历史

松漠建国

契丹源于鲜卑，即为东胡后裔，北魏道武帝时出现，当时聚居于辽水上游一带，自称青牛白马之后。648年唐太宗在契丹人领地设置松漠都督府，酋长任都督并赐李姓。契丹在660年唐高宗时反叛自立，并与李唐脱离关系，开元年间再度归附，安史之乱后大唐国力衰微，契丹时而复叛，松漠都督府逐渐空壳化。晚唐时契丹迭刺部的首领耶律阿保机崛起并征服各部，取代痕德堇可汗后于907年即可汗位。他先后镇压了契丹贵族的叛乱和征服奚、室韦、黠嘎斯、阻卜等部落，并且握有蒙古地区的产盐区，在军事与经济方面都十分强盛。915年耶律阿保机出征室韦得胜回国，但被迫交出汗位，不久他在滦河边建设了一座仿幽州的城敦。916年3月17日耶律阿保机建立契丹国，即辽太祖。

辽太祖掠夺中原的人口，收留因河北战争的流民，在草原上按照中原风格建立城敦以安置他们。并且任用韩延徽、韩知古、康默记与卢文进等汉人为佐命功臣。918年辽太祖建皇都临潢府（今内蒙古巴林左旗南）。两年后创建契丹大字并推行之。在军事方面，他于925年东征渤海国，于旧地建立东丹国以统治渤海遗民，册立皇太子耶律倍为东丹王。辽太祖一直有南征中原的意图，然而于攻灭渤海后的隔年，在回师途中病倒，最后逝世。其妻述律平宣布摄政，以次子耶律德光总揽朝政，屠杀政敌数百人以稳定政权。927年，耶律德光在述律平的支持下即位，即辽太宗。930年，东丹王耶律倍南逃后唐，辽太宗统一了契丹。

南下中原

936年后唐发生内乱，河东节度使石敬瑭以自称儿皇帝、割让燕云十六州为条件，请求辽太宗支援攻打后唐。辽太宗遂亲率5万骑兵，于晋阳、洛阳等地击败后唐军，最后协助石敬塘攻灭后唐，石敬塘得以建国后晋。契丹国获得燕云十六州后，将燕云十六州建设成为进一步南下的基地。为了统治当地汉族，辽太宗采取「因俗而治」的统治方式，实行通过南北两面官分治汉人和契丹人的两院制。定幽州为南京、云州为西京。

944年后晋出帝即位，他不愿向契丹臣服，上表称孙不称臣。辽太宗趁机率军南下。947年，契丹军攻克后晋首都开封，后晋亡，辽太宗改国号为大辽（另一说指契丹早于会同元年（公元938年）改国号为大辽）。虽然辽太宗有长久经营中原的意图，然而因纵兵掠夺民财，以及不让诸位节度使返回镇地，招来中原人民的反抗。四月，辽太宗被迫引军北返，最后在河北栾城病逝。947年位于中原的耶律吼等将领拥立耶律阮为帝，是为辽世宗。在上京临潢府的太后述律平想让其子耶律李胡继承帝位，不同意耶律阮称帝。太后派耶律李胡与耶律阮在辽南京北部的泰德泉交战，最后由耶律阮打赢这场战争。在经过大臣耶律屋质的劝阻之下，太后才认同耶律阮的帝位。

辽世宗任用贤臣耶律屋质，进行一系列改革，将辽太宗时的南面官和北面官合并，成立南北枢密院，废南、北大王。再其后南北枢密院合并，形成一个枢密院。辽世宗的官制改革使辽朝从部落联盟演进为中央集权。辽世宗在位期间，一直不忘占领中原的期望，多次对中原用兵。然而辽世宗好酒色，喜爱打猎。晚年更是任用奸佞，大兴封赏降杀，导致朝政不修，政治腐败。951年，辽世宗协助北汉攻打后周，行军至归化 （今内蒙古呼和浩特）的祥古山时，由于其他部队未到，先行驻扎在火神淀（今河北宣化西）。其间喝酒、打人、打猎，众将很是不满。最后被耶律察割杀死于梦乡中。

衰退与稳固

951年耶律察割在火神淀（今河北宣化）发动政变，杀辽世宗并自行称帝，辽太宗之长子耶律璟和耶律屋质等率兵杀死耶律察割后，被立为帝，即辽穆宗。辽穆宗虽讨厌女色，而无所出，但却经常酗酒，天亮才睡，中午方醒，因此长时期不理朝政，国人称之为「睡王」。辽穆宗前期，朝廷内部不稳，离心离德，大臣经常发生叛乱或是南奔中原的事件：952年六月，萧眉古得欲叛辽南奔后周，阴谋败露，被杀。七月，政事令耶律娄国、林牙耶律敌烈等谋乱，耶律娄国被捕后伏诛。953年十月，耶律李胡之子耶律宛等人谋反，事情被察觉后被捕。960年七月，政事令耶律寿远、太保楚阿不等人谋反，事败伏诛。十月，耶律李胡之子耶律喜隐谋反，事败被捕，因供词牵涉耶律李胡，耶律李胡入狱而死。

由于政局动荡不安，迫使辽穆宗停止了辽太宗、辽世宗一贯执行的南伐中原政策，以恢复因长期战事而消损的国力，与南唐、北汉联合对抗遂渐强盛的后周。959年后周发动北伐，辽朝宁州（今河北青县）刺史王洪举城投降。周军随后攻克益津关（今河北霸州）、瓦桥关，莫州、瀛州刺史刘楚信、高彦晖也举城投降。当时后周世宗欲一鼓作气，直取幽州，辽穆宗甚至有意放弃燕云十六州。最后后周世宗因为重病而南返，莫州、瀛州归后周领有，而辽军加强防御，不敢南下。由于辽穆宗本人喜好杀戮，经常亲手杀人。同时又爱好打猎到「竟月不视朝」，最后于969年二月被侍人所弑。耶律贤被推举为帝，即辽景宗，改元为保宁。

辽景宗勤于政事，重用贤臣如室昉、郭袭，使辽朝出现一阵清明。由于辽景宗体弱多病，有时无法上朝，军国大事多由皇后萧绰协助处理。辽景宗对辽穆宗时谋反的皇族采比较宽松的政策，因而谋乱者少，朝廷比较稳定。辽景宗对外政策仍采不主动南伐中原，而是仅扶持支援北汉的方针。辽景宗前期，辽朝与宋朝聘史往还，互贺节日。宋太宗赵光义统一江南后，于979年亲征北汉，辽朝派数万兵支援北汉。三月，辽军在白马岭（今山西盂县）与宋军交战战败，辽将耶律敌烈等人战死。六月，北汉君主刘继元降宋。辽朝只能全力固守幽蓟。宋太宗乘胜围攻幽州，辽朝派宰相耶律沙、耶律休哥、耶律斜轸等率军与宋军会战于高梁河（今北京西直门外），史称高梁河之战。辽军最后击溃宋军，宋太宗仅以身免，此后宋辽两国进入了相持状态。

圣宗盛世

982年辽景宗病逝，辽圣宗继位，尊萧绰为皇太后，并由萧太后摄政。当时萧太后30岁，辽圣宗12岁，而萧太后之父萧思温于970年被害，无嗣，使得萧太后也没有外戚可以依靠。而诸王宗室二百馀人拥兵自重，控制朝廷，对萧太后及辽圣宗构成了莫大的威胁。萧太后先重用大臣耶律斜轸、韩德让参决大政，南面军事委派给耶律休哥，撤换一批大臣，并下令诸王不得相互宴请，要求他们无事不出门，并设法解除他们的兵权。在这些行动后，辽圣宗和萧太后的地位才稳定下来。萧太后摄政二十七年，传闻曾改嫁给韩德让。在她执政期间进行改革，并且励精图治，注重农桑，兴修水利，减少赋税，整顿吏治，训练军队，使辽朝百姓富裕，国势强盛。1009年辽圣宗亲政后，辽朝已进入鼎盛，基本上延续萧太后执政时的辽朝风貌，反对严刑峻法，并且防止贪污事件。在文教方面，辽圣宗实行科举，编修佛经，佛教极为盛行。在位其间四方征战，对宋战争屡屡获胜，俘获号称杨无敌的宋朝名将杨继业。

北宋立国之初即有意要收复燕云十六州，先后于979年、986年两度北伐，皆为辽军所击败。辽圣宗为了防止高丽与宋朝结盟，进而威胁辽朝东部，于993年发动高丽契丹战争以降服高丽，于1009年的东征时最远攻入高丽开城。之后为解决辽宋之间的长期对抗，以及避免契丹贵族威胁皇权，萧太后与辽圣宗于1004年亲率大军深入宋境。宋真宗畏敌，欲迁都南逃，因宰相寇准坚持而亲至澶州（今河南濮阳）督战。宋军士气大振，击败辽军前锋，辽将萧挞凛战死。辽军恐腹背受敌，提出和约。主和的宋真宗于次年初与辽订立和约，协定宋每年贡辽岁币银十万两、绢二十万匹，双方各守疆界，互不骚扰，成为兄弟之邦，此即澶渊之盟，从此两朝和好达一百二十年之久。之后辽圣宗结好西夏，而西夏也摇摆于宋、辽之间以图存，形成辽宋西夏三国鼎立的局势。

三国鼎立

1031年辽圣宗去世，长子耶律宗真即位，即辽兴宗。辽兴宗其生母萧耨斤（即法天太后）自立为皇太后并摄政，并派人杀死辽兴宗的养母齐天皇后萧菩萨哥。法天太后重用在辽圣宗时代被裁示永不录用的贪官污吏以及其娘家的人。辽兴宗因无权而不能救，母子因此结怨。法天太后对辽兴宗并不信任，打算改立次子耶律宗元（即耶律重元）为帝。耶律宗元把这一事告诉兴宗。辽兴宗怒不可遏，于1034年用武力废除法天太后，迫法天太后「躬守庆陵」，大杀太后亲信。七月，辽兴宗亲政，修建陵园安葬齐天皇后。而后，把法天太后接回来，并与她保持十里的距离，以防不测。兴宗母子的感情裂痕始终没有填平。

辽兴宗在位时，辽朝国势已日益衰落。而有辽兴宗一朝，奸佞当权，政治腐败，百姓困苦，军队衰弱。面对日益衰落的国势，辽兴宗连年征战，多次征伐西夏；逼迫宋朝多交纳岁币。但是这些反而使辽朝百姓怨声载道，民不聊生。辽兴宗还迷信佛教，穷奢极欲。辽兴宗曾与其弟耶律宗元赌博，一连输了几个城池。他对自己的弟弟耶律宗元非常感激，一次酒醉时答应百年之后传位给耶律宗元。其子耶律洪基（即为后来的辽道宗），也未曾封为皇太子，只封为天下兵马大元帅而已。这种下了辽道宗继位后，耶律宗元父子企图谋夺帝位的恶果。

宋夏战争后北宋内外交困之际，使得辽朝趁机侵宋。在徵求张俭的意见后，一面派其弟耶律宗元和萧惠在边境制造欲攻宋的虚张声势，一面派萧特末（汉名萧英）和刘六符于1042年正月去宋朝索要瓦桥关南十县地。宋朝派富弼与辽方使节谈判，此即重熙增币。双方于九月达成协议，在澶渊之盟规定赠辽岁币基础中，再增加增岁币银十万两、绢十万匹以了结这次索地之争。辽兴宗还派耶律仁先和刘六符再次使宋争得一个「纳」字，即岁币是宋方纳给辽方的，不是赠送的。宋仁宗也委曲求全予以应允，而条件是辽朝须逼西夏与宋朝和谈。因此，在辽宋和好之后，为答应宋朝要求，辽夏关系恶化并发生辽夏战争。辽兴宗两次亲征西夏，均遭失败，而西夏最后愿意分别向辽和宋称臣进贡。

道宗中衰与女真威胁

辽道宗继位后，1063年七月耶律宗元听从儿子的劝说，发动叛乱，自立为帝，不久被辽道宗所平，耶律宗元自尽，史称滦河之乱。辽道宗在位期间，辽政治腐败，国势逐渐衰落。道宗并没有进行改革图新，而且本人也腐朽奢侈，这时地主官僚急剧兼并土地，百姓痛苦不堪，怨声载道。辽道宗重用耶律乙辛等奸佞，自己不理朝政，并听信耶律乙辛的谗言，相信皇后萧观音与伶官赵惟一通奸而赐死皇后。而同时耶律乙辛为防太子登基对自己不利，故陷害皇太子耶律浚，并将其杀害，史称十香词冤案。后来，一位姓李的妇女向辽道宗进「挟谷歌」辽道宗才把皇太子的儿女接进宫。1079年七月，耶律乙辛乘辽道宗游猎的时候意图谋害皇孙耶律延禧，辽道宗接纳大臣的劝谏，命皇孙一同秋猎，才化解耶律乙辛的阴谋。大康九年，辽道宗追封故太子为昭怀太子，以天子礼改葬。同年十月，耶律乙辛企图带私藏武器到宋朝避难，事败被诛。1101年正月，辽道宗去世，皇孙耶律延禧继位，即天祚帝/辽恭宗。当时西夏夏崇宗因受到北宋攻击一再向辽求援，并求天祚帝女尚公主为妻。最后天祚帝于1105年将一个族女耶律南仙提升为公主嫁给夏崇宗，并派使者赴宋，劝北宋对西夏和谈。

1112年二月十日天祚帝赴春州，召集附近女真族的酋长来朝，宴席中醉酒后令诸位酋长为他跳舞，只有完颜阿骨打不肯。天祚帝不以为意，但从此完颜阿骨打与辽朝之间不和。九月，完颜阿骨打不再奉诏，并开始对其他不服从他的女真部落用兵。1114年春，完颜阿骨打正式起兵反辽。一开始天祚帝并未将完颜阿骨打当作一个重大威胁，但是所有他派去镇压完颜阿骨打的军队全部战败。1115年天祚帝为了解决女真的威胁，下令亲征，但是辽军到处被女真军击败，完颜阿骨打也自称皇帝，建立金朝，即金太祖。辽朝于同年发生内乱，耶律章奴在辽上京叛乱，虽然这场叛乱很快就被平定，但是分裂了辽朝内部。此后位于原渤海国的东京也发生高永昌叛乱自立，这场叛乱一直到1116年四月才被平定。五月女真藉机占领了辽东京和渖州。1117年女真攻春州，辽军不战自败。

分裂与灭亡

1120年金军攻克辽上京，守将萧挞不也投降，到1121年辽朝已经失去一半的领土。辽将统伊都等人到咸州（今辽宁开原）请降，天祚帝逃到鸳鸯泺（今河北赤城），奔向辽西京。金军追击，天祚帝又逃到伊苏部。而内部又发生因为皇位继承问题而爆发的内乱，最后天祚帝杀他的长子耶律敖鲁斡而结束，但是这使得更多的辽兵投降金朝。1122年正月，金军攻克辽中京，天祚帝被金兵所迫，流亡夹山。

由于位于辽南京的耶律大石与李处温等人不知天祚帝去向，他们拥立耶律淳为帝，即天锡帝，史称北辽。天锡帝降天祚帝为湘阴王，并遣大使奉表于金朝，乞为附庸。可是事未完成，他就病死，妻辽德妃称制，改年号为德兴。此时辽臣李处温父子觉得前景不妙，打算向南私通北宋的童贯，欲劫持辽德妃纳土于宋。向北私通金人，作金的内应。后她发现他们罪行而赐死之。当年十一月，辽德妃五次上表给金朝，只要允许立耶律定为辽帝，其他条件均答应。金人不许，她只好派兵死守居庸关，十一月居庸关失守，十二月辽南京被攻破。辽德妃带著随从的官员投靠天祚帝，天祚帝诛杀她。

1123年正月，在上京的回离保（萧干）自立，号奚国皇帝，八月平定。1124年，天祚帝已经失去了辽朝的大部分土地，他的儿子和家属大多数被杀或被俘，天祚帝退出漠外，准备投奔西夏。1125年3月26日，天祚帝在应州被为金人完颜娄室等所俘，辽朝亡。八月天祚帝被解送金上京（今黑龙江阿城），金太宗封为海滨王。1128年，天祚帝病故，遗臣萧术者对故主行人臣之礼。

西辽续国

此后，辽朝贵族耶律大石在西北召集残部，控制了蒙古高原和新疆东部一带。1130年，由于受到金兵的压迫，耶律大石决定放弃蒙古高原，率部西征。1132年，耶律大石在叶密立（今新疆额敏）称帝，国号仍为「辽」，史称西辽（西方称为黑契丹或哈剌契丹），首都虎思斡鲁朵（今吉尔吉斯托克马克东南布拉纳城）。西辽曾一度扩张到中亚，成为中亚强国。1143年，耶律大石去世，庙号德宗。之后，西辽历经感天皇后萧塔不烟（改元称制）、仁宗耶律夷列、承天皇后耶律普速完（改元称制）和天禧帝耶律直鲁古的统治，1211年，突厥乃蛮部贵族屈出律篡位称帝。最终，西辽于1218年被成吉思汗的蒙古军队所灭，立国凡87年。

1212年，辽朝宗室耶律留哥在隆安（今吉林农安）、韩州（今吉林梨树）一带起军反抗金朝，并且受到蒙古帝国的庇护。隔年三月，耶律留哥称王，国号辽，史称东辽。1216年初，耶律留哥之弟耶律厮不叛变，在澄州称帝，史称后辽。耶律厮不不久被部下所杀，众推耶律乞奴为监国。同年秋，木华黎率蒙古军东下，耶律乞奴等不敌，率九万契丹族越过鸭绿江进入高丽境内。不久契丹诸贵族自相残杀，后辽最后于1220年灭亡。耶律留哥建国后依然归附蒙古帝国，成为其藩属，1270年元世祖撤藩，东辽正式灭亡。

疆域与行政区划

辽朝初期的疆域在今辽河流域上游一带，在辽太祖及辽太宗时期不断对外扩张，辽太祖时征服奚（今河北北部）、乌古、黑车子室韦（今内蒙古东部呼伦湖东南）、鞑靼、回鹘与渤海国。938年辽太宗时取得燕云十六州，并一度占有中原。1005年辽圣宗与北宋签定澶渊之盟，最后确定了与宋的边界。辽朝全盛时，疆域东北至今库页岛，北至蒙古国中部的色楞格河、石勒喀河一带，西到阿尔泰山，南部至今天津市的海河、河北省霸县、山西省雁门关一线与北宋交界，与当时统治中原的宋朝相对峙，形成南北朝对峙之势。

辽朝于契丹国时期领有八部，建立辽国后的行政区划为道、府（州）、县三级。共有5京、6府，156州（军、城），309县。道有五个，每个道有一个政治中心，称为京，并以京的名称来命名道。道下设府、州、军、城4种政区，为同一级别。

• 五个道：上京道、中京道、东京道、南京道和西京道；

• 府：

　• 京府：上京临潢府、中京大定府、东京辽阳府、南京析津府、西京大同府；

　• 率宾府、定理府、铁利府、安定府、长岭府、镇海府和兴中府，1041年兴中府升霸州置今朝阳，这7府的地位比京府略低。

• 州： 分等，从高依次为：节度州、观察州、防御州、刺史州；

• 县：辽朝还设有与县同级的州、军、城。

辽朝政治的核心是因俗而治，以该文化的典章制度统治该族人民，这个特色在行政区划也看得出来。在契丹部落时期就征服邻近的奚族，于当地依旧立奚王，建立自己的政府机构。契丹国时期攻灭渤海国，为了便于统治渤海人民，于当地建立东丹国，沿袭渤海国行政体制。东丹国最后被废，改为中台省。在占领燕云十六州后，也在当地也沿袭后唐行政体制以便于统治当地汉人。

而头下军州是辽朝一种特殊建置。契丹贵族将所俘掠的人口，建立州、军安置，督迫其为主人劳作。辽诸王、外戚、大臣所领有的头下军州可建城郭，其馀只能有自己的头下寨堡。头下军州多设在潢河流域契丹住地。俘户主要是河北、山西的汉人和东北地区的渤海人。头下州县名称，常采用俘户原籍州县名称，如俘卫州民，建卫州；俘三河县民，建三河县；俘密云民，建密云县等。头下军州的制度到辽圣宗时期逐渐废除。

五京制度与捺钵制度

辽朝如同宋朝，也有五京制度，主要是为控制因战争获的土地而设置的，或是因为争夺一地而设置的前进基地。这些先后成立的五京为上京临潢府（今内蒙古林东）、因控制奚领地而设置的中京大定府（今内蒙古宁城）、因为渤海遗民设置的东京辽阳府（今辽宁辽阳）、因为燕云十六州而设置控制汉地的南京析津府（今北京）与监视西夏的西京大同府（今山西大同）。五京中，只有上京是首都，其他均是陪都。然而辽中京至澶渊之盟后，其政治作用加强，地位直逼上京的首都地位。

捺钵，即「行在」、「营盘」，为辽帝的行宫。辽朝虽以上京临潢府作为首都，但其政治核心在捺钵。这是因为契丹族转徙不定、车马为家的特性，决定了皇帝的巡狩制。一切重大政治问题均在捺钵随时决定，是处理政务的行政中心。每年又「四时巡守」，「四时各有行在之所，谓之捺钵」。皇帝在游猎地区设的行帐，以区别于皇都的宫帐。因气候、自然条件的制约，四时各有捺钵之地。

辽太宗时，取燕云十六州后，其国土包括长城以南的广大地区，为保持契丹族的骑射善战传统的经济生活，仍然过著「转徙随时，车马为家」的生活。正如《辽史》中记载的「辽国尽有大漠，浸包长城之境，因宜为治，秋冬违寒，春夏避暑，随水草就畋渔，岁以为常」，四时各有行在之所，在这种特殊经济、政治、文化背景下，在契丹的管理体制上，逐渐形成了一套县有鲜明游牧契丹民族独特特点的四时捺钵制度。契丹皇帝四时巡行的宫帐（也称牙帐），即春捺钵、夏捺钵、秋捺钵、冬捺钵。

政治体制

由于辽朝属于多民族国家，其政治体制融合契丹体制与唐宋体制而形成南北院制。南北院制分成北面官制和南面官制，以「本族之制治契丹，以汉制待汉人」，藉此保护契丹固有文化与政治体制。北面官治宫帐、部族、属国之政，南面官治汉人州县、租赋、军马之事，因俗而治。

北面官制中，北南枢密院是辽朝最高官制，北枢密院掌管全国军政，类似唐朝的兵部；南枢密院掌管铨选、丁赋等政。北枢密院管辖契丹族在内的少数民族，南枢密院管辖汉族以及州、郡、县。枢密院下还设北南宰相府，北、南宰相都由皇族耶律氏和后族萧氏所把持。此外还有管理契丹或汉族军民之事的北南大王院、管理北南院御前祗应之的北南宣徽院、管理皇室教育的大内惕隐司、管理刑狱的夷离毕院、管理文翰之事的大林牙院与管理礼仪的敌烈麻都司等。

南面官制的官名及职掌沿袭唐朝制度，并参照五代和宋朝的官制。以太尉、司徒、司空为三公；太师、太傅、太保为三师。在其下设有中书省、门下省、尚书省等三省。其下有六部与大理寺。还有御史台、翰林院（又称南面林牙）、国史院、太常寺以及诸监、卫等。官有实授、遥授之分。职事官与散官及阶、勋、宪衔、封爵、食邑户数等配套。辽代官名多有契丹语官名，如林牙即翰林，惕隐掌管皇族政教，夷离毕掌管刑狱，乙里免为诰命夫人等。而朝廷重要职位都掌握在契丹人手中，尤其是帝系和外戚手中。

辽朝的法律因俗而治，使用双轨制度，基本原则以国制治契丹，以汉制待汉人。契丹人采属人主义，汉人采属地主义。早期有民族岐视，契丹制度较为宽松，而汉地由于继承历代法律，法条较为绵密。辽圣宗时契丹人法也用汉律来断，这反映汉人地位的提升。而皇帝往往随意杀人，无法无天，辽穆宗尤甚。后期汉人附属感渐增，如辽亡前王介儒说：「南朝每谓南人思汉，殊不思自割属契丹已近二百年，岂无君臣父子之情？」「谚语有之：一马不备二鞍，一女不嫁二夫。为人臣岂事二主？燕中士大夫岂不念此！」

外交与对外关系

契丹族原臣服唐朝，被唐朝设立为松漠都督府。于晚唐五代时建立契丹国独立，并且屡次入侵河北地区。五代后唐末年，辽太宗接受石敬瑭的请求，协助他建立后晋取代后唐，以获得燕云十六州与后晋的臣服。不久又南征中原，灭后晋以建立辽朝。至此辽朝与中原的外交关系首度转为辽朝居上，中原臣服的状态。之后辽朝衰退，后周与北宋为了燕云十六州又相继北伐，双方恢复对峙的局面。辽朝采取防御策略，并且扶持北汉对抗中原的北伐，屡次抵御中原的进攻。直到辽圣宗时，经过充分准备之后，再度发动南征，率辽军直逼北宋的澶州。最后双方订立澶渊之盟，辽朝与北宋建立大致上平等的外交关系，长达120年，双方并且加强经济和贸易往来。

1042年辽兴宗乘宋夏战争后北宋内外交困之际，率重兵陈列辽宋边界，并派萧特末（汉名萧英）和刘六符去宋朝索要瓦桥关南十县地。宋朝派富弼与辽方使节谈判，双方于九月达成协议，此即重熙增币。最后增加增岁币银十万两、绢十万匹以了结这次索地之争。辽兴宗还派耶律仁先和刘六符再次使宋争得一个「纳」字，即岁币是宋方纳给辽方的，不是赠送的。宋臣富弼建议宋仁宗答应要求，并且要求辽朝约束西夏作为条件以破坏辽与西夏的关系，最后使辽兴宗两次亲征西夏，劳民伤灾。辽朝晚期因受女真族建立的金朝入侵，加上朝廷内部分裂与内斗，使辽朝有意与北宋和谈。但是北宋已经与金朝建立海上之盟而共同伐辽，所以拒绝和谈，最后辽朝亡于金朝。

辽朝于926年灭渤海国后与高丽接触。942年送给高丽50匹骆驼，但遭高丽太祖拒绝。辽使被放逐到孤岛，所送骆驼也都被饿死。至此辽朝多次袭扰高丽边界，993年，辽圣宗率大军越过鸭绿江入侵高丽。最后双方和谈，在高丽同意断绝与宋的联盟后，辽圣宗率军北返，双方建立友好的睦邻关系。1009年高丽发生军变。辽圣宗趁机入侵高丽，最后在攻下开城后北返。1018年，辽朝率大军再度东征高丽。但不敌高丽军队。双方之后谈和，以后辽朝再也没有入侵高丽。

辽朝与西北诸国保持著较为友好和睦的往来。辽朝西境的主要邻国西夏，长期以来，一直与辽朝保有朝贡和联姻关系。一度为辽藩属，被称为甥舅之邦。辽朝与西域诸国的关系也源远流长。早在辽太祖耶律阿保机时，就曾经率军西征，使西域诸国相继臣服。统和年间，王太妃出师西域，1003年建可敦城，作为西北的边防重镇，经过多年的经营，使辽朝的势力范围涵盖漠南、漠北与西域之地。辽朝政府对这些降附的部落属国，均采取「因迁种落，内置三部」的羁縻政策，使的这些国家互相监督，皆不愿背叛辽朝。这些都使葱岭以东的甘州回鹘、西州回鹘与葱岭以西的喀喇汗国，基本上都是亲附辽朝，其与北宋的关系较疏。此外，西亚的波斯与大食(加兹尼王朝)在辽初也相继道使来通好。天赞二年，波斯使来，其明年大食使来。大食国王遣使为王子请婚，未允。次年，复遣使请婚，辽圣宗以宗室之女嫁之。

因此，在唐朝灭亡之后，西域、西亚与东欧地区皆将辽朝（契丹）作为中国的代表称谓。中亚和西亚的伊斯兰兵书中，还将中国传过去的火药与火器称为「契丹花」、「契丹火箭」等。直到今日，俄罗斯民族的语言和文字当中，也依旧以契丹作为中国的称呼。

军事制度

辽朝的军队，平时约在二十万至三十万左右。契丹是游牧民族，善于骑射，平时放牧渔猎，既是生产经济活动，也是军事练习，有战争很快即可集合成军。由于全民皆兵，辽朝所能动员的兵力在总人口当中，比例很高，为164万2800人。由于保留著原始部族的痕迹，并处于由奴隶制向封建制迅速转化的历史阶段，军事制度初期多与本民族社会制度合为一体，进入长城以南地区后，既保有本民族特色，又逐步接受汉族影响，具有民族融合的特点。辽朝皇帝亲掌最高兵权。下设北南枢密院。北枢密院为最高军事行政机构，一般由契丹人主管﹔南枢密院亦称汉人枢密院，掌汉人兵马之政，因而出现一个朝廷两种军事体制并存的局面。 　

辽朝兵制分为宫帐军、部族军、京州军和属国军。宫帐军，即皮室军，徵集直属皇帝的著帐户壮丁组成，是契丹族亲军，供宿卫和征战，「以行营为宫，选诸部豪健千人，置腹心部」。部族军，主要由契丹以外的部族壮丁组成，供守卫四边。以上两种部队是辽军的主力。京州军，亦称五州乡军，徵集五京道各州县的汉族、渤海族等的壮丁组成。属国军，由臣属国壮丁组成。后两种部队为辅助兵力。辽初，贵族男子人人服兵役，年龄在15～50岁之间的列籍正军，兵器、战马自备。并且时常派遣掠夺周边物资，时称打草谷。辽军以骑兵为主，主要武器是弓箭和刀枪。后期从宋朝传入抛石机，编有炮手军。

辽朝军制十分重要的一点便是所谓的斡鲁朵制度，即宫卫制度。斡鲁朵意为宫帐或宫殿之意，这是直属于辽国皇帝及太后的禁卫，另外皇室贵族或受皇帝特别恩宠的大臣也有自己的斡鲁朵。斡鲁朵制度对加强皇权，维护耶律氏的统治有相当重要的作用。当主人去世后，斡鲁朵的人员就变成主人陵墓的守卫者。辽朝共计有十二宫一府。而当代皇帝的斡鲁朵出巡时，所有前朝的斡鲁朵守卫都要随行出动当守卫者，所以越后代皇帝的出巡规模就越大。

经济

契丹族本是游牧民族，原本是「畋渔以食、皮毛以衣、马逐水草、人仰湩酩」。游牧民族经济上的弱点，在契丹立国之前大致上解决。以人为方式在游牧地区内营造绿洲，再将农耕民族移居其中。契丹人从事农业、手工业，都是由辽太祖的祖父、父亲以及伯父等传入契丹，又传授纺织。辽在各地均设群牧使司以管理官有的牲畜。辽朝皇帝使农牧业共同发展繁荣，各得其所，建立独特的、比较完整的管理体制。

农业

辽朝境内农作物品种齐全，既有粟、麦、稻、穄等粮食作物，也有蔬菜瓜果。他们借鉴和学习中原的农业技术，引进作物品种，还从回鹘引进了西瓜、回鹘豆等瓜果品种，结合北方气候特点形成了一套独特的作物栽培技术。辽朝的土地有公田和私田两类。在沿边设置的屯田自然是公田。募民耕种的在官闲田也是公田，百姓领种十年以后，要对朝廷缴纳租赋。至于所说的「占田置业入税」则是私田了。估计屯田多集中在北部沿边，私田则多在辽国南境。在契丹的汉人依然是以男耕女织的方法维持家庭收入。同时，契丹将战争中俘掠的汉人，安置在契丹腹心地区，建立许多头下军州。除少部分需上缴，其馀收入皆归头下主所有。辽廷为了鼓励人民开辟荒地，立例若成功开辟农地可免租赋十年，形成契丹特有的农牧混合经济。遇到兵荒、岁饥之年，也要减、免赋税，991年1月辽圣宗时期，「诏免三京诸道租税，仍罢括田」。1075年9月辽道宗时期，「以南京饥，免租税一年，仍出钱粟振之」。辽朝从事农业生产的居民被编入州县，包括拥有少量土地的自耕农和靠租种地主土地为生的佃户。他们无论经济地位如何，都是具有自由民身分的国家编户，并承担著国家的赋役负担。寺庙的佃户多是贵族、官僚随同土地一起转赠的，是既向国家纳税又向寺庙交租的另一种形式的税户。

畜牧业

辽朝的畜牧业十分发达，契丹人的牧业经济得到了较大发展。牧业是契丹等部落民的生活来源，也是辽朝所以武力强盛、所向克捷的物质条件。当时阴山以北至胪朐河，土河、潢水至挞鲁河、额尔古纳河流域，历来有优良的牧场。契丹各部和属部中的阻卜、乌古、敌烈、回鹘、党项等，主要从事游牧业。羊、马是契丹等游牧民的主要生活资料：乳肉是食品，皮毛为衣被，马、骆驼则是重要的交通工具。战争和射猎活动中马匹又是不可缺少的装备。因此，「蕃汉人户亦以牧养多少为高下」。阿保机之妻述律氏曾自豪地说：「我有西楼羊马之富，其乐不可胜穷也」。羊、马也是辽朝向契丹诸部和西北、东北属国、属部徵收的赋税和贡品，是辽朝的重要经济来源，因而受到统治集团的重视。游牧的契丹人，编入相应的部落和石烈，在部落首领的管理下，在部落的分地上从事牧业生产，承担著部落和国家的赋役负担，没有朝廷和部落首领的允许，不能随意脱离本部。他们是牧区的劳动者、牧业生产的主要承担者，是部落贵族的属民。

手工业

辽代的冶铁业发达，发掘出土铁制的农业工具、炊具、马具、手工工具可与中原的产品相媲美。辽东是辽朝产铁要地，促进辽朝冶铁业的发展。初期，曾以横帐和大族奴隶置曷术石烈，从事冶炼。「曷术」，即契丹语「铁」。曷术石烈在圣宗时因户口繁息和生产关系的变化，改编为部，仍以铁为赋。辽在手山、三黜古斯和柳湿河分置三冶。其中手山为今辽宁省鞍山市的首山，这里的矿冶史最晚当起自辽代。

辽代陶艺受唐代影响，墓葬出土文物则显示部分宋代器皿及其他器皿自国外输入，但金、银器制作亦采用唐、宋的金属打制和镀金技术。辽瓷在中国陶瓷发展史上占有重要地位，瓷器的造型可分为中原式和契丹式两类，中原式仿造中原的风格烧造，有碗、盘、杯、碟、盂、盒、壶、瓶等，契丹式则仿造本族习惯使用的皮制、木制等容器样式烧造，器类有瓶、壶、盘、碟，造型独具一格。缸瓦窑村窑是一处目前所知辽代最大的古瓷窑遗址，可生产白釉、单釉和三彩釉瓷以及宫廷所用的官窑器物。辽代的鎏金、鎏银、染织、造马具、制瓷以及造纸等手工业门类齐全，工艺精湛。契丹鞍与端砚、蜀锦、定瓷更被北宋《袖中锦》评比为「天下第一」。陈国公主与驸马墓、耶律羽之墓等贵族墓葬出土的精美金银器都反映出契丹独特的民族特色和高度的工艺技术水准。如在内蒙古翁牛特旗广德公乡辽墓出土的双猴绿釉鸡冠壶和龙首绿釉鸡冠壶就是仿契丹族皮囊容器的模式，在壶体侧边作出仿皮革缝制的痕迹，此类壶是契丹民族特有的生活器皿。

商业

随著农、牧、手工业的发展，交换逐渐频繁，商业活动也日益活跃。早期，辽太祖在炭山北建羊城，「起榷务以通诸道市易」。后版图扩大，建置完善，经济成分增加，范围扩大，商业也有了进一步的发展。辽五京相继建成后，都成了辽朝的重要商业城市。辽朝与周边各政权、各民族、国家的经济往来多以朝贡和互市的方式进行。由于商业的发展，辽朝境内也出现了富有的商人阶层，他们或经商于五京、州县，或来往于辽、五代诸国或宋朝，有的甚至成为代表辽朝办理交涉的使臣，如辽太宗时的回图使乔荣经商于后晋，又为辽朝商业贸易的代表，并可作为使臣与后晋交涉政务。西京归化州的韩师训也是富甲一方的商人。

辽代物价甚低，虽有盐酒之税，但各地税率并不一致。商业贸易的繁荣促进了货币经济的发展。据文献记载，耶律阿保机之父撒剌的时，已开始铸造货币。然而货币使用量不多，辽世宗时，上京还处在交易无钱而用布的状态。各地都用不同货币，如圣宗以前所铸的辽钱极少，圣宗之后稍微多了一些，但在流通货币中，所占数量仍甚少，不及百分之二，主要的是宋钱，其次是唐及五代及其他朝代的钱；在对外交易方面，辽主要与宋和西夏等通过边境上的榷场进行互补性的交易。另外与日本、高丽、阿拔斯王朝、基辅公国和喀喇汗国也有贸易往来。

文化

辽朝吸收许多汉文化与渤海国文化。灭渤海后，渤海遗民大量聚居于辽上京、辽东京一带的州县，较先进的渤海文化对辽文化有较为广泛的影响。据汉地幽云十六州到后来和宋朝的频繁交往，无论是战争还是和平时期的榷场贸易，汉文化对于辽朝的影响都是巨大的。由于大量汉文书籍的翻译，将中原人民的科学技术、文学、史学成就等介绍到了草原地区，带动和促进了游牧民族草原文化的发展。辽朝皇室和契丹贵族多仰慕汉文化，如辽的开国皇帝辽太祖崇拜孔子，先后于上京建国子监，府、州、县设学，以传授儒家学说，又建立孔子庙；辽圣宗常阅读《贞观政要》、道宗爱看《论语》等；辽道宗时，契丹以「诸夏」自称，道宗又说「吾修文物，彬彬不异中华。」教育方面实行设学养士和科举取士。

文学与文字

辽朝文人既用契丹语言文字创作，也大量用汉语文写作。他们的作品有诗、词、歌、赋、文、章奏、书简等各种体裁，有述怀、戒喻、讽谏、叙事等各种题材。作者包括帝后、宗室、群臣、诸部人和著帐郎君子弟。契丹的诗词既有气势磅礴之句，也有清新优美之词。辽兴宗也善为诗文，1050年宋使赵概至辽，辽兴宗于席上请概赋《信誓如山河诗》。在辽朝诸帝中，辽道宗文学修养最高，善诗赋，作品清新雅丽，意境深远。有《题李俨黄菊赋》。宗室东丹王耶律倍有《乐田园诗》、《海上诗》。耶律国留、耶律资宗、耶律昭兄弟三人皆善属文、工辞章，耶律国留有《兔赋》、《寤寐歌》；耶律资宗出使高丽被留期间，「每怀君亲，辄有著述」，后编为《西亭集》；耶律昭因事被流放西北部，致书招讨使萧挞凛，陈安边之策，词旨皆可称。辽道宗的皇后萧观音《谏猎疏》、《回心院》和应制诗《君臣同志华夷同风》表达关心社稷安危、致主泽民的政治理想。流传至今的辽人作品除王鼎的《焚椒录》外，还有寺公大师的《醉义歌》。《醉义歌》是使用契丹语创作，有金朝耶律履的译文，只是契丹文原作和耶律履译文已经失传，今有耶律履的儿子耶律楚材的汉译本传世。

在书目方面，辽设国史院，专修整历史，设官监修国士、史馆学士、修国史等，曾撰写起居注、日历、实录二十卷、国史，又把不少汉人书籍翻译为辽朝文字，如《五代史》等。当中，辽代所写的实录成为元朝脱脱等所编写的《辽史》主要材料之一。

语言文字方面，汉语与契丹语都是通行的，不少文书都是以这两种语言写就。辽代还出现了为佛教信众学习佛经而编纂的汉字字典《龙龛手镜》。契丹文是辽代为记录契丹语而参照汉字创制的文字，分契丹大字和契丹小字两种形式。但现时已缺少类似的文献。契丹大字相传于920年由辽太祖下令耶律突吕不和耶律鲁不古参照汉字创制，应有三千馀字；契丹小字由辽太祖弟耶律迭剌参考回鹘文对大字加以改变而成。小字为拼音文字，约五百个发音符号。契丹小字较大字简便，原字虽少，却能把契丹语全部贯通。契丹族创字表现出强烈的民族自觉，对其他民族也有不少影响，例如西夏创造党项文字、金朝创造女真文字、元朝创造八思巴文字。契丹字的通行直到1191年金朝金章宗废除为止。有观点认为契丹人受印章雕刻启发，参照雕版印刷术优缺点发明了契丹大字石活字印刷，比毕升的泥活字早150年。

宗教

辽朝的宗教以佛教和萨满教为主，此外也崇拜契丹祖先和民间信仰。民族信仰有木叶山崇拜、天地崇拜与拜日神、拜山神等。木叶山崇拜源自契丹始祖出现与契丹八部兴起的传说，带有萨满教的文化背景。契丹族于木叶山（今内蒙古西拉木伦河与老哈河合流处）兴建契丹祖庙以祭拜始祖，最后发展成辽朝皇室的柴册仪。

辽朝佛教基本上继承盛唐的教学佛教。早在唐朝唐武宗发动灭佛事件时因为河北诸藩镇不听从，大量僧侣与佛教文物流向河北地区，使得当地佛教文化蓬逢发展。902年龙化州建开教寺，为佛教北传契丹的起始点。918年辽上京又建佛寺，佛教逐渐为契丹人所信仰和崇尚。926年辽朝灭渤海国后，俘渤海僧人崇文等57人至上京，又建天雄寺。此后，诸京和各州县也相继修建寺庙。938年辽朝领有燕云十六州后，此地逐渐发展成佛教文化重心，到辽朝晚期「僧侣、佛寺之数冠北方」。辽太宗等辽朝皇帝也采取保护佛教政策，尊崇佛教，佛教大盛。辽兴宗时觉华岛海云寺僧人海山（郎思孝）与辽兴宗关系甚好。辽道宗曾以诗赞誉法均：「行高峰顶松千尺，戒净天心月一轮。」随著佛教的传播，由皇帝下令，寺庙校勘、雕印佛经和个人写经，集资刻经、印经等活动十分活跃。从山西应县木塔佛像中发现的丹藏、佛经及佛画，河北丰润天宝寺塔发现的佛经，内蒙古巴林右旗释迦佛舍利塔中发现的佛经，堪称佛教艺术瑰宝。辽朝完成以《大般若经》为首的主要佛教石刻，于辽兴宗时期出版的《契丹大藏经》，其地位仅次于宋朝宋太祖时期开版《蜀版大藏经》，在佛典史上占有重要地位。

道教和道家思想对契丹人也产生了一定影响。辽初，以各种方式进入草原的汉人中，就有一些道教信仰者。如上京有天长观，中京有通天观，一些州城也多有道士和道观。某些契丹上层和契丹部民也信仰道教。辽圣宗对「道释二教，皆洞其旨」，其弟耶律隆裕更是个虔诚的道教信徒。某些上层道士同佛教上层一样受到皇帝的礼遇。辽圣宗曾予道士冯若谷加官太子中允。道教的传播也带动了道家经典的研究，辽初道士刘海蟾著有《还丹破迷歌》和《还金篇》，耶律倍译有《阴符经》，辽圣宗时于阗张文宝曾进《内丹书》，寺公大师的《醉义歌》中也杂有道教思想。

辽朝也有通行伊斯兰教，主要经由位于西域、已经伊斯兰化的喀喇汗国东传而来。996年入仕辽廷的阿拉伯学者纳苏鲁丁即在辽南京（今北京）兴建牛街礼拜寺。后来的西辽辽帝对伊斯兰教采取的宽容伏待政策，使伊斯兰教持续在西域发展。

艺术

辽朝绘画作品具有很高的艺术价值，契丹人善画草原风光和骑射人物，辽朝涌现出不少卓有成就的画家，创作了大量优秀的绘画作品。耶律倍和著名画家胡瑰、胡虔父子所画多入北宋内府，被誉为「神品」。耶律倍画的《射骑图》、胡环的《出猎图》、无名氏的《丹枫呦鹿图》、《秋林群鹿图》等名画，均为旷世珍宝。此外比较有名的尚有：耶律防曾两次使宋，见宋仁宗，「陛辞，仅一见，」即临摹如真容。萧瀜据《绘事备考》云：「好读书，亲翰墨，尤善丹青……」。虞仲文据《图绘宝鉴》记载他善画人马，墨竹学文湖州（文同）。其它还有契丹族耶律题子、秦晋国妃萧氏，以及汉族陈升、常思言与吴九州等人也皆以善画称。

雕塑作品刀法遒劲，栩栩如生。建筑艺术主要体现在佛塔和佛寺。山西省灵丘觉山寺西塔院中的觉山寺塔、北京市天宁寺塔、辽宁省辽阳白塔、海城析木城金塔造型美观，是辽代最流行的密檐塔中的杰出代表作品。天津蓟县独乐寺的观音阁兼唐代和宋朝之长处，雄健壮丽。

辽朝用契丹文字刻制的石刻。契丹文石刻用契丹大字和小字刻制，一般分为纪功碑、建庙记、哀册文、墓志铭、题记等类。契丹大字石刻如：《辽太祖纪功碑》（残）、《大辽大横帐兰陵郡夫人建静安寺碑》、《耶律延宁墓志》、《萧孝忠墓志铭》、《故太师铭石记》与《北大王墓志》等。其中《北大王墓志》（又作《耶律万辛墓志》）是契丹大字石刻中字体最工整的一件，讲述耶律万辛的事迹，本墓志使用辽代契丹大字、汉字刻印。由于刻字工整，字数较多，有利于契丹大字的解读。

辽朝散乐受唐朝和五代后晋影响极深，在此基础上与契丹族民间艺术相融合，建立起的一种类似宫廷音乐的形式。《辽史》中有记载，其演奏乐器有：觱篥、箫、笛、笙、琵琶、五弦、箜篌、筝、方响、枝鼓、第二鼓、第三鼓、腰鼓、大鼓与拍板等。散乐由12人组成，是一支完整的表演队伍。乐队呈两排，前排第三人下，有一低矮的舞蹈者，随著节拍翩翩起舞。

科技

辽朝在科学技术方面也取得一些成就。辽朝的医药久负盛名，辽朝医生直鲁古撰有《脉诀》与《针灸书》，其中的治疗方法至今仍应用在临床实践中。当时具有尸体防腐保存的技术，文惟简所著的《虏廷事实》、《新五代史·四夷附录》等文献都记载契丹人用香药、盐、矾等保存尸体的方法。1981年在内蒙古察右前旗豪欠营辽墓中发现有保存比较完整的乾尸。

辽朝的天文历法继承五代历法，并略有改进。辽朝原使用后晋马重元的调元历，995年行用辽刺史贾俊的大明历。辽朝皇帝十分重视天象观测，时人并将天象与政事相连系。1971年在河北省宣化辽墓发现的彩绘星图绘有二十八宿、黄道十二宫。1989年在宣化辽墓又发现两幅星图，除与前图略同外，并有十二生肖，均作人形，从中可以得知辽朝天文学已达到很高的水准。

社会

契丹民族的社会与风俗，本不同于汉人。辽朝在统治汉人的燕云十六州地区，则同于中原；在北方的契丹人，则依旧俗生活；介于混杂地区，就呈现两种混合型态。契丹人的仪俗很多，如拜日仪、柴册仪、再生仪、祭山、射鬼箭等。特别的生活方式就是四时的「捺钵」，辽朝皇帝带领百官的中央政权，随著一年四时，到各地巡狩，其宫帐的所在地就是「捺钵」。其他还有「头鱼宴」、「头鹅宴」等生活习惯。契丹饮食文化因地制宜，有蜜饯、果脯等，是用蜜蜡浸渍水果而成，以利保存。清朝东北仍有以欧李（野果）「渍以饧蜜」之俗，今日北京特产果脯，也是与契丹人的「蜜渍山果」「蜜晒山果」之类一脉相承。

在日常生活上，契丹人具有北亚民族传统，以羊狐皮衣居多。而贵族官吏则以貂裘为主，并且穿丝绢服饰，所配戴的装饰也比较多。饮酒食肉为普遍现象，居住以帐幕为主，也有居住在宫室。摔跤、击鞠（踢球）、射柳、射兔节、下围棋和双陆等均是辽人的业馀活动。关于节令风俗，辽汉皆有，仍以契丹旧俗为主。例如元旦日，以弱米和白羊髓为饼。正月七日为人日，食煎饼，称为「薰天饼」。其他尚有中和、上巳、端午、夏至、中元、中秋、重九、冬至等，都是直接或间接从中原传入的，节日风俗大体相同。然而也有一些节令，名称虽同，却保留了契丹固有的风俗和仪式。

君主

年表

时间轴

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from: 916 till: 926 color:L text:"太祖 耶律阿保机 "

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from: 926 till: 927 color:L text:"应天后 述律平（称制） "

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from: 927 till: 947 color:L text:"太宗 耶律德光 "

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from: 947 till: 951 color:L text:"世宗 耶律阮 "

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from: 951 till: 969 color:L text:"穆宗 耶律璟 "

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from: 969 till: 982 color:L text:"景宗 耶律贤 "

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from: 982 till: 1031 color:L text:"圣宗 耶律隆绪 "

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from: 1031 till: 1055 color:L text:"兴宗 耶律宗真 "

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from: 1055 till: 1101 color:L text:"道宗 耶律洪基 "

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from: 1101 till: 1125 color:L text:"天祚帝 耶律延禧 "

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from: 1122 till: 1122 color:BL text:"宣宗 耶律淳 "

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from: 1122 till: 1122 color:BL text:"德妃 萧普贤女（称制） "

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from: 1124 till: 1143 color:XL text:"德宗 耶律大石 "

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from: 1143 till: 1150 color:XL text:"感天后 萧塔不烟（称制） "

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from: 1150 till: 1163 color:XL text:"仁宗 耶律夷列 "

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from: 1163 till: 1177 color:XL text:"承天后 耶律普速完（称制） "

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from: 1177 till: 1211 color:XL text:"天禧帝 耶律直鲁古 "

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from: 1211 till: 1218 color:XL text:"屈出律 "

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图例：

• 表示辽朝君主

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• 表示西辽君主

Names

The dynasty was officially founded in 916 when Abaoji proclaimed himself emperor and adopted the dynastic name of "Khitan" (契丹 Qì Dān). In 946, the Emperor Taizong of Liao officially renamed the dynasty as "Great Liao" (大辽 Dà Liáo). The name was once again changed to "Khitan" in 983 during the reign of the Emperor Shengzong of Liao. In 1066, the Emperor Daozong of Liao reintroduced the dynastic name "Great Liao" and the title remained in official use until the dynasty's collapse.

In 1124, the successor state established by Yelü Dashi in the Western Regions also officially adopted the dynastic name "Great Liao". In historiography, however, this regime is more commonly called the "Western Liao" or "Qara Khitai".

There is no consensus among historians regarding the etymology of "Liao". Some believe that "Liao" was derived from the word for "iron" in the Khitan language, while others believe that the name came from the Liao River catchment which was the traditional homeland of the Khitan people.

History

Pre-dynastic history

The earliest reference to a Khitan state is found in the Book of Wei, a history of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386–534) that was completed in 554. Several books written after 554 mention the Khitans as being active during the late third and early fourth centuries. The Book of Jin (648), a history of the Jin dynasty (266–420), refers to the Khitans in the section covering the reign of Murong Sheng (398–401). Samguk Sagi (1145), a history of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, mentions a Khitan raid taking place in 378.

According to sinologists Denis C. Twitchett and Klaus-Peter Tietze, it is generally held that the Khitans emerged from the Yuwen branch of the Xianbei people. Following a defeat at the hands of another branch of the Xianbei in 345, the Yuwen split into three tribes, one of which was called the Kumo Xi. In 388 the Kumo Xi itself split, with one group remaining under the name Kumo Xi and the other group becoming the Khitans. This view is partially backed up by the Book of Wei, which describes the Khitans being of Xianbei origins. Beginning in the Song dynasty, some Chinese scholars suggested that the Khitans might have descended from the Xiongnu people. While modern historians have rejected the idea that the Khitan were solely Xiongnu in origin, there is some support for the claim that they are of mixed Xianbei and Xiongnu origin. Beginning with Rashid-al-Din Hamadani in the fourteenth century, several scholars have theorized that the Khitans were Mongolic in origin, and in the late 19th century, Western scholars made the claim that the Khitans were Tungusic in origin—modern linguistic analysis has discredited this claim. Many similar words exist between Khitan and Koreanic languages that are not found in Tungusic or Mongolic languages.

By the time the Book of Wei was written in 554, the Khitans had formed a state in what is now China's Jilin and Liaoning Provinces. The Khitans suffered a series of military defeats to other nomadic groups in the region, as well as to the Chinese Northern Qi (550–577) and Sui (589–618) dynasties. Khitan tribes at various times fell under the influence of Turkic tribes such as the Uighurs and Chinese dynasties such as the Sui and Tang. In the Book of Sui (Volume 84), the Khitan are described as "bellicose in plundering and raiding borders" and "the most uncourteous and arrogant among all barbarians". The History of Liao (LS, vol. 32 and 59) gives the following account of the early Khitan:

The Liaoshi (LS, vol. 32) names the ancient eight tribes of the Khitan (who are also mentioned in the Weishu):

Between 630 and 730, the Khitans were under the influence of the Tang dynasty through the Dahe clan. The Tang emperor bestowed the Chinese surname Li on the Dahe and appointed their leader to a governorship that was "an office specifically created for the indirect management of the Khitan tribes". Towards the turn of the century, however, Tang control of the north began to slip . In 696 the Dahe leader, Li Jinzhong, launched a rebellion and led Khitan forces into modern Hebei. Although the rebellion was defeated, it took over fifteen years before the Tang were able to reassert control over the Khitans, and that control would never be strong or long-lived. In the 730s, the Yaonian clan replace the Dahe as the Khitan's ruling clan, forcing Tang governor An Lushan to launch two invasions into Khitan territory in 751 and 755. After being soundly defeated by the Khitans during the first invasion, An Lushan was successful in the second, but he then led a rebellion against the Tang that included Khitan troops in his army. An Lushan had a Khitan 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. An Lushan revived him by smearing ashes on his injury. Li Zhuer was highly trushed by An Lushan, and he and two other men served as his personal attendants. Li Zhuer was approached by conspirators who wanted to kill An Lushan when he became ill and started abusing his subordinates. An Lushan was hacked to death by Li Zhuer and another conspirator, Yan Zhuang, who was beaten by An before. An Lushan screamed "this is a thief of my own household" as he desperately shook his curtains since he could not find his sword to defend himself. The An Lushan Rebellion marked the beginning of the end of the Tang dynasty.

Following the An Lushan Rebellion, the Khitans became vassals of the Uighurs, while simultaneously paying tributes to the Tang, a situation that lasted from 755 until the fall of the Uighurs in 840. From 840 until the rise of Abaoji, the Khitans remained a tributary of the Tang dynasty.

Abaoji (907–926)

Abaoji, posthumously Emperor Taizu of Liao, was born in 872 to the Yila chieftain, Saladi. The Yila tribe was the largest and strongest of the eight Khitan tribes, but at the time the Yaonian khans still held overall power. In 901, Abaoji was elected chieftain of the Yila by the triennial council. None of the Khitans except the Yaonian used surnames at the time, but later in the 930s, Abaoji's clan adopted Yelü as their surname. At the same time their consort clan also began using the surname Xiao.

After his accession as leader of the Yila, Abaoji raided China, attacked the Jurchens, and established superiority over the Shiwei and Kumo Xi. In 903, Abaoji was named Yüyue, the supreme commander of all Khitans, second only to the Yaonian Khagan. Two years later, he led 70,000 cavalry to Datong to form a blood oath with the Shatuo warlord Li Keyong. In 907, Abaoji demanded that he be made Khagan, and ascended as supreme leader of the Khitans with support from seven other tribes. Abaoji then slaughtered the other Khitan chieftains, alarming the Khitan elite, many of whom saw his action as a move towards Chinese-style emperorship. Abaoji's rule went unchallenged until 910, when he disregarded Khitan calls for another member of the family to assume the position of Khagan. In 912 and 913, members of Abaoji's family attempted armed insurrections. After the first insurrection was discovered and defeated, Abaoji pardoned the conspirators. After the second, only his brothers were pardoned, with the other conspirators suffering violent deaths. The brothers plotted rebellions in 917 and 918, both of which were easily crushed.

In 916, Abaoji assumed the title of Celestial Emperor, proclaimed a Chinese era name, and built a Confucian temple. He named his eldest son, Yelü Bei, from his primary consort, Shulü Ping, as heir apparent and demanded the entire nobility to swear fealty to him. Two years later, the Khitan court was moved to the "Supreme Capital" (Shangjing), a newly built walled city with a grand park and imperial tents where the Chinese palaces would normally be located. Abaoji fostered the construction of 30 more walled cities for his captured Chinese subjects to inhabit. The Supreme Capital was joined by the "Eastern Capital" (Dongjing). Administration of the empire was divided between a Northern Administration overseeing steppe and tribal affairs and a Southern Establishment overseeing the settled and Chinese population. The two institutions were headed by chancellors, the northern one appointed by the Xiao consort clan, and the southern one appointed by the ruling Yelü clan.

In 917, Abaoji received naphtha as a gift from the state of Wuyue:

In 920, Abaoji ordered the development of a Khitan writing system known as the Khitan large script. While superficially similar to Chinese writing, it arbitrarily adds and reduces strokes to Chinese characters to compose words, making it completely unrecognizable to Chinese readers. In 925, the arrival of a Uyghur delegation led Abaoji to order his younger brother, Yelü Diela, to study the Uyghur language. Uyghur influence led to the development of a Khitan small script with more phonetic elements. The Khitan script was used for memorial inscriptions on wood and stone and record keeping in the Northern Administration. Almost no extensive documents written in Khitan script have survived, suggesting that few were ever produced. In the Southern Establishment, Chinese was the administrative language, which many Khitans learned, including Abaoji's sons. In a conversation with Yao Kun, an envoy from Later Tang, Abaoji said he spoke Chinese but did not speak it in the presence of other Khitans, because he feared that they would emulate the Chinese and grow soft.

During his reign, Abaoji attacked numerous neighboring peoples and expanded Khitan territory exponentially. Against the steppe nomads, he led campaigns in 908 against the Shiwei, in 910 the Kumo Xi, in 912 the Zubu, in 915 the Khongirad, and again in 919 to subdue the Khongirad. From 922 to 923, he raided the Jin and its successor, Later Tang. A year later he attacked the Tatars. His campaigns continued right up until his death in 926 with the conquest of Balhae and the creation of the puppet Kingdom of Dongdan. Most of Balhae's population was relocated to what is now Liaoning. The destruction of Balhae resulted in three independent groups beyond Khitan control: the northwestern Balhae people in modern Heilongjiang, the Balhae people west of the Yalu River, and the state of Jeongan in the upper valley of the Mudan River.

Abaoji died of typhoid fever at the age of 54 on 6 September 926.

Zhuoxie tu, a 10th century painting of a rest stop for the khan

Taizong (926–947)

Yelü Deguang, posthumously Emperor Taizong of Liao, was the second son of Shulü Ping and not the first in line for the Khitan throne. His elder brother, the 26-year old heir apparent Yelü Bei, was disliked by the conservative Khitan elites for his intellectual pursuits. As a polymath, Yelü Bei was skilled in painting, writing in both Khitan and Chinese languages, and possessed a large personal library. He also had a taste for Chinese culture, music, medicine, and prognostication. Chinese-style primogeniture was also not a custom among the Khitans, which was why Abaoji had them swear allegiance to Yelü Bei when he announced him as heir apparent. Bei's mother, Shulü Ping, who was exceptionally powerful in her own right, commanding thousands of horsemen and leading troops on campaign, took control of all military and civil affairs as regent, after having cut off her right hand to be buried with her husband. Shulü Ping herself disproved of her first son as heir due to his Chinese leanings and used all her influence to have Bei set aside for his younger brother, Deguang, who had participated in the 922–923 and 924–925 campaigns. Toward the end of 927, Bei approached his mother and formally withdrew his claim. Deguang succeeded the throne.

Bei was still ruler of the Dongdan Kingdom in former Balhae, given to him by his father after participating in its conquest. Taizong, who still regarded him as a threat, ordered in 929 that the capital of Dongdan and all its inhabitants be moved to the Eastern Capital (Dongjing). Dongdan lost its semi-autonomous status. In 930, Bei fled by sea to the Later Tang court and was received by Li Siyuan as an honored guest. In 937, he was killed by Shi Jingtang, who overthrew Later Tang and ruled Later Jin (Five Dynasties) as a puppet of the Khitans.

In 929, the Khongirad rebelled. In 929, Taizong sent his younger brother, Yelü Lihu, to attack the Later Tang at Datong. In 933, Taizong led a campaign against some Tangut tribes. The most important expansion of Khitan territory during this period, however, came from political instability in the south. In 933, the Later Tang emperor died. His son, Li Conghou, lasted only five months before his adoptive brother, Li Congke, killed him. Li Congke ordered a powerful governor, Shi Jingtang, to be transferred for closer supervision by the court, leading to his rebellion. Hard pressed by Li Congke, Shi Jingtang sought aid from the Khitans. Taizong led a 50,000 strong cavalry force to his aid and defeated the Later Tang army near Taiyuan. On 28 November 936, Shi Jingtang was invested as emperor of Later Jin by the Khitans. In 938, the puppet emperor of Later Jin transferred the Sixteen Prefectures over to the Khitans, granting them access to the strategic fortifications of northern China and the Central Plains. A new "Southern Capital" (Nanjing) was constructed at modern Beijing. Shi Jingtang behaved as a vassal and even allowed Khitan envoys to cross his territory to contact Southern Tang, his geopolitical rival.

Shi Jingtang died in 942. His nephew and successor, Shi Chonggui, came under the influence of an anti-Khitan court led by the army commander Jing Yanguang. In 943, Shi Chonggui revoked the trading privileges of the Khitans in Kaifeng and confiscated their property, sending their representative back to the Khitan court. Taizong invaded in the following year but suffered a defeat in 945, having to escape the battle on a camel. However with persistence, the Khitans wore down the Jin forces, and in 946, the Jin commander in chief, Du Chongwei, surrendered. In early 947, Taizong entered Kaifeng unopposed. The Jin emperor and his family were exiled to the Supreme Capital. The Jin army was disarmed and disbanded, their horses confiscated. With this great victory, Taizong formally adopted a dynastic name, the "Great Liao". With the conquest of Later Jin, the Liao acquired the Jade Seal of State Transmission (chuanguo yuxi). Ideologically, the Liao therefore regarded itself as the legitimate successor of the Later Jin, and the ruler of China. It hence chose the Water element, the element that follows the Metal element, the dynastic element of the Later Jin, according to the sequence of creation of the Five Elements (wuxing). It also chose the Water element's corresponding color black as its dynastic color.

His victory did not last. Having brought inadequate supplies, the Khitans wantonly looted the city and plundered the countryside provisions, and imposed harsh levies on the local populace, causing them to become resentful and attack them. Rather than staying and governing the conquered city, the Khitans decided to ship everything of value, from Jin officials and palace women to maps and music instruments, back to the Supreme Capital. Taizong also faced another threat from Taiyuan, where Liu Zhiyuan announced a new Later Han (Five Dynasties) dynasty. The occupation of Kaifeng lasted three months before Taizong withdrew. Shortly before reaching Liao territory, Taizong suddenly fell ill and died near modern day Shijiazhuang at the age of 45 on 18 May 947.

Shizong (947–951)

Yelü Ruan, posthumously Emperor Shizong of Liao, was the son of Yelü Bei, and not the designated heir of Emperor Taizong of Liao, who was Yelü Lihu, Taizong's younger brother. However Taizong had raised Ruan after Bei's departure in 930 and the relationship between them was as close as father and son. Ruan participated in the invasion of Later Jin, earning himself as a capable warrior and commander. Upon Taizong's death, Ruan declared himself emperor before "his father's coffin".

Lihu attacked Ruan while he was on his way back to the Supreme Capital but was defeated. His mother, Shulü Ping, then led her own army to confront Ruan. The two armies faced each other on the Xar Moron River, south of the Supreme Capital, for several days. The deadlock was resolved by a royal cousin named Yelü Wuzhi and ultimately Lihu, who the Khitan nobility viewed as cruel and spoiled, was unable to gain enough support to further challenge Shizong. After a peace was brokered, Ruan formally assumed the role of emperor and the title of emperor. Shizong promptly exiled both Empress Shulü Ping and Yelü Lihu from the capital, ending their political ambitions. Shizong hoped this would secure his position but he quickly became disillusioned as the internal situation of the Liao remained unstable. In 948, the second son of Taizong, Yelü Tiande, conspired to murder the emperor. The conspiracy failed and the conspirators' lives were spared. Among them, Xiao Han, a nephew of Shulü Ping, conspired against Shizong again in the following year. Despite being spared again, Xiao Han returned to his old ways a third time, resulting in his execution.

In 947, a planned invasion of Goryeo was aborted when the Khitans realized that enemy defenses were more formidable than they had thought.

From 949 to 950, Shizong invaded Later Han. In late 951, Shizong decided to invade Later Zhou. Before the army set off, Shizong and his entourage got drunk after making sacrifices to his father. Chage, the son of Abaoji's younger brother, Anduan, took advantage of the situation to kill Shizong. Chage was executed. Shizong died at the age of 33 and had not produced a son of age to inherit the throne. Shizong's rule was characterized by a series of rebellions from within his extended family. Although ruling for only four years, Shizong oversaw the formalization of the dual government system, which brought the structure of the Southern Establishment closer to the model used by the Tang dynasty.

Muzong (951–969)

Yelü Jing, posthumously Emperor Muzong of Liao, succeeded his cousin, Emperor Shizong of Liao. Muzong was a heavy drinker and spent most of his time either hunting or sleeping. The Chinese called him the "Sleeping Prince". The first half of his reign was marred by continued instability within his family. A younger brother of Shizong, Louguo, hatched a plot with one of his uncles to defect to Later Zhou. He was executed when the plot was discovered. In 953, a son of Yelü Lihu named Wan also conspired against the emperor. Wan was spared but his co-conspirators were executed. In 959, Dilie, one of Louguo's co-conspirators, plotted rebellion. The next year, Wan's older brother, Xiyin, was arrested for plotting rebellion. Lihu was implicated and died in prison.

During Muzong's reign, the Liao assisted Northern Han in fending off an attack by Later Zhou in 952. The Zhou attacked Han again in 954, and the Khitans once again came to their aid. The Khitans captured some Han troops by mistake and handed them back. On some occasions, Han envoys would visit the Liao to discuss strategic matters. Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou believed that the Liao dynasty were poised to invade the Zhou. In 958, the Han reported renewed attacks by the Zhou. In the following year, the Zhou invaded Liao territory, taking some border prefectures. Muzong headed south to confront the Zhou invasion but the Zhou emperor fell sick and had to return to Kaifeng. He died soon after and the Zhou invaders withdrew. In 960, the Zhou were replaced by the Song dynasty, which attacked Han in 963, and was repelled with the aid of the Khitans. Border skirmishes occurred between the Liao and Song in 963 and 967.

There were minor troubles with the Shiwei and Khongirad in 965, but otherwise the northern frontier remained calm for the Liao.

In 969, Muzong spent an entire month drinking and began to act violently and irrationally, butchering some of his bodyguards. On 12 March, six of his personal attendants murdered him. He was 37 years old. Muzong was the second and last Liao emperor to succeed Abaoji who was not a direct descendant of Yelü Bei.

Jingzong (969–982)

Yelü Xian, posthumously Emperor Jingzong of Liao, was the son of Emperor Shizong of Liao. During his reign, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period came to an end with the rise of the Song dynasty, which replaced Later Zhou in 960. The Song had defeated all the competing states except for Northern Han by 978. Realizing their precarious situation, the Han strengthened their ties to the Liao with monthly courtesy missions starting in 971. In 974, the Song began negotiations with Liao for a possible neutrality treaty. The diplomatic efforts ended in failure and the Song invaded Han in 976 and 977, both times being repelled by Liao intervention. With the conquest of Wuyue in 978, the Song concentrated all their forces on an invasion of Han. This time they intercepted Liao forces en route to Han and crushed them. In the summer of 979, Emperor Taizong of Song took Taiyuan and annexed Northern Han. Taizong then made the disastrous mistake of attempting to invade Liao. His already overextended and tired troops advanced on the Supreme Capital. Initial skirmishes ended in the Song army's favor but they lost a crucial pitched battle on the Gaoliang River. Taizong was wounded and fled south in a donkey cart. Capitalizing on the Liao victory, Jingzong launched a punitive expedition in 980, and defeated a Song army. In another campaign in 982, the Liao army was defeated and Jingzong was forced to retreat.

Aside from conflict with the Song, the Liao also experienced trouble with the Tanguts in 973. In 975, conflict with remnants of the Balhae people led to an invasion of Jeongan, which failed. The Jurchens looted Liao territory in 973 and 976. In 981, captured Chinese soldiers attempted to enthrone a son of Xiyin but the plot failed, and Xiyin was forced to commit suicide.

In 977, an examination hall was established outside the Southern Capital.

On 13 October 982, Jingzong fell sick during a hunting trip and died in his camp. He was 34 years old. Before his death, he designated his eldest son, the 11 year old Longxu, as his successor.

Shengzong (982–1031)

Yelü Longxu, posthumously Emperor Shengzong of Liao, succeeded his father, Emperor Jingzong of Liao. He 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 empire was ruled by her and three ministers, two of whom were Chinese. Xiao Yanyan was an extremely capable ruler, being both astute in politics and warfare, commanding an ordo to herself capable of fielding 10,000 cavalry. According to the History of Liao, "most of his Shengzong success must be attributed to his mother's instruction."

Under Shengzong's reign, a number of administrative advances were produced. In 983, the Tang Code was ordered to be translated into Khitan for use by the Northern Administration and in 994, it was decided that any Khitan that transgressed the Ten Abominable Crimes would suffer the same punishment as a Chinese. In 1027, a revised Chinese style legal code was ordered. The first jinshi examination was held in 988, and they continued until the end of the dynasty. However only two or three graduates out of ten were employed. The examinations focused on lyric-meter poetry and rhapsodies and only the Chinese took them. In 991, the first veritable records were produced, with those of Jingzong's reign taking up 20 chapters. In 994, the Khitans produced their own calendar. Rules on what matters should be recorded were made in 1011. In 991, the Khitans conducted their first general census and in 997 another census was taken for the tribal population.

The Kumo Xi were completely integrated into Khitan administration by 997. The prior arrangement of vassalage and tribute had lasted since the time of Emperor Taizong of Liao, but a series of reforms between 994 and 997 discontinued that role. The Kumo Xi king became a salaried official and Chinese style administrative units were set up in Kumo Xi territory. Their former capital became the "Central Capital" (Zhongjing), which received an inner and outer wall, a Confucian temple, and public buildings were constructed between 1018 and 1020.

Militarily, the Khitans came into conflict with both the Song dynasty and the Korean kingdom of Goryeo. In 986, Emperor Taizong of Song conducted a three-pronged invasion and quickly overwhelmed the Khitan border defenses, but the tide turned as they ventured deep into enemy territory. Far from their supply lines, the Song armies were surrounded and attacked from all sides, resulting in resounding victories for the Khitans on all three fronts. Despite their victory, the frontier was severely damaged and many people fled their homes. The region would not recover for years.

In 986, Li Jiqian of the Tanguts submitted to the Khitans and three later, was given a member of the Khitan imperial family as bride and installed as "King of Xia".

In 985-6, the Khitans attacked Jeongan. In 991, they established three fortified military colonies in the lower Yalu valley. In 992, the Khitans invaded Goryeo, sending a force supposedly 800,000 strong, and demanded that Goryeo cede territories along the Yalu River. Goryeo appealed for assistance from the Song dynasty, with whom they had a military alliance, but no Song assistance came. After the initial battles, the Khitans made steady southward progress before reaching the Ch'ongch'on River, at which point they called for negotiations with Goryeo military leadership. While the Khitans initially demanded total surrender from Goryeo, and Goryeo initially appeared willing to consider it, Seo Hui was eventually able to convince the Khitans to accept Goryeo as a tributary state instead. By 994, regular diplomatic exchanges between the Khitans and Goryeo began.

After securing the border with Goryeo, the Khitans attacked the Song dynasty in 994 and laid siege to Zitong, but was repelled by its defenders with fire arrows. The Khitans began a series of campaigns against the Song in 999. While generally successful on the battlefield, they failed to secure anything of value from the Song. This changed in 1004 when Shengzong and his mother led a lightning strike campaign right to the outskirts of the Song capital of Kaifeng by only taking cities that surrendered, while avoiding protracted sieges of the cities that resisted heavily. Emperor Zhenzong of Song marched out and met the Khitans at Chanyuan, a small city on the Yellow River. In January 1005, the two sides signed the Chanyuan Treaty, which stipulated that the Song would give the Liao 200,000 bolts of silk and 100,000 ounces of silver each year, that the two emperors would address each other as equals, that they would finalize the location of their disputed border, and that the two dynasties would resume cordial relations. While the sums (referred to as gifts by the Song and as tributes by the Liao) were later increased to 300,000 bolts of silk and 200,000 ounces of silver per year out of Song fears that the Khitans might form a military alliance with the Western Xia, no major wars were fought between the Khitans and the Song for over a century following the signing of the treaty. By signing the treaty, the Song functionally renounced its claim over the Sixteen Prefectures. Part of the border demarcated by the treaty was on the barrier-less North China Plain in Hebei. To fortify these most perilous borderlands, the Song created an extensive defensive forest along the Song-Liao border to thwart potential Khitan cavalry attacks.

Four years after the Song invasion, conflict with Goryeo erupted again. In 1009, the Goryeo general Gang Jo murdered Mokjong of Goryeo and put Hyeonjong of Goryeo on the throne with the intention of serving as the boy's regent. The Khitans immediately sent an army of 400,000 men to Goryeo to punish Gang Jo; however, after an initial period of military success and the breakdown of several attempts at peace negotiations, Goryeo and the Khitans entered a decade of continuous warfare. In 1018 the Khitans suffered a major defeat and their army was all but annihilated at the Battle of Gwiju by the Goryeo forces under General Gang Gam-chan. The next year, the Khitans assembled another large army to march on Goryeo. At this point both sides realized that they could not defeat each other militarily, so in 1020 King Hyeonjong resumed sending tribute , and in 1022 the Khitans officially recognized the legitimacy of King Hyeonjong's reign. Goryeo would remain a vassal, and the relationship between Liao and Goryeo would remain peaceful until the end of the Liao dynasty.

In 1006, the Kingdom of Guiyi sent tribute to Shengzong's court, which seems to have encouraged him to attack the Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom. Expeditions against the Ganzhou Uyghurs were conducted in 1008, 1009, and 1010. These achieved limited success resulting in the deportation of some of the captured population. In 1027, the Khitans laid siege to Ganzhou but failed to take the city, and ended in disaster when they were ambushed by Zubu tribes.

In the 1020s, the Southern Establishment tried to extend its taxation system to the Balhae people of the defunct Dongdan Kingdom, who formerly only had to pay a tribute. The Balhae people were ordered to build boats to transport grain to the Southern Capital. The journey was dangerous and many boats were lost, leading to resentment. In the summer of 1029, a distant descendant of Balhae royalty, Da Yanlin, rebelled at the Eastern Capital. He imprisoned minister Xiao Xiaoxian and his wife, killed the tax commissioners and chief military commander, and declared his own Xing Liao dynasty. He requested aid from Goryeo but they refused to help. Other Balhae people serving in the military also refused to join him. Instead only a handful of Jurchens joined his regime. A year later, one of Da Yanlin's officers betrayed him and opened the Eastern Capital's gates to the Khitans. His short lived dynasty came to an end. The old Balhae nobility were resettled near the Supreme Capital while others fled to Goryeo.

Shengzong died on 25 June 1031 at the age of 60. At his deathbed, he entrusted his ministers Xiao Xiaomu and Xiao Xiaoxian to enthrone his eldest son, the 15 year old Yelü Zongzhen.

Xingzong (1031–1055)

The 15 year old Yelü Zongzhen, posthumously Emperor Xingzong of Liao, was born to Emperor Shengzong of Liao and one of his lesser consorts, Xiao Noujin. Despite his parentage, he was raised as the adopted son of Empress Qitian (Xiao Pusage). Noujin fabricated a plot by Qitian to rebel and had her banished and then forced to commit suicide. Noujin declared herself the regent, made her birthday a public holiday, and began holding court and conducting duties normally within the purview of the emperor. In 1034, Noujin plotted to replace Xingzong with his younger brother, Zhongyuan, whom she had brought up herself. Zhongyuan wanted no part of this and informed Xingzong of their mother's plans, resulting in Noujin's banishment to their father's mausoleum. For his part in defeating the coup, Zhongyuan was given the title of "Imperial Younger Brother" and filled a succession of high ranking posts: commander in chief, northern commissioner of military affairs, and viceroy of the Southern Capital. Noujin's relatives remained in power at court. In 1037, Xingzong attempted to reconcile with these elements by treating Noujin with great respect and paying her visits. Xingzong appointed her brother, Xiao Xiaomu, as northern chancellor. In 1039, Noujin returned to the capital and underwent a rebirth ceremony to symbolically re-establish her position. The Song dynasty began sending separate envoys to pay respects to her.

Xingzong's reign saw the codification of law in 1036 with the promulgation of the Xinding tiaozhi which contained 547 articles and compiled all the laws since Abaoji's reign. In 1046, all local administrators were ordered to report all legal cases to the Supreme Capital. The laws were further revised in 1051. The universal application of the law was opposed by the pro-Khitan faction of Zhongyuan. In 1043, Chinese living in the Southern Establishments were forbidden from owning bows and arrows. In 1044, at the suggestion of Zhongyuan, Khitan police inspectors were established in each of the capitals to protect Khitan interests. In 1046, Khitans were forbidden to sell slaves to Chinese. On the other hand, restrictions on the Balhae people relaxed and they were allowed to play polo, a game regarded as a military exercise.

Militarily, the Liao seemed to be in decline during Xingzong's reign. The number of wars conducted in previous decades had put a great burden on the people. In the late 1030s, Xingzong asked his ministers for advice on dealing with growing distress, impoverishment, internal discontent, and banditry due to excessive demands for corvée and military service. The Confucian scholar, Xiao Hanjianu, advocated for withdrawing overextended garrisons from far off frontiers and the cessation of expansionist policies that incorporated useless territory. Instead, these forces should be concentrated in key areas to the south and east. In 1039, a census was conducted to provide a basis for levying manpower. The army was short on horses so the sacrifice of horses and oxen in ceremonies was banned in 1043. The army and its dependencies were organized into registries in 1046 and these registries were further revised in 1051. There was also concern about the quality of the troops' training, especially the Chinese troops that specialized in artillery and crossbows, skills that augmented the Khitans' cavalry forces.

In 1042, the Khitans took advantage of the Li Yuanhao's invasion of Song to ask for territorial concessions from the Song. Negotiations resulted in the Liao dropping their territorial claims and an increase in annual tribute from the Song to 200,000 tales of silver and 300,000 bolts of silk. When Li Yuanhao asked the Khitans in 1043 to join him in attacking the Song, Xingzong refused. In 1044, some Tanguts living in Liao territory rebelled and sought refuge in Western Xia. The Khitans blamed Yuanhao for instigating the rebellion and immediately sent an invasion force led by Zhongyuan and the northern commissioner for military affairs Xiao Hui. Liao forces enjoyed an initial victory but failed to take the Xia capital and were brutally mauled by Yuanhao's defenders. According to Song spies, there was a succession of carts bearing Liao dead across the desert. In 1048, the Xia emperor died and the throne passed to an infant. The Khitans saw their opportunity for vengeance and invaded in a three pronged attack. The army under Xingzong's personal command encountered little resistance but had to withdraw owing to the lack of water and pasture for its horses. Xiao Hui's army advanced on the Yellow River with a flotilla of warships but was ambushed and defeated. The third army raided a Tangut palace in the Helan Mountains, capturing Yuanhao's young widow and some high ranking officials. The Khitans invaded again the next year and plundered the Xia countryside and accepted the surrender of a Tangut general. The Western Xia agreed to become a tributary and peaceful relations were restored by 1053.

In 1044, Datong formally became the "Western Capital" (Xijing), completing the five capital regions.

Xingzong fell sick and died on 28 August 1055. He was 39 years old.

Daozong (1055–1101)

Yelü Hongji, posthumously Emperor Daozong of Liao, succeeded his father, Emperor Xingzong of Liao, having already gained experience in governing while his father was alive. Unlike his father, Daozong did not face a succession crisis. While both Xiao Noujin and Zhongyuan still held substantial power, neither disputed the succession.

Daozong's reign began with increased sinicization. In 1055 all officials, and not just the emperor and members of the Southern Establishment, were required to wear Chinese court dress at major ceremonies. Daozong himself was highly taken with Chinese learning, poetry, Confucianism, and Buddhism. He placed greater emphasis on Chinese education and the imperial examinations for selection of officials. The number of jinshi passed in each examination increased from 50–60 during Xingzong's reign to over 100 under Daozong. In 1059 prefectural and county schools were established, as well as institutions for higher learning in the capitals. In 1060, a second Guozijian was set up in the Central Capital in addition to the one in the Supreme Capital. In 1070 a special palace examination called the "Examination for the worthy and good" (Xianliang ge) was established, requiring entrants to submit 100,000 characters worth of writing. In 1072 Daozong personally wrote the questions for the palace examination.

In the early years, the court was dominated by two men, Xiao Ge and Xiao Ala. Xiao Ala was the son of Xiao Xiaomu and part of Xiao Noujin's extended family. He was a close friend of Xingzong and had served as state counselor and viceroy of the Eastern Capital. He was also married to an imperial princess. Upon Daozong's accession, Ala was made northern commissioner for military affairs, putting him alongside Xiao Ge as two of the most powerful men at court. The two had a falling out and Ala asked to retire. Instead he was sent to be viceroy of the Eastern Capital in 1059. In 1061 he returned to court and voiced harsh criticisms at the government. Ge denounced him to the emperor, and in spite of Empress Dowager Renyi's pleas, the emperor ordered Ala strangled. This left the court in the hands of Xiao Ge (who retired the next year), Yelü Renxian, and Yelü Yixin. Yixin grew up in poverty but rose to become a palace attendant under Xingzong and by the end of his reign, a guard commander. Under Daozong, Yixin was made southern chancellor and then transferred to the northern Chancellery in 1059. Renxian rose to prominence during negotiations with the Song dynasty in 1042. In 1060 Zhongyuan tried to have Renxian, who opposed his faction, removed from the southern Chancellery, but Yixin interceded on his behalf by going directly to Daozong.

In 1059 the tribal judges were ordered to refer all capital cases to the local prefect or magistrate for review. If anyone claimed that the sentence was unjust, it was to be referred to the central government for a decision. This possibly led to the rebellion of pro-Khitan elements under Zhongyuan in 1063. In 1061, Zhongyuan's son Nielugu was appointed southern commissioner for military affairs, and became a figurehead for dissident noblemen. Chief among the dissidents was Xiao Hudu, the northern commissioner for military affairs. In 1063, the dissidents ambushed Daozong while he was out on a hunting trip. Daozong was wounded when he had his horse shot out from under him by crossbowmen. He was saved by his servants while his mother, the Empress Dowager Renyi (Xiao Tali), led the guards to ward off the attackers. The battle lasted until dawn. Nielugu was killed by a stray arrow, Hudu fled and drowned himself, and Zhongyuan also fled and committed suicide. Yelü Ming, viceroy of the Southern Capital and a co-conspirator in the rebellion, did not give up when he heard of Zhongyuan's demise. He 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. When orders from the emperor arrived, Ming was executed. All the conspirators and their families, among them Xiao Ge, were executed, resulting in extensive changes in Liao leadership.

After the rebellion, Yelü Yixin and his ally Yelü Renxian jointly controlled the Northern Commission for Military Affairs for a while. In 1065, Renxian became commander in chief. For the next 15 years, Yixin exercised unrivaled influence in court and acted opportunistically to advance self-interest, selecting corrupt and worthless men for office, taking bribes, and allowing the military to do anything they wanted. Renxian tried to contain him but eventually left for the post of viceroy of the Southern Capital. Daozong remained aloof from politics, providing no real leadership, and instead opted to pursue his own scholarly interests. In 1064 he ordered a search for books lacking in the imperial collection. In 1074 the government distributed copies of the Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han. In the same year a bureau for compiling national history was established, which produced in 1085 Veritable Records for the first seven reigns. Daozong gathered prominent scholars around him to expound on various canonical texts and greatly patronized Buddhist monks. In 1090 a Song envoy commented on how lavishly the emperor patronized the Buddhist clergy and their all-pervasive influence on society. In the latter years of Daozong's reign, he all but abandoned his administrative duties. So ambivalent about administration was the emperor that he selected officials by having the candidates roll dice. This was how the historian who compiled the record of his reign was selected.

Khitan resistance to Chinese influence did not disappear after the rebellion. In 1064 the private publication of books was banned, a measure that would have only impacted the urban Chinese elite. In 1067 Daozong underwent a traditional rebirth ceremony, while still engrossed in his studies, to re-establish his legitimacy as leader of the Khitans. In 1070 the Chinese were forbidden from hunting, which was considered a military exercise. Daozong recognized that the Khitan and Chinese customs were different, so he ordered Yixin and Renxian to revise the universal laws to take this into account. The new laws, well over 1,000 articles and twice the size of the Xinding tiaozhi of 1036, receiving further amendments between 1075 and 1085, were so out of step with actual practice that they proved unenforceable. In 1089 the new laws were abandoned and the Xinding tiaozhi was reinstated. It is clear that while Daozong had a predilection towards Chinese culture, he also recognized that there were limits to how far he could advance pro-Chinese measures while governing Khitan elites. In 1074 the scholarly official Yelü Shuzhen suggested adopting Chinese style surnames for all Khitan tribes, which Daozong rejected, declaring that "the old order should not be changed suddenly".

Yelü Renxian, the only man whose influence rivaled Yelü Yixin, died in 1072. In 1075, Daozong's son and heir apparent, Prince Jun, who was both well educated and skilled as a horseman and archer, emerged as a potential threat to Yixin's influence over Daozong. To remove Jun, Yixin first set in motion plans to eliminate his mother, Xiao Guanyin. One of her household members accused her of having an affair with a palace musician, Zhao Weiyi. In addition, Yixin and his ally, the Chinese scholar Zhang Xiaojie, fabricated evidence that the empress had written erotic poems to Zhao. Believing Yixin's evidence, Daozong ordered Zhao and his clan executed and the empress, Xiao Guanyin, to commit suicide. Her body was returned to her family wrapped in a mat. Yelü Jun swore revenge for her mother's death and shortly after her suicide, Yixin survived an attempted assassination. Xiao Guanyin was replaced by the sister of one of Yixin's henchmen, Xiao Xiamo, whose other sister was married to Yixin's son. After the death of Empress Dowager Renyi in 1076, the new empress, Xiao Tansi, was installed. The next year, Yixin implicated a number of officials, all his enemies, with plotting a coup to replace Daozong with Jun. While the emperor was initially unmoved, Yixin fabricated a false confession by Jun, resulting in his demotion to commoner status and imprisonment. Yixin then sent emissaries to kill Jun and persuaded the viceroy of the Supreme Capital to report his death as a result of illness. Jun's wife was also killed when she was summoned to court by Daozong, who had almost immediately come to regret his actions.

The new empress remained barren so Daozong decided upon Jun's son, Yelü Yanxi, as heir. In 1079 when the emperor was about to leave on his winter hunting trip, Yelü Yixin tried to persuade him to leave his grandson behind. Various courtiers hostile to him immediately protested this and convinced Daozong to take his grandson with him. This incident seemed to finally awaken the emperor to Yixin's true nature. In 1080 Yixin was demoted and sent to Xingzhong. A year later he was found guilty of trading prohibited goods with a foreign state and sentenced to death. Zhang Xiaojie and the new empress were both exiled from the capital, although Zhang would later be allowed to return and died peacefully in the late 1080s. From then on, Yanxi was carefully groomed for the throne. In 1086 Daozong showed him the armour and weapons of Abaoji and Emperor Taizong of Liao, describing to him the hardships of the campaigns on which the dynasty was founded. A few weeks later Yanxi underwent a rebirth ceremony. In 1088 he was assigned to his first office. A year later he was married and sons were born in 1089 and 1093.

Economically the Liao dynasty suffered greatly from natural disasters during Daozong's reign. Starting from 1065, not a year went by without an area being struck by some natural disaster. At first it was mainly the southern agricultural regions that were effected but in the 1080s and 1090s, the tribal areas also seem to have experienced immense suffering, resulting in displaced families and vagrants. The government constantly lost revenue due to payments of relief and the granting of tax exemptions. In 1074, the Eastern Capital region was hit by severe flooding, after which orders were given to construct flood control works. This was opposed on grounds that the necessary labor levies involved would cause even greater hardship and unrest. In the winter of 1082-3, unusually heavy snowfall killed up to 60–70 percent of tribal livestock and horses.

Militarily the reign of Daozong saw little conflict with other settled states. In 1074 there was a border demarcation crisis with the Song but it was resolved by peaceful diplomacy in 1076. In 1078 Goryeo's king asked for territory east of the Yalu River, which was rejected without any trouble or break in relations. The situation on the northwestern borderland was less stable and events toward the end of Daozong's reign would see the subjugation of the Zubu tribes, some of whom lived in Liao territory but had long resisted Khitan rule. There were outbreaks of warfare with the Zubu previously in 997-1000, 1007, 1012-23, and 1027. In 1063, 1064, and 1070, prohibitions were placed on the trade of metals to the Western Xia, Zubu tribes, and Uyghurs. In 1069, there was a renewed Zubu rebellion which was put down by Yelü Renxian. In 1086 the Zubu chieftain attended court and Daozong ordered his grandson, Yelü Yanxi, to be friendly towards him as he was a valuable ally. However in 1089, Zubu leadership passed to Mogusi. In 1092, the Khitans attacked several tribes in the northwest neighboring the Zubu and the Zubu became involved. In 1093 Mogusi led a series of raids deep into Liao territory and drove off many of the state herds of horses. Other tribes such as the Dilie (Tiriet), who had previously rebelled in 1073, also joined Mogusi. It took until 1100 for the northern commissioner for military affairs, Yelü Wotela, to capture and kill Mogusi. His death did not end warfare with the northwestern tribes and it took another two years to defeat the remaining Zubu forces. The war against the Zubu was the last successful military campaign waged by the Liao dynasty.

Daozong passed away on 12 February 1101 at the age of 68. He was succeeded by his grandson, Yelü Yanxi.

Tianzuo (1101–1125)

The accession of Yelü Yanxi, posthumously Emperor Tianzuo of Liao, proceeded without incident. His first act upon becoming emperor was to desecrate the tomb of Yelü Yixin and all those who brought about the deaths of his grandmother and parents. The corpses of Yixin and his allies were mutilated. The deceased Emperor Daozong of Liao was interred together with the empress who had been forced to commit suicide. Tianzuo's father, Jun, was given a posthumous temple name as though he had reigned as emperor.

Natural disasters continued to plague the Liao dynasty intermittently. In 1105 Tianzuo went out in disguise to see the suffering of the people, but nothing else on record hints at what he may have prescribed in policy. In the same year, merchant families were from barred from taking the jinshi exam, which suggests continued sinicization in the Liao mode of governance. Between 1103 and 1105, the Western Xia repeatedly requested the Khitans to attack the Song dynasty, but the Liao court refused. The 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. Diplomatic relations with the neighboring settled states remained cordial and even the Zubu sent embassies pledging their allegiance in 1106, 1110, and 1112.

Despite international peace on several fronts, the Liao dynasty would fall to the Jurchens by 1125. The Jurchens were a Tungusic people who lived in fragmented tribes stretching northward from the border of Goryeo. They had been in contact with the Khitans ever since Abaoji's rise to power. Despite their marginal status, they were militarily significant enough that the Song considered them a potential ally against the Liao, and periodically caused trouble for the Khitans. The Liao categorized the Jurchens into three groups: "civilized" Jurchens (shu nüzhi) descended from tribes captured by the Liao in the 10th century and assimilated into Khitan society, "obedient" Jurchens (shun nüzhi) subordinate to the Liao and had regular contact with the court, and "wild" Jurchens (sheng nüzhi) who inhabited the lower Songhua River valley and the eastern mountains of modern Heilongjiang. The wild Jurchens were nominally subordinate to the Liao but were functionally independent. During the 11th century, one of the wild Jurchen clans, the Wanyan, established dominance over their neighbors and created a semblance of Jurchen unity. The Liao court recognized this and conferred on their chieftains the title of military governor.

As the Wanyan clan consolidated their control over the Jurchens, relations with the Liao also became increasingly strained. The Jurchens resented the behavior of Liao officials at Ningjiang, the main border trading post, who constantly cheated them. The Liao also placed on them the obligation of supplying the 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. Liao envoys also habitually beat their village elders and abused their women. One of the primary causes of the Jurchen rebellion was the custom of raping married Jurchen women and Jurchen girls by Khitan envoys, which caused resentment from the Jurchens. The custom of having sex with unmarried girls by Khitan was itself not a problem, since the practice of guest prostitution - giving female companions, food and shelter to guests – was common among Jurchens. Unmarried daughters of Jurchen families of lower and middle classes in Jurchen villages were provided to Khitan messengers for sex, as recorded by Hong Hao. Song envoys among the Jin were similarly entertained by singing girls in Guide, Henan. There is no evidence that guest prostitution of unmarried Jurchen girls to Khitan men was resented by the Jurchens. It was only when the Khitans forced aristocratic Jurchen families to give up their beautiful wives as guest prostitutes to Khitan messengers that the Jurchens became resentful. This suggests that in Jurchen upper classes, only a husband had the right to his married wife while among lower class Jurchens, the virginity of unmarried girls and sex with Khitan men did not impede their ability to marry later.

The Jurchen problem reared its head in late 1112 when Tianzuo embarked on a fishing expedition to the Huntong River (modern Songhua River), where the Jurchen tribes were expected to pay homage to the emperor. As a symbolic gesture of obeisance, the Jurchen chieftains were supposed to get up in turn and dance in the emperor's camp, but one of them, Aguda, refused. Even after being bidden three times, Aguda still refused to dance. Tianzuo wanted him executed for his act of defiance but the influential chancellor, Xiao Fengxian, dissuaded him from that course and belittled the harm Aguda could do. This would prove to be a fatal mistake as Aguda was elected ruler of the Jurchens in the following year. Aguda immediately began harassing the Liao for the return of Ashu, a Jurchen chieftain who opposed Wanyan hegemony and had taken refuge in Liao territory, and when his demands were refused, began building fortifications on the Liao border. In the late autumn of 1114 Aguda attacked Ningjiang. Underestimating the Jurchen threat, Tianzuo only sent some Balhae detachments from the Eastern Capital, which was utterly defeated. Another force composed of Khitan and Kumo Xi troops led by Xiao Sixian, the brother of Xiao Fengxian, was also defeated on the Songhua. Despite Sixian's incompetence, he escaped punishment, leading to demoralization of Khitan generals. By the end of the year, several border prefectures had been taken by the Jurchens and some neighboring tribes had also joined them.

In 1115 Tianzuo sent envoys to negotiate with the Jurchens, but Aguda had already declared himself emperor of the Jin dynasty, and rejected the Liao letters because they did not address him by his new title. Aguda continued to demand the return of Ashu and the withdraw of Liao troops from Huanglong, the major administrative center of the region. Huanglong fell to the Jin in late autumn. Tianzuo assembled a massive army west of the Songhua and crossed the river in the winter of 1115. His invasion was undermined by a plot to dethrone him and install his uncle, Prince Chun. The conspirators led by Yelü Zhangnu deserted the army and sent messengers informing Chun of their plan. Chun refused to take part in the coup and beheaded Zhangnu's messengers. The rebels then went about the countryside creating havoc until they were defeated by a small group of loyal Jurchens. Zhangnu was caught trying to escape to the Jin disguised as a messenger and was executed by being cut in half at the waist. More than 200 implicated nobles were executed and their families condemned to slavery. In early 1116 another rebellion occurred at the Eastern Capital when a Balhae officer named Gao Yongchang declared himself emperor of the Yuan dynasty and requested aid from the Jin. The Jin relief troops to Yuan easily repulsed the Liao troops but then turned on the Balhae rebels and killed Gao Yongchang. With the destruction of the Yuan dynasty, the entire region east of the Liao River fell to the Jin. To ensure Chun's continued loyalty, he was made commander in chief of the Liao armies and entrusted with defense operations against the Jin. Chun proved to be an awful commander. His new army, composed of Balhae refugees, inflicted more damage on the civilian population than the enemies. When the Jin attacked Chunzhou on the Songhua in early 1117, the Liao army melted away, not even offering a token resistance. At the end of the year, the Jin forces crossed the Liao River, defeated Chun's army, and conquered several prefectures.

After the Jin's initial conquests, a lull in military activity followed. In 1118 Tianzuo initiated peace negotiations, but the Jin demands were so onerous, requesting half of the Liao empire in addition to payments of silk and silver, that they were impossible to meet. Aguda was unable to immediately continue military campaigns against the Liao due to stretched resources. In 1119 a rebellion against the Jin occurred at the Eastern Capital and had to be suppressed. This brief interlude was no less kind to the Liao, which was plagued by famine, local rebellions, and defections to the Jin. Hostilities renewed in the spring of 1020 when Aguda broke off negotiations.

The Jin captured the Supreme Capital in mid-1120 and stopped its advance to escape the summer heat. In the spring of 1121, Tianzuo's second wife, Lady Wen, conspired with her brother in law, General Yelü Yudu, to depose the emperor and enthrone her son. The plot was uncovered by Xiao Fengxian, whose sister, Lady Yuan, also hoped to have her son succeed. Lady Wen was forced to commit suicide but Yudu escaped and defected to the Jin. He was allowed to remain in command of his troops and in the winter of 1121-2, he led Jin forces to capture the Central Capital. Leaving Prince Chun in charge of the Southern Capital, Tianzuo embarked on a prolonged flight from the Jin, passing through Juyong Pass to the Western Capital. Shortly afterward, Tianzuo grew tired of Xiao Fengxian's manipulations, which had caused the death of his son, and had him commit suicide. Tianzuo then fled to the Yin Mountains where he tried to recruit fresh troops from local tribes. Following his trail, the Jin took the Western Capital in the spring of 1122. The Tanguts, fearing an invasion of their border, sent troops in support of Tianzuo and blocked the Jurchen advance. Soon after Aguda arrived, he defeated a Khitan-Tangut force near the Xia border, and turned back east to take the Southern Capital, where Prince Chun had been declared the new Liao emperor (Northern Liao).

Only three months after becoming emperor, Chun died, leaving his widowed empress in charge. In the late autumn of 1122, her commanders Guo Yaoshi and Gao Feng defected with their troops to the Song. They led Song troops in an attack on the Southern Capital, but even in the Liao's withered state, the Song army was still unable to overcome Khitan defenses and failed to take the city. In the winter, Aguda took the Southern Capital, and the remaining Khitans fled in two groups to the west. One group led by Xiao Gan fled to Western Xia where they set up a short lived Xi dynasty that lasted only five months before Gan died at the hands of his own troops. The other group, led by Yelü Dashi, joined Tianzuo at the Xia border. In the early summer of 1123, Dashi was captured by the Jin and forced to lead them to Tianzuo's camp, where the entire imperial family except for Tianzuo and one son were captured. Tianzuo sought refuge with Emperor Chongzong of Western Xia, who while initially receptive, changed his mind after warnings from the Jurchens and declared himself a vassal of Jin in 1124. Tianzuo fled further north into the steppes where he traded his clothes for food from the Khongirad. In spite of all these setbacks, Tianzuo still held onto the delusion of retaking the Western and Southern Capitals, and attacked nearby prefectures. Dashi, who had rejoined Tianzuo, grew tired of his behavior and left for the west. Tianzuo was captured in early 1125 and taken to the Jin court where he held the title of "king of the seashore". According to the History of Liao, Tianzuo died at the age of 54 in 1128.

Qara Khitai

Yelü Dashi fled northwest and established his headquarter at the military garrison of Kedun (Zhenzhou) on the Orkhon River. Dashi secured the allegiance of the garrison forces numbering 20,000 and set himself as gurkhan (universal khan). In 1130, Dashi led his host further west in search of new territory. Within a year, he had established himself as suzerain of Qocho and gained a foothold in Transoxiana. After conquering the Karakhanid city of Balasaghun (in modern Kyrgyzstan), he attempted to reclaim former Liao territory, which ended in disaster. Failing in that endeavor, Dashi established a permanent Khitan state in Central Asia known as the Qara Khitai or the Western Liao dynasty. The new 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. With several key trading cities, the Qara Khitai was a multicultural state that showed evidence of religious tolerance. "Qara," which means black, corresponds to the Liao's dynastic color black and its dynastic element water.

Yelü Dashi's dynasty was usurped by the Naimans under Kuchlug in 1211 and traditional Chinese, Persian, and Arab sources consider the usurpation to be the end of the dynasty. The empire ended with the Mongol conquest in 1218.

The Jurchen Jin dynasty was conquered by the Mongol Empire in 1234.

Government

At its height, the Liao dynasty controlled what is now Shanxi, Hebei, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Inner Mongolia provinces in China, as well as northern portions of the Korean peninsula, portions of the Russian Far East, and much of the country of Mongolia. The peak population is estimated at 750,000 Khitans and two to three million ethnic Han Chinese.

Law and administration

The Liao employed two separate governments operating in parallel with one another: a Northern Administration in charge of Khitan and other nomadic peoples, most of whom lived in the northern side of Liao territory, and a Southern Administration in charge of the Chinese populace that lived predominantly in the southern side. When Abaoji first established the system, these two governments did not have strict territorial boundaries, but Emperor Shizong established formally delineated boundaries for the two administrations early in his reign. The newly delineated Northern Administration had large Han Chinese, Balhae, and Uighur populations, and was given its own set of parallel northern and southern governments.

The governments of the Northern Administration and the Southern Administration operated very differently. The Northern Administration operated under a system which Twitchett and Tietze called "essentially a great tribal leader's personal retinue". Many of the governmental appointments dealt with tribal affairs, herds, and retainers serving the imperial house, and most powerful and high-ranking positions dealt with military affairs. The overwhelming majority of officeholders were Khitans, mainly from the imperial Yelü clan and the Xiao consort clan. The Southern Administration was more heavily structured, with Twitchett and Tietze calling it "designed in imitation of a T'ang model". Unlike the Northern Administration, many of the low- and medium-ranked officials in the Southern Administration were Chinese.

The Liao dynasty was further divided into five "circuits", each with a capital city. The general idea for this system was taken from the Balhae, although no captured Balhae cities were made into circuit capitals. The five capital cities were Shangjing (上京), meaning Supreme Capital, which is located in modern-day Inner Mongolia; Nanjing (南京), meaning Southern Capital, which is located near modern-day Beijing; Dongjing (东京), meaning Eastern Capital, which is located near modern-day Liaoning; Zhongjing (中京), meaning Central Capital, which is located in modern-day Hebei province near the Laoha river; and Xijing (西京), meaning Western Capital, which is located near modern-day Datong. Each circuit was headed by a powerful viceroy who had the autonomy to tailor policies to meet the needs of the population within his circuit. Circuits were further subdivided into administrations called fu (府), which were metropolitan areas surrounding capital cities, and outside of metropolitan areas were divided into prefectures called zhou (州), which themselves were divided into counties called xian (县).

Despite these administrative systems, important state decisions were still made by the emperor. The emperor met with officials from the Northern and Southern Administrations twice a year, but aside from that the emperor spent much of his time attending to tribal affairs outside of the capital cities.

Military

The Liao army was originally just 2,000 men picked from various tribes as Abaoji's personal retinue. To these 2,000 men were added captives taken from Balhae and the prefecture of Jingzhou. By the time it became an orda, the emperor's private army, it contained 15,000 households, and could field up to 6,000 horsemen. The Liao nobles each had their own orda which the Liao government "borrowed" for campaign. According to the History of Liao, the Liao nobles treated the state as if it was their family. They provided private armies to assist the government during times of war. The larger ordas comprised up to a thousand or more horsemen while smaller ones several hundred horsemen. By the end of the dynasty, the ordas together constituted 81,000 Khitan households and 124,000 Balhae and Chinese households, which together could field up to 101,000 horsemen.

The Liao Army was composed of 3 sections: the Ordu, who were the elite personal cavalry of the Emperor, the tribal cavalry of Khitans and an auxiliary force of non-Khitan tribes, and militia infantry of Han Chinese and other sedentary peoples, who also provided the foot archers and catapult crews. Appanage territories were often granted to commanders. The core of the Liao army was composed of heavy armoured cavalry. In battle they arrayed light cavalry in the front and two layers of armoured cavalry in the back. Even foragers were armoured. Units of Khitan heavy cavalry were organized in groups of 500 to 700 men. Unlike some other empires originating from nomadic tribes, the Khitans preferred to fight in dense heavy cavalry formations rather than the wide formations of horse archers.

Society and culture

Language

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

Prior to their conquest of north China and the establishment of the Liao dynasty, the Khitans had no written language. In 920 the first of two Khitan scripts, the Khitan large script, was developed. A second script, the Khitan small script, was developed in 925. Both scripts are based on the same spoken language, and both contain a mix of logographs and phonographs. Despite surface level similarities to Chinese characters, the Khitan scripts are functionally unintelligible to Chinese readers, and neither scripts have been fully deciphered to this day.

Only a single manuscript text in the Khitan large script is known (Nova N 176), and no manuscripts in the Khitan small script are known. Most surviving specimens of both Khitan scripts are epitaph inscriptions on stone tablets, as well as a number of inscriptions on coins, mirrors and seals. The Liao emperors could read Chinese, and while there were some Chinese works translated into Khitan during the Liao dynasty, the Confucian classics, which served as the core guide to the administration of government in China, are not known to have been translated into Khitan.

Status of women

The status of women in the Liao dynasty varied greatly, with the Khitan Liao (like many other nomadic societies) having a much more egalitarian view towards women than the Han Chinese did. Khitan women were taught how to hunt, and managed family herds, flocks, finances, and property when their husbands were at war. Upper-class women were able to hold governmental and military posts. Han Chinese living under the Liao dynasty were not forced to adopt Khitan practices, and while some Han Chinese did, many did not.

Marriage practices

Women among the Khitan elite had arranged marriages, in some cases for political purposes. Men from the elite classes tended to marry women from the generation their senior. While this did not necessarily mean that there would be a large gap in ages between husband and wife, it was often the case. Among the ruling Yelü clan, the average age that boys married was sixteen, while the average age that girls married was between sixteen and twenty-two. Although rare, ages as young as twelve were recorded, for both boys and girls. A special variety of polygamy known as sororate, in which a man would marry two or more women who were sisters, was practiced among the Liao elite. Polygamy was not restricted only to sororate, with some men having three or more wives, only some of whom were sisters. Sororate continued throughout the length of the Liao dynasty, despite laws banning the practice. Over the course of the dynasty, the Khitan elite moved away from having several wives and towards the Han Chinese system of having one wife and one or more concubines. This was done largely to smooth over the process of inheritance.

Lower class Khitan women in the Liao dynasty did not have arranged marriages and would attract suitors by singing and dancing in the streets. The songs served as self-advertisements, with the women telling of their beauty, familial status, and domestic skills. Virginity was not a requirement for marriage among the Khitans and many Khitan women were sexually promiscuous before marriage. Betrothal was seen in Khitan society as being equally serious to, if not more serious than, marriage itself, and was difficult to annul. The groom would pledge to work for three years for the bride's family, pay a bride price, and lavish the bride's family with gifts. After the three years, the groom would be allowed to take the bride back to his home, and the bride would usually cut off all ties with her family. Abduction of marriage-age women was common during the Liao dynasty. Khitan men of all social classes participated in the activity, and the abductees included both Khitan and Han Chinese. In some cases, this was a step in the courtship process, where the woman would agree to the abduction and the resulting sexual intercourse, and then the abductor and abductee would return to the woman's home to announce their intention to marry. This process was known as baimen (拜门). In other cases, the abduction would be non-consensual and would result in a rape. Khitan women had the right to divorce their husbands and were able to remarry after being divorced.

Religion

Religion in Liao society was a synthesis of Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Khitan tribal religion. During Abaoji's reign, temples of all three major religions were constructed, but afterwards, imperial patronage was restricted mainly to Buddhism, which by the early tenth century, the majority of Khitans had adopted. The Buddha was considered a protective deity by the Khitans, who named him "The Benevolent King Who Guards the Country." They invoked Buddhism whenever they went to war and made massive offerings to placate the souls of fallen soldiers. The Liao began printing Buddhist texts in the 990s and an entire copy of the Tripitaka was completed in 1075. Portions of it have been found in a pagoda built in 1056. Buddhist scholars living during the time of the Liao dynasty predicted that the mofa (末法), an age in which the three treasures of Buddhism would be destroyed, was to begin in the year 1052. Previous dynasties, including the Sui and Tang, were also concerned with the mofa, although their predictions for when the mofa would start were different from the one selected by the Liao. As early as the Sui dynasty, efforts were made to preserve Buddhist teachings by carving them into stone or burying them. These efforts continued into the Liao dynasty, with Emperor Xingzong funding several projects in the years immediately preceding 1052.

Some elements of traditional Khitan tribal religion were also observed. The Khitans worshiped the sun and the ritual position for the emperor was to face the east where the sun rose, unlike Han Chinese emperors, who faced south. Royal dwellings also faced the east. Khitans also worshiped spirits of the Muye Mountain, the legendary home of the Khitans' ancestors, and a "Black Mountain." Liao burial sites indicate that animistic or shamanistic practices coexisted with Buddhism in marriage and burial ceremonies. Both animal and human sacrifices have been found in Liao tombs alongside indications of Buddhist influence. Daoist, zodiac, and Zoroastrian influences have also been found in Liao burial sites.

During the reign of the Liao dynasty the Niujie Mosque was designed by Nazaruddin, the son of a local Imam.

File:Luohan (arhat), Yixian cave, Hebei Province, China, Liao Dynasty, 11th century - Royal Ontario Museum - DSC09807.JPG|Luohan statue, Liao dynasty, 11th century

File:1090-1110 Buddha Sakyamuni anagoria IMG7142.JPG|Liao era bronze figure of Gautama Buddha

File:Bronze Guanyin statue from Liao Shangjing.jpg|Bronze Guanyin statue from the Chinese section of the Supreme Capital

File:辽彩绘木雕观音立像.jpg|Liao era painted wooden statue of Guanyin

File:Bodhisattva Guanyin Liao China 10th century CE Penn Museum 03.jpg|Bronze statue of Guanyin, Liao dynasty, 10th century

Cultural legacy

The influence of the Liao dynasty on subsequent culture includes a large legacy of statuary art works, with important surviving examples in painted wood, metal, and three-color glazed sancai ceramics. The music and songs of the Liao dynasty are also known to have indirectly or directly influenced Mongol, Jurchen, and Chinese musical traditions.

The rhythmic and tonal pattern of the ci (词) form of poetry, an important part of Song dynasty poetry, uses a set of poetic meters and is based upon certain definitive musical song tunes. The specific origin of these various original tunes and musical modes is not known, but the influence of Liao dynasty lyrics both directly and indirectly through the music and lyrics of the Jurchen Jin dynasty appears likely. At least one Han Chinese source considered the Liao (and Jurchen) music to be the vigorous and powerful music of horse-mounted warriors, diffused through border warfare.

Another influence of the Liao cultural tradition is seen in the Yuan dynasty's zaju (杂剧) theater, its associated orchestration, and the qu (曲) and sanqu (散曲) forms of Classical Chinese poetry. One documented way in which this influence occurred was through the incorporation of Khitan officers and men into the service of the Mongol forces during the first Mongol invasion of 1211 to 1215. This northern route of cultural transmission of the legacy of Liao culture was then returned to China during the Yuan dynasty.

Historic site

The Chinese state news agency Xinhua announced in January 2018 that the ruins in Duolun County, Inner Mongolia, of an ancient palace that served as the summer retreat for the royal family and retinue of the Liao Dynasty, had been discovered. They would move each year from mid-April to mid-July to avoid the heat. The site includes foundations of 12 buildings of more than 2,500 square feet that have been recorded and artifacts, such as glazed tiles, pottery and copper nails that were used to date the site.