in Huaiyuan Town (now Yinchuan City, Ningxia) in the fourth year of Song Tianxi (1020 A.D.), which was called Xingzhou.In the first year of Song Mingdao (AD 1032), Li Deming died, and his son Yuan Hao succeeded him. He still took Xingzhou as his capital and called Xingqing Mansion. In 1038 (the first year of Song Baoyuan), Yuan Hao was called Emperor Daxia, and Song was called Xixia.

The central area of ​​Xixia is most of today's Ningxia. In the second year of Song Jingyou (AD 1035, the second year of Xixia Guangyun, and the fourth year of Liao Chongxi), after the Cao regime in Shazhou was destroyed, it occupied the Hexi Corridor.Later, after repeated battles with Song and Liao, the territory of Xixia was roughly stable from the present-day border of China and Mongolia in the north to the Qilian Mountains in the south, Lanzhou City in Gansu, Jingyuan, Tongxin in Ningxia, Jingbian in Shaanxi, and the southwestern line of Jiaxian in the west. The western boundary of present-day Gansu, east to Inner Mongolia Urad Middle Banner, Urad Rear Banner, Wuliangsuhai, west of Baotou City, Dongsheng City, Shenmu of Shaanxi, and west of Jiaxian County.After the Jin eradicated the Liao Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty, the eastern border of Xixia was adjacent to the Jin Dynasty, and the northern border was bordered by Mongolia, which was roughly the same as that of the Liao Dynasty.At the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, Xixia acquired the Hehuang area (now the eastern part of Qinghai).Until the late Xixia period, its boundaries did not undergo major changes.

In the first year of Song Kaixi (1205 A.D., the twelfth year of Qing Dynasty in Xixia), the castle was restored after being invaded by the Mongolian army for the first time, and the capital Xingqing Mansion was changed to Zhongxing Mansion.Since then, it has been continuously attacked by Mongolia, and was destroyed in the third year of Song Baoqing (1227 A.D., the second year of Xixia Baoyi). In 1114 (the fourth year of Zhenghe in Song Dynasty and the fourth year in Tianqing in Liao Dynasty), Wanyan Aguda, the leader of the Jurchen tribe under the Liao Dynasty, took Yazihe (now the Songhua River west of Harbin) as a base and rebelled against Liao Dynasty.In the following year, he proclaimed himself emperor, established the country as Jin, and established his capital in Huining (now south of Acheng City, Heilongjiang).In the third year of Tianhui (1125 A.D., the fifth year of Baoda in Liao Dynasty, and the seventh year of Xuanhe in Song Dynasty), Liao was destroyed, and in the fifth year of Tianhui (the second year of Jingkang in Song Dynasty), the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed.After Jin destroyed the Liao Dynasty, it obtained most of its territory, but it still failed to conquer the nomadic peoples on the Mongolian plateau.Therefore, even in the heyday of the Jin Dynasty, its western boundary only reached the northern section of the Xing'an Mountains, Qiaoba Mountain in Mongolia, and Erlianhot City in Inner Mongolia.Moreover, as Mongolia became stronger and stronger, the border of gold continued to retreat. In the eighth year of Taihe (1208 AD), it had retreated to the Daxinganling Mountains, Dalinuoer, Sunid Left Banner, Sunid Right Banner, and Darhan Maoming in Inner Mongolia today. Union flag line.The "boundary trench" built to defend Mongolia is even further behind this line.

The borders between Jin and Xixia and Southern Song Dynasty have been mentioned above.The boundary between Jin and Goryeo was roughly the same as that of the Liao Dynasty, but the two prefectures of Bao and Ding were lost, so the western end was bounded by the Yalu River and no longer had a place in the south of the Yangtze River. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Jin Dynasty (1123-1134 A.D.), it was promoted to a mansion with the capital of Huining.In the first year of Tianjuan (1138 A.D.), it was called Shangjing.In the first year of Zhenyuan (1153 A.D.), the capital was moved to Yanjing (now Beijing), and it was renamed Zhongdu Daxing Mansion.In the second year of Zhenyou (1214 A.D.), under the pressure of the Mongolian army's attack, the capital was moved to Kaifeng Prefecture, Nanjing (now Kaifeng City, Henan Province).In the last year, Aizong of the Jin Dynasty fled to Caizhou (now Runan, Henan), and was destroyed by the joint attack of the Mongolian and Song armies in the third year of Tianxing (1234 A.D.).

On the eve of the fall of the Liao Dynasty, the clan Yelu Dashi proclaimed himself king in 1124 (the fourth year of Baoda in the Liao Dynasty) and led his troops to move westward.After successively occupying the former lands of the Xizhou Uighurs and the Black Khanate, it expanded westward to the Amu Darya River Basin. In 1132 (some say 1131), Yelu Dashi proclaimed himself emperor in Qierman (northwest of Bukhara, Uzbekistan today), the country was still called Liao, and the history was called Xiliao. In 1134, the capital was established in Bala Sagon, named Hu Si Or Er.The largest territory of Xiliao roughly includes all of present-day Xinjiang, from the west of the Pamirs to the west bank of the Amu Darya River in the south of Aral Hainan, and the northeast of Lake Balkhash to the west of Mongolia.After the rise of Mongolia, the northeast of Xiliao was gradually occupied by Mongolia. In 1211, Naiman King Qu Chulu seized power, but still used the name of Liao, and was destroyed by Mongolia in 1218 (the thirteenth year of Genghis Khan in Mongolia).

When Duan's Dali was established in 937, it completely inherited the territory of Nanzhao.After entering the Song Dynasty, because the Song Dynasty had been under the military threat from the north and was unable to manage the southwest, Dali also accepted the title of the Song Dynasty for a time. The two sides lived in peace and the border was stable for a long time.The jurisdiction of Dali includes the entire province of present-day Yunnan, the southwest of Sichuan, several counties west of Qinglong, Guizhou, the east of the Naga Mountains and the east of the Salween River in northern Myanmar, the northwest of Laos, and the north of Thailand.The capital was Dali (now Dali City), and the whole territory was divided into 8 prefectures, 4 counties, 4 towns, and 37 departments.In 1253 (the third year of Mongol Khan in Mongolia), it was destroyed by Kublai Khan, and it was later established as Yunnan Province. During this period, the tribes of Tubo were still in a state of division, so apart from military conflicts with some tribes in the border areas with Song and Xixia, they had no ability to expand outward.On the other hand, due to the constraints of military strength and natural conditions, the surrounding regimes did not have the possibility of entering the Tubo area. Only the Northern Song Dynasty obtained the Xihe Road on the northeast edge.The Tibetan tribes covered the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Western Sichuan Plateau, most of the present-day Kashmir region, and parts of present-day Bhutan, Sikkim and Nepal at the southern foot of the Himalayas. All ethnic groups in the Mongolian plateau were once subject to the Liao Dynasty, but after the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Liao Dynasty, it failed to continue to control the Mongolian plateau.There are mainly Turkic and Tatar tribes such as Kelei and Menggus in the local area, which are in a state of division. In 1206, Temujin, the leader of the Mongolian tribe, unified the tribes on the Mongolian plateau and established the Mongolian Kingdom, called Genghis Khan, and built the Great Ordon (the first palace tent) on the Qilulian River (now the Kherlen River).Mongolia's territory extends to Jinshan (now Daxing'an Mountains) in the east, Jinjiehao in the south, both sides of Altai Mountain (now Altai Mountain) in the west, Qianhe River (now Yenisei River) and Daze (now Lake Baikal) in the north. In the area, Hongjila, Wanggu, Naiman, Jilijisi, Biliyati, Balahu and other tribes were ruled.