The question of why the Liao state collapsed seems to be very complicated, but it can also be described in one sentence, that is, the external Jurchen clan is strong and the contradiction inside the Liao state eventually led to the Liao state withdrawing from the chinese historical stage.
The Liao State was a dynasty founded by the Khitans, which lasted for nine emperors and lasted for 281 years. The predecessor of the Liao state was the Khitan tribe, which was unified by Yelü Abaoji in 907. In 916, it officially had the founding name, and the seat of government in Shangjing was now Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia.
The history of the Liao state can be divided into several parts, and from the name of the country, it can be divided into Khitan, Daliao, Great Khitan, Liao, Northern Liao, Western Liao, Eastern Liao, and Houliao. In 947, Emperor Taizong of Liao, the second son of Yelü Abaoji, took Kaifeng in Henan and officially ascended the throne as emperor with the state name of Daliao.
But there have always been different voices about when the Khitans called the Liao state, some people think it is 937, some people think it is 938, and some people think it is 947. However, in terms of the change of the name of the Khitan people, it should be said that there is not much controversy.
The ancestors of the Khitans were Donghu Xianbei, and the Khitans were supposed to be of the same race as the Muwei and Kumoshi, but spoke different languages. As early as the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin attached great importance to the location of the Khitan people and established the Song desert governor's palace. After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the history of the Central Plains entered the Five Dynasties period, when Yelü Abaoji was the leader of the Dielabu, and during the chaos of the Central Plains, Yelü Abaoji did not idle, but actively fought until the unification of the Khitan tribes, and officially ascended the throne as Khan in 907.
Economically occupying the salt-producing areas of Mongolia, and militarily occupying the Xi, Murong wei and Tuoba tribes, it can be described as powerful. So in 916, he felt that the time was ripe to establish a state, so he established the Khitan State.
Liao Taizu did not resist the Central Plains culture, but on the contrary took in some refugees from Hebei. Moreover, han ministers were boldly used in the appointment of personnel, such as Han Yanghui, Han Zhigu and Lu Wenjin. In 918, the imperial capital LinhuangFu was established, and within the next two years, the unique script of the Khitan people was developed. Not only did he make achievements in culture, but he was not slow in military action, and went out to conquer the Bohai State, and appointed his own crown prince as the King of Dandong in the local area, officially taking over the Dandong Kingdom after the name of the Bohai State was changed.
However, Yelü Abaoji fell ill on the way back to Beijing, causing his plan to unify the Central Plains to be temporarily abandoned. At that time, it was his wife Shu Luping who took over the government affairs, and Shu Luping liked the second son of Yelü Abaoji and was not very interested in the former crown prince.
So in 927, the second son Yelü Deguang, with the support of his mother, successfully ascended the throne, known as Emperor Taizong of Liao, and killed many opponents in the middle of the way to establish a wei, and finally the crown prince fled to Later Tang.
But the heart of the Liao state to unify the Central Plains has never stopped. In 936, when civil unrest broke out in Later Tang, Shi Jingyao betrayed his lord for glory, and in order to become the emperor of Later Tang, he actually recognized khitan as his father and asked the Khitan emperor to send troops to attack Later Tang. The Khitans were worried that there was no good reason to send troops, and since the opportunity was in front of them, there was no reason not to seize it. Emperor Taizong of Liao himself led 50,000 Khitan elite troops to send troops to Hou Tang, and finally defeated the Tang army until it was destroyed. After the disappearance of later Tang, Shi Jingyao became the emperor of Later Jin as he wished, but also gave the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun to the Liao state.
The Liao state gained a large amount of land in this battle, and when The Later Jin Shi Zhonggui took the throne, he did not submit to the Khitans, he was originally Shi Jingyao's appearance, but he had a broken backbone, but unfortunately there were fewer people available around him, and finally he was captured by the Khitans to destroy the country. After the Khitans occupied Kaifeng, they gained more land in the Central Plains, so in 947 they changed the name of the country to Daliao and officially established the Liao Dynasty. Although Emperor Taizong of Liao intended to rule the Central Plains for a long time, due to poor policies and the constant resistance of the people, he eventually returned to the north and died of illness in Hebei.
Later, after a fierce power struggle within the Liao state, Yelü Nguyen defeated the empress dowager's son and finally ascended the throne as emperor and became Emperor Shizong of Liao. However, Emperor Liao liked to drink and women, and did not care about the government. In the late period, it was even more reused for traitors, and the imperial court was very corrupt. On the march of the later Zhou Dynasty, he was killed by his subordinate Yelü Cha, who was proclaimed emperor after he was killed by his subordinates.
Emperor Liao's eldest son, Yelü Jing, avenged his father and became emperor, known as Emperor Muzong of Liao. Although he was not as and drinking as his father in political affairs, he was lazy and often slept until three o'clock in the morning. The ministers were very worried in their hearts, and often people fled to the Central Plains. Due to the political instability and the internal rebellion, they had to join forces with other countries to deal with the rising star Hou Zhou. In the end, he lost a large amount of land, and even wanted to give up Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures. Emperor Muzong of Liao was eventually killed by those around him, after which Yelüxian ascended the throne as Emperor Jingzong of Liao.
By the time of Emperor Jingzong of Liao, the Liao Dynasty had entered a relatively strong stage. Emperor Jingzong of Liao reused the sages and was not so harsh on the imperial family, so there were fewer people who opposed him. In terms of external relations, it was better with the Northern Song Dynasty at first, and later because the Northern Song Dynasty gradually became stronger, it chose a strategic defense and did not take the initiative to send troops to the Central Plains.
The Liao army and the Song army engaged in a confrontation on the land of the Northern Han Dynasty, and finally the Northern Han Dynasty was destroyed, and the Liao army suffered defeat. Later, the Liao Dynasty took the initiative to change its tactics and defeated the Northern Song Dynasty. However, at this time, Liao Jingzong was not in good health, and most of the state affairs were represented by Empress Xiao.
After that, Emperor Shengzong of Liao ascended the throne, and after taking the throne, Empress Xiao presided over the affairs of the imperial court. Empress Xiao reused her Nengchen, always taking advantage of the Northern Song Dynasty, and later captured the famous Song general Yang Jiye. Later, the Liao Dynasty attacked Liaozhou, where it signed the Alliance of Liaoyuan. At that time, the Western Xia was looking at the tiger on one side, so the Liao and Song dynasties temporarily stopped fighting.
After Emperor Daozong of Liao succeeded to the throne, the country's power had gradually declined, and there were often major assassinations of the emperor and his grandson, and the emperor had to spend time quelling internal rebellions. During this period, the Jurchens, led by Yan Akuta, gradually became stronger, until the Jin army captured Shangjing of the Liao Dynasty, the Liao state lost a large area of land, and the emperor was forced into exile until he was captured and the country was destroyed.