Abaoji (872–6 September 926), posthumously known by his
temple name
Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dynas ...
as the Emperor Taizu of Liao,
was a
Khitan leader and the founding
emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
of the
Liao dynasty
The Liao dynasty (; Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 916 and 1125, ruled by the Yelü ...
of China, ruling from 916 to 926.
[ He had a sinicised name, Yelü Yi; some sources suggest that Abaoji's family name, ]Yelü
The Yelü clan ( Khitan: , spelled ''ey.är.uu.eld'', pronounced ''Yäruuld''; ), alternatively rendered as Yila () or Yarud, was a prominent family of ethnic Khitan origin in the history of China. The clan assumed leadership of the Khitan tribal ...
, was adopted during his lifetime, although there is no consensus amongst historians on this point.
Abaoji was born in 872 in Southern Mongolia and had a turbulent childhood. His grandfather was killed in a conflict between tribes, and his father and uncles fled. He was hidden by his grandmother for his safety. He became khagan
Khagan or Qaghan (Mongolian:; or ''Khagan''; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣 ), or , tr, Kağan or ; ug, قاغان, Qaghan, Mongolian Script: ; or ; fa, خاقان ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan ...
of the Khitans on 27 February 907, and was subsequently enthroned as emperor in 916, proclaiming his own era name
A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year o ...
. He died on 6 September 926. He was responsible for the conquest and unification of all of Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
, northern China
Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions is not precisely defined and only serve to depict where there appears to be regional differences between the climate ...
and southern Manchuria
Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...
.[ After the Khitan Empire became the ]Liao dynasty
The Liao dynasty (; Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 916 and 1125, ruled by the Yelü ...
in 942, Abaoji was posthumously considered a Liao emperor.
Legends surrounding Abaoji's birth
Later generations of Chinese historians record a variety of legends that surrounded the birth of Abaoji. According to the legends, his mother Xiao Yanmujin
Yaonian Yanmujin () or Xiao Yanmujin () (died December 18, 933''History of Liao'', vol. 3. Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), formally Empress Xuanjian (宣簡皇后), was an empress dowager of the Khitan-led Chinese Liao dyn ...
dreamt that the sun fell from the sky and into her bosom, from which her pregnancy followed. When she gave birth, the room was said to have become filled with a mysterious light and extraordinary fragrance. As a newborn, Abaoji's body was said to be that of a three-year-old, and the legends go on to say that he was walking at the age of three months. He was even recorded as being able to see events before they occurred.
Rise to power
The location of the Khitans
The Khitan people (Khitan small script: ; ) were a historical nomadic people from Northeast Asia who, from the 4th century, inhabited an area corresponding to parts of modern Mongolia, Northeast China and the Russian Far East.
As a people desce ...
in relation to the other neighbouring tribes is of importance. The Khitans resided on the east slope of the Greater Khingan
The Greater Khingan Range or Da Hinggan Range (; IPA: ), is a -long volcanic mountain range in the Inner Mongolia region of Northeast China.
It was originally called the Xianbei Mountains, which later became the name of the northern branch of th ...
Mountains. West of the mountains were other nomadic pastoral tribes such as the Shiwei and the Xi, along with the Turkic Uighur tribe. These other tribes had inter-married with the Khitans. Further west were the Tatars
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different , a warlike tribe on the Mongolian Plateau
The Mongolian Plateau is the part of the Central Asian Plateau lying between 37°46′-53°08′N and 87°40′-122°15′E and having an area of approximately . It is bounded by the Greater Hinggan Mountains in the east, the Yin Mountains to th ...
. East and north-east lay the Jurchens
Jurchen (Manchu language, Manchu: ''Jušen'', ; zh, 女真, ''Nǚzhēn'', ) is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian people, East Asian Tungusic languages, Tungusic-speaking peoples, descended from the Donghu people. They ...
all the way to the Amur river
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
. They were a peaceful people who resided in small villages and subsisted by hunting and fishing. Across the Liao River
The Liao River () is the principal river in southern Northeast China, and one of the seven main river systems in China. Its name derived from the Liao region, a historical name for southern Manchuria, from which the Liaoning province, Liaodong P ...
to the east and south-east as far as the Yalu River
The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...
lay the Balhae people, the majority of whom comprised a settled agricultural society.
The Yaonian clan had dominated the leadership of the Khitan[ tribes since the 750s. They maintained good relations with the ]Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
to the south. However, by the end of the ninth century, leaders of the powerful Yila tribe were expressing dissatisfaction with the Yaonian khans. Abaoji's father had been the elected chieftain of the Yila tribe. As surnames were considered a marker of Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
culture, they were not used by the Khitan people outside of the Yaonian imperial clan.
Abaoji became chieftain of the Yila tribe in 901, and in 903 he was named the Yuyue, commander of all of the Khitan military forces. This had the effect of making him second only to the great khan in the hierarchy of the Khitan state. He started making a name for himself in 905 when he led 70,000 cavalry into Shanxi
Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
to create a brotherhood with Li Keyong
Li Keyong () (October 24, 856 – February 24, 908) was a Chinese military general and politician of Shatuo ethnicity, and from January 896 a Prince of Jin (, ''Jin Wang''), which would become an independent state after the fall of the Tang dyn ...
. Not only did he offer "brotherhood" but he pledged support against Zhu Wen
Emperor Taizu of Later Liang (), personal name Zhu Quanzhong () (December 5, 852 – July 18, 912), né Zhu Wen (), name later changed to Zhu Huang (), nickname Zhu San (朱三, literally, "the third Zhu"), was a Chinese military general, mona ...
. This showed that he was willing to be more aggressive than the Great Khan. In 907, he appeared at the triennial council and demanded to be named the khagan
Khagan or Qaghan (Mongolian:; or ''Khagan''; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣 ), or , tr, Kağan or ; ug, قاغان, Qaghan, Mongolian Script: ; or ; fa, خاقان ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan ...
, the Khan of khans. His successes against the Han people in the north, against whom he had been raiding since 901, led to him receiving the support of seven tribal chiefs and even the acquiescence of the last Yaonian Great Khan.
From 907 until 916, Abaoji was beset with constant uprisings and rebellions, mostly instigated by his own family members (cousins and brothers). He eventually won them over by persuading them that they could become more successful as a dynasty. With his walled city showing off the tribe's wealth and power, he appointed all the usurpers to positions of influence which placated them. Abaoji's skilful manipulation of his enemies allowed him to increase his own and his tribe's power.
Legacy
Abaoji's ongoing success was due to his ability to introduce innovations to Khitan society. Arguably the most important was the introduction of a dual administrative system in which nomadic steppe peoples would be governed by steppe traditions while sedentary populations in conquered Balhae
Balhae ( ko, 발해, zh, c=渤海, p=Bóhǎi, russian: Бохай, translit=Bokhay, ), also rendered as Bohai, was a multi-ethnic kingdom whose land extends to what is today Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East. It wa ...
and north China
North China, or Huabei () is a List of regions of China, geographical region of China, consisting of the provinces of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia. Part of the larger region of Northern China (''Beifang''), it lies north ...
would be governed by a civil bureaucracy run largely on Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
protocols. While this did not receive universal support from tribal leaders due to the erosion of their own powers, this became the model that later steppe peoples would use to govern their diverse empires.
Two other important innovations were introduced in 916. He adopted Han court formalities in which he declared himself Celestial Emperor in the Han-style and adopted an era name
A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year o ...
, also in the Han manner of ruling. The second was to name his son, Yelü Bei
Yelü Bei () (899''History of Liao'', vol. 72. – January 7, 937''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 280. Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), also known as Yelü Tuyu (耶律突欲 or 耶律圖欲), posthumously honored Emperor Wenxian Q ...
, as his heir apparent, also a first in Khitan society and something that directly contrasted with Khitan notions of rule by merit. This second innovation did not take hold easily as only a few of his successors experienced simple successions.
He also organised his followers into warrior units known as '' orda'', and then by joining 12 ordas together, he formed an administrative district.[
In 918, Abaoji had a new walled city built. A Chinese city was built adjacent to this city in which artisans' shops, commercial shops and warehouses were constructed. Later, five capital cities would be built, including a Supreme Capital (上京), that served as the base of Khitan administration.]
Abaoji ordered the development of a Khitan large script
The Khitan large script () was one of two writing systems used for the now-extinct Khitan language (the other was the Khitan small script). It was used during the 10th–12th centuries by the Khitan people, who had created the Liao Empire in nor ...
in 920. This script looks superficially like Chinese writing. However, it bears little resemblance to Chinese writing, and the two were mutually unintelligible. Five years later, the arrival of a Uyghur delegation led Abaoji to order his younger brother, Yelü Diela, to develop a new script on more syllabic principles. Unlike the Japanese and Koreans, the Khitans managed to adopt the cultural and administrative tool of writing without the baggage of Han culture and grammar that came with the wholesale adoption of Chinese characters.
By the time he died of typhoid fever at the age of 54, Abaoji had captured the entire Balhae
Balhae ( ko, 발해, zh, c=渤海, p=Bóhǎi, russian: Бохай, translit=Bokhay, ), also rendered as Bohai, was a multi-ethnic kingdom whose land extends to what is today Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East. It wa ...
state, keeping their ruling family as nobility ruling his new fiefdom. His eastern boundaries were the Yalu River
The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...
and the Ussuri River
The Ussuri or Wusuli (russian: Уссури; ) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and forming part of the ...
. His westward progression had gone far onto the Mongolian Plateau
The Mongolian Plateau is the part of the Central Asian Plateau lying between 37°46′-53°08′N and 87°40′-122°15′E and having an area of approximately . It is bounded by the Greater Hinggan Mountains in the east, the Yin Mountains to th ...
. By the time of his death, he had not acted on his plan to move south.
Relationship with the Later Tang
Li Cunxu
Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (), personal name Li Cunxu (), nickname Yazi (), stage name Li Tianxia (), was the ruling prince of the Former Jin dynasty (r. 908–923) and later became the founding emperor of the Later Tang dynasty (r. 923 ...
, the son of Li Keyong
Li Keyong () (October 24, 856 – February 24, 908) was a Chinese military general and politician of Shatuo ethnicity, and from January 896 a Prince of Jin (, ''Jin Wang''), which would become an independent state after the fall of the Tang dyn ...
, who had formed a bond with Abaoji back in 905, founded the Later Tang
Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history.
The first three of the Later Tang's four e ...
on the ashes of the Later Liang in 923. On Li Cunxu's death, though relations between the two had soured, the proper forms were followed and an emissary was sent to the Khitan capital. The souring of relations occurred probably due to the aggressiveness of Abaoji, as in 922 and 923 he had led an army deep into Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...
, looting and taking prisoners along the way. This was in essence Later Tang territory.
Yao Kun
Yao Kun was sent by the Later Tang
Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history.
The first three of the Later Tang's four e ...
court to meet with Abaoji in 926. He caught up with the Khitan ruler in Manchuria
Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...
while he was on campaign against the Balhae
Balhae ( ko, 발해, zh, c=渤海, p=Bóhǎi, russian: Бохай, translit=Bokhay, ), also rendered as Bohai, was a multi-ethnic kingdom whose land extends to what is today Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East. It wa ...
kingdom and while he was encamped at Fuyu in present-day Jilin Province
Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...
. Abaoji demanded that the Later Tang
Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history.
The first three of the Later Tang's four e ...
surrender the Sixteen Prefectures
The Sixteen Prefectures () comprise a historical region in northern China along the Great Wall in present-day Beijing, Tianjin, and northern Hebei and Shanxi.
Name
It is more specifically called the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun or the Six ...
. If they were given up, there would be no reason for Abaoji to invade China proper
China proper, Inner China, or the Eighteen Provinces is a term used by some Western writers in reference to the "core" regions of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China. This term is used to express a distinction between the "core" regions popu ...
. Yao Kun stated that this demand was not in his power to grant. This response landed Yao Kun in prison, where he still was when Abaoji died from illness on 6 September 926.
Succession
Though Yelü Bei
Yelü Bei () (899''History of Liao'', vol. 72. – January 7, 937''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 280. Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), also known as Yelü Tuyu (耶律突欲 or 耶律圖欲), posthumously honored Emperor Wenxian Q ...
was designated heir apparent in 916, the empress dowager
Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother) () is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese emperor in the Chinese cultural sphere.
The title was also g ...
Shulü Ping
Shulü Ping (; 19 October 879 – 1 August 953), nickname Yueliduo (月里朵), formally Empress Yingtian () also known as Empress Di (地皇后) during the reign of her husband Emperor Taizu of Liao (Yelü Abaoji), posthumous name initially Empr ...
did not consider him to be worthy and managed to have her second son Deguang succeed to the throne. Deguang became known to history as Emperor Taizong and he reigned from 926 to 947.
Family
Consort and issue(s):
* Empress Chunqin, of the Xiao clan (淳欽皇后 蕭氏, 19 October 879 – 1 August 953), personal name Shulü Ping (述律平)
**Yelü Zhigu (耶律質古; d. 911), 1st daughter
***Married Xiao Shilu (蕭室魯), half-brother of Shülu Ping
**Yelü Bei
Yelü Bei () (899''History of Liao'', vol. 72. – January 7, 937''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 280. Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), also known as Yelü Tuyu (耶律突欲 or 耶律圖欲), posthumously honored Emperor Wenxian Q ...
, Emperor Yizong (遼義宗 耶律倍, 889 – 7 Januaru 937), 1st son
** Yelü Deguang, Emperor Taizong (遼太宗 耶律德光, 25 November 902 – 18 May 947 ), 2nd son
**Yelü Lihu
Yelü Lihu (耶律李胡) (911-960), also named Honggu (洪古), courtesy name Xiyin (奚隱), formally Emperor Zhangsu (章肅皇帝), was an imperial prince of the Khitan-led Liao dynasty. As the third son of Liao's founding emperor Emperor T ...
, Emperor Zhangsu (章肅皇帝 耶律李胡, 911– 960), 3rd son
*Palace lady, of the Xiao clan (宮人 蕭氏)
**Yelü Yaliguo (耶律牙里果), 4th son
Ancestry
See also
*Liao dynasty
The Liao dynasty (; Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 916 and 1125, ruled by the Yelü ...
*Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
* Khitan
* Yelu clan
*Ambaghai
Ambaghai or Hambaqai Khan (; ) ( ? – died 1156) was a khan of the Khamag Mongol, one of the great grandsons of Khaidu Khan and the cousin and predecessor of Hotula Khan, he was the Leader of Taichud Clan one of sub-branch of Borjigid, and al ...
khan of the Khamag Mongol
Khamag Mongol ( mn, Хамаг монгол, Khamag mongol, lit=the whole Mongol; ) was a major Mongolic tribal confederation (khanlig) on the Mongolian Plateau in the 12th century. It is sometimes considered to be a predecessor state to the ...
Footnotes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Abaoji
Liao dynasty emperors
872 births
926 deaths
10th-century Chinese monarchs
10th-century rulers in Asia
Founding monarchs
9th-century Khitan people
10th-century Khitan rulers