The Northern Song Dynasty eliminated the turmoil of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, however, the northern forces such as the Liao, Jin, and Western Xia were still strong and wars continued. As the first ethnic minority state in China's feudal history to establish a political power independently, the Liao State was ruled by the Khitan for 209 years and had a total of nine emperors. Although it was eventually destroyed by the Jin State, the Khitan people still exist in Inner Mongolia and Yunnan in China.
The rise and fall of the Song Dynasty can be said to be full of ups and downs. In 959 AD, the seven-year-old Zhou Gong Emperor Chai Zongcheng ascended the throne as the emperor, and the envoy of the festival at that time was Zhao Kuangyin. On the first day of the first lunar month in 960, a secret report came that the Khitan State had united many armies to attack the Zhou Dynasty in the south.
When Prime Minister Fan Zhen learned the news, he panicked and hurriedly summoned Zhao Kuangyin to reorganize his team and prepare to resist the invasion from the north. When the army marched to Chenqiaoyi, there was no trace of the Khitan army around, so they set up camp, and the soldiers drank wine one after another. Zhao Kuangyin was slightly drunk at the banquet, closing his eyes and concentrating.
Zhao Kuangyin's younger brother Zhao Guangyi and Zhao Pu and others began to discuss: "Emperor Zhou is too young to govern the country, it is better to support the Jiedu envoy as the emperor, and the Northern Expedition to defend the country is not the right way?"Generals in the army supported the proposal. Zhao Kuangyin pretended to be sober and saw his subordinates draping the yellow robe on him and kneeling together, but in fact he had already learned of the conspiracy of the generals.
Zhao Kuangyin cautiously refused, but was stopped by his younger brother Zhao Guangyi, and finally agreed: "In this case, I have to obey my fate." Zhao Kuangyin was forced to be crowned emperor, launched the Chenqiao Mutiny, led his army back to the capital, and forced Emperor Zhou Gong to abdicate. In this way, Zhao Kuangyin established the Song Dynasty. However, this period of relative calm did not last long.
In 1127 AD, Wanyan Zongwang of the Jin Dynasty led an army to Kaifeng Mansion, the capital of the Song Dynasty. At that time, the emperor Song Huizong was already weak and had no resistance in the face of the Jin soldiers. In a panic, Song Huizong summoned the prince and said: "I am old and frail, and I am incompetent, so I will give you the position now, and you must govern the country well." "The Song Dynasty faced many crises during turbulent times.
Emperor Huizong of Song passed the throne to his son, the crown prince Zhao Huan, who was honored as Emperor Qinzong of Song. However, this move failed to reverse their fortunes. Wanyan Zongwang took more than 3,000 people, including the Zhao royal family, harem concubines and courtiers, marking the complete destruction of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Zhao Gou fled the capital and established the Southern Song Dynasty regime in Yingtianfu in Nanjing, and signed an agreement with the Jin State to cede a large amount of territory in order to protect himself. However, one hundred and fifty-two years later, Song Duzong succeeded to the throne, indulging in pleasures and neglecting state affairs, causing the country to fall into chaos and decline. In the cycle of history, the Jin army invaded Lin'an, and the Southern Song Dynasty fell in 1279, ending the second phase of the Song Dynasty.
During this period of history, the fusion of the Khitan and Jurchen tribes became the main military force that destroyed the Song Dynasty. Yelu Abaoji established the Liao State, the Khitan once lagged behind the Han people, and even stayed in the clan society stage, as a nomadic tribe, the Khitan has always survived in the way of tribal leaders.
Yelu Abaoji was chosen as a tribal leader because of his generosity and principle, and gradually took control of the military and political power of several tribes. Ambitious, he gathered tribal leaders and proposed intermarriage with the Han in order to strengthen himself. Although there was opposition at first, they were all suppressed by him. The Khitans began to intermarry with the Han and learned the techniques and culture that had been passed down from the Tang Dynasty.
However, some people did not obey, and some tribal leaders even formed an alliance in private, expressing their dissatisfaction: "We used to elect a big leader, and each tribe did its own thing, why should we obey Yelu Abaoji's arrangement?"
Many people began to support this attitude of resistance, and eventually, in the election of the big chief, which was supposed to be held every three years, there were people who openly opposed Yelu Abaoji: "You allow the Khitan to intermarry with the Han people, this is a betrayal, we will not obey!."Some nobles stood up against it and led their men to rebel.
In the end, Abaoji was unable to resist the strong pressure of the hostile forces, and was finally completely suppressed, and even ordered the execution of more than 300 Khitan rebel leaders. This battle completely consolidated Yelu Abaoji's slave dominance, making him the monarch himself. After establishing power, Yelu Abaoji learned that the Central Plains had been unified and the Song Dynasty had been established.
Therefore, he told his subordinates: "The reason why I was able to become a monarch and defeat the rebellion was precisely because I absorbed the ideas and military methods of the Han people." We must expand our sphere of influence and not be trapped in the cold north forever. "A man named Han Yanhui stood up, he was the envoy of the Song Dynasty, he had sent an envoy to the Khitan, and was left in the Khitan by Yelu Abaoji.
He said: "King, I am from the Central Plains, I am familiar with the skills and culture of the Central Plains, and I am willing to give advice to the King!"With the help of Han Yanhui, the Khitan carried out reforms, absorbed the etiquette and culture of the Central Plains, chose the capital, built the city walls, and changed the nomadic lifestyle of the past.
Yelu Abaoji valued Han Yanhui, created a Khitan script and writing style, and vigorously developed agriculture and commerce. In the second year of Zhenming (916), Yelu Abaoji reformed the slave regime into the Liao Dynasty and proclaimed himself the Great Sage Emperor of the Great Tomorrow. However, he was not satisfied with this, and continued to expand his territory in all directions, posing a great threat to the Song Dynasty.
The fall of the Liao State occurred during the Yelulong period of the Liao Shengzong, which was also the heyday of the Liao Dynasty. At the same time, although the Song Dynasty prospered in internal commerce, the country's military power was very weak, because the Song Dynasty's policy favored civil rule and neglected the use of force. Although the Liao army was vast and sparsely populated, it was still invincible, and despite repeated defeats, it still stubbornly defended.
In the end, both countries were exhausted, and Empress Dowager Xiao presided over the government, and she was unwilling to fight again. At the same time, Song Zhenzong consulted with the Liao State and proposed a peace agreement, but the Empress Dowager Xiao was not satisfied and demanded that the Song Dynasty cede land and pay compensation.
The ministers strongly advised Song Zhenzong: "Don't compromise, if the Liao army doesn't believe in its words, and takes the city but counterattacks our dynasty, the consequences are unimaginable!."In the face of the opposition of the minister, Song Zhenzong made the decision to abandon the capital and flee. However, just when the situation was precarious, he heard that Empress Dowager Xiao had proposed to sign a peace treaty.
So, he sent someone to sign the "Yuanyuan Alliance" with Empress Dowager Xiao, which eventually became his lifeline. Although this pact was a humiliation for the Han regime, it brought peace and tranquility between the two countries for more than 180 years. Unfortunately, the late Liao regime was unstable, the internal power struggle was fierce, and the whole country fell into a crisis-ridden situation.
The last emperor of the Liao State, Emperor Tianzuo, was greedy for pleasure and even attracted the wrath of the Jurchen leader Wanyan Aguta because of a divine bird named Haidongqing. Wanyan Aguta's subordinates suggested taking advantage of Liao's civil strife to attack Liao in order to take revenge. He took this advice and led his army to attack the Liao State, capturing Emperor Tianzuo and eventually beheading him.
As a result, the Liao State was destroyed, and the Jin State was established, which became part of the later Qing Dynasty Manchus. Even the old Liao Dynasty's Ye Dashi fled with some of his men and established the Western Liao regime, but it was soon destroyed by Genghis Khan's Mongol army. This part of the Khitan people joined the tribes of the Mongols, intermarried and lived with the Mongols, and was eventually Mongolized.
Archaeologists have found a large number of Liao materials and Khitan scripts in the Chifeng and Tongliao areas of Inner Mongolia, which confirms the fact that some Khitan people live in the Mongolian ethnic group. In 1993, an archaeological discovery unraveled the mystery of the tombstones and bones of the Khitan script site in Shidian County, Yunnan Province, which was jointly completed by archaeologists and biogeneticists.
Genetic monitoring has revealed a genetic link between the Daur and Khitan ethnic groups. This discovery reveals that the once glorious Khitan people have been integrated into the Mongol and "Daur" ethnic groups in China, and are now distributed in regions such as Inner Mongolia and Yunnan.