History of China The Liao Dynasty

The Liao Dynasty stood between two worlds: the Khitan steppe and the settled civilization of northern China. In Part Two of The Liao Dynasty: A History of China, that balancing act becomes a struggle for survival.The story begins with Empress Dowager Xiao Chuo, Emperor Shengzong, Han Derang, and the Song-Liao confrontation that produced the Peace of Chanyuan. From there, the book follows the dynasty through court rivalries, succession crises, imperial rebellions, corrupt ministers, and the long weakening of central power.Major figures include Emperor Xingzong, Emperor Daozong, Yelü Chongyuan, Yelü Yixin, Empress Xiao Guanyin, and the disastrous Emperor Tianzuo. As the Jurchens rise under Wanyan Aguda and establish the Jin Dynasty, the Liao faces a threat unlike anything it had encountered before.The narrative then follows Yelü Dashi westward into Central Asia, where Khitan power takes new form in the Western Liao, or Qara Khitai, amid the Gaochang Uyghurs, Karakhanids, Seljuks, Khwarazm, and the Battle of Qatwan. The final chapters carry the story into the age of Kuchlug and the expanding Mongol world.Written as accessible narrative history, this volume explains complicated politics, warfare, court intrigue, cultural change, and imperial survival in clear, conversational prose.