In the historical period when China achieved great unification, if you ask which dynasty has the narrowest territory, everyone usually mentions the Song Dynasty. The main reason for the relatively small territory of the Song Dynasty was closely related to the exchanges between two neighboring countries, namely the Liao State and the Jin State. In particular, the influence of the Jin State on the Song Dynasty made it the Southern Song Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty. So, how big is the territory of these two countries?Which province is it equivalent to today?Let's take a look.
Before delving into the basis of their geographical boundaries today, let us first review the Liao and Jin states at that time. Both countries were founded by northern nomads, so why mention that they are equivalent to the same province?This is because they are both powerful countries in the North, but there is an order in history. Let's first learn about the former Liao State.
The Liao State was a state founded by the Khitan people, which experienced nine emperors and enjoyed the country for two hundred and eighteen years. And the Khitan nation has already shown considerable strength in the early days. During the Tang Dynasty, the Khitan people were not satisfied with the harsh living environment of the grassland, and had many wars with the Tang Dynasty. The Khitans often wandered in the border areas and repeatedly harassed the lives and work of the border people.
Faced with this situation, Li Shimin, the outstanding emperor of the Tang Dynasty in history, stepped forward and proposed cooperation with the Khitan nomads. At that time, marriage diplomacy was a common practice. Therefore, the Khitans stopped invading our borders and maintained friendly relations with the Central Plains until the fall of the Tang Dynasty. However, in the Song Dynasty, which focused on the suppression of military force, the Khitans' ambition to invade the Central Plains was once again stimulated, and even evolved into a never-ending struggle.
At that time, a leader rarely seen in history arose among the Khitans - Yelu Abaoji. He is one of the outstanding figures who left his name in Chinese history. Under the leadership of Yelu Abaoji, the Khitans expanded southward on the one hand, and consolidated their own power on the other, making the Liao State prosperous for a time. However, as the strength of the Liao State increased, serious internal disputes arose.
Due to their monopoly in the northern regions, the Song dynasty posed no threat to them. They signed an armistice with the Song Dynasty and paid annual tribute to the Song Dynasty to enjoy a comfortable life. However, this relative peace with the Song dynasty led to a sharp decline in their military power. In the northern steppes, a land surrounded by wolves, such a state is unsustainable. It was at this time that the state established by another northern ethnic group gradually entered the stage of history.
The Liao State, as the overlord of the north, was destroyed by a country that was also a northern nomadAnd the Northern Song Dynasty, which also had rich economic strength, suffered the fate of the emperor being captured as a slaveBehind these two unimaginable things at the time, it turned out to be the same country - Jin Guo.
The Jin state, like the Liao state, was a regime created by northern nomads. The Jin state was founded by the Jurchens, who later became the ancestors of the Manchus of the Qing dynasty. The Jurchens have a longer history than the Khitans, and they have appeared on the stage of history as early as the Han Dynasty. However, in the early days, the Jurchens were not known by this name, but belonged to a part of the Khitan, had a humble status and lived in poverty.
It is often said that where oppression exists, there must be resistance. It was under the oppression of the Khitan that a strong man rose among the Jurchens, and he was Wanyan Aguta, a fierce general on the same level as the aforementioned Yelu Abaoji. Akuta led his people to rebel and created a new country, the Kingdom of Jin.
As mentioned earlier, the Liao State gradually weakened after becoming stronger, and at this time, the Jin State in the remote region began to make small calculations. At the same time, the literati of the Northern Song Dynasty also had some careful thoughts about the situation. During that period, the Northern Song Dynasty and the Liao State signed an armistice agreement in the early days, resulting in the sixteen states of Yanyun being in the hands of the Liao State, and a large amount of tribute to the Liao State every year.
The historical event of Lianjin's destruction of Liao has always been controversial. Due to internal reasons in the Northern Song Dynasty, it failed to share the benefits in the process, but instead contributed to the strength of the Jin State, so that its land area surpassed that of the Liao State at its peak after the destruction of the Liao. This strategy of linking Jin to destroy Liao can be described as raising tigers, which eventually led to the famous Jingkang shame in history, the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, the loss of a large area of land, and the Southern Song Dynasty came into being.
We have already discussed the history of the rise of the Liao and Jin states, and it can be seen that these two states mainly occupied the territory of the north. So exactly, what exactly do they occupy?And which province of our country do these places correspond to now?Let's take a look at this map of the Song Dynasty.
The Liao State actually occupied most of North China, including present-day Beijing, Tianjin, and even part of Mongolia. This land is easy to defend and difficult to attack, which is a pity for the Northern Song Dynasty, if it can own this land, the Northern Song Dynasty may be able to resist the invasion of the northerners to a certain extent, and at the same time consolidate its own rule, maybe there will be no later Jingkang shame.
And after the destruction of the Liao State, the Jin State owned a much more extensive land. In addition to the originally occupied part of the northwest, which is now the Heilongjiang region, the Jin State also carried out a series of expansions. Eventually, with the exception of the territory of the Southern Song Dynasty and the Mongol region in the north, the rest of the region was under the rule of the Jin state. This means that present-day Beijing, as well as its northeast and northwest regions, were once the territory of the Jin Kingdom.
In modern times, these territories correspond to eleven provinces, including Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu, as well as two municipalities directly under the central government, Beijing and Tianjin. Looking at the current map, we can't help but marvel at the vastness of the territory of the Jin period.
The thousands of years of Chinese history have witnessed the rise and fall of dynasties in this vast land of China, as well as the alternation and coexistence of royal power. At the same time, the Central Plains countries also had to deal with the constant invasion of the northern nomads, so the war against the northern nomads has been a constant struggle. Whether it was the Liao State, the Jin State, or the Yuan Dynasty established by the Mongols, and the Qing Dynasty founded by the Manchus, these were all the products of the strife and war of various ethnic groups.
As far as China today is concerned, we have 56 different ethnic groups, and the people of all ethnic groups in the country are closely united to face various challenges and build our beautiful homeland together
network, if there is any infringement, please contact to delete!100 help plan