Many people have a question, that is, when they went to school to study Xi ancient Chinese history, the textbook introduced the history of the Southern Song Dynasty very richly, such as the monarchs of the past dynasties, military politics, territory changes, etc., in great detail. Western Liao, the hegemon of Central Asia in the same period as the Southern Song Dynasty, was introduced in textbooks with only a few numbers.
Therefore, when some people learn about the strong regional influence of Western Liao at that time, they will feel that history textbooks seem to be a bit critical of Western Liao, so why are they reluctant to talk about it. What is the reason for this? This has to start with the two powerful regimes of the Western Liao and Southern Song dynasties at the same time.
Western Liao is an extraterritorial regime
From the point of view of the founders of the regime, the emperors of the Southern Song Dynasty were all Han Chinese. The Han nation has always been recognized as orthodox in ancient Chinese history. Therefore, the dynasties were also generally established by the Han people. So much so that some ethnic minorities have adapted to historical changes and achieved political power, and there will still be many historical records that countless heroes want to restore the Han people.
The founders of Western Liao are the Khitans, who are the ethnic groups of Qiao Feng in Mr. Jin Yong's "Tianlong Babu". The Khitan are nomadic people, and the people are brave and good at fighting. In 1132, Yelu Dashi founded the Western Liao, and then opened the road of expansion with the conquest, and finally occupied an important position in Central Asia, and built the capital in present-day Kyrgyzstan.
Since the founder of the Western Liao is not of the Han nationality, and the land ruled is not limited to the territory of China, this history will inevitably be simplified, after all, the history of China is counted by the change of dynasties, and the Western Liao is not in the inherent dynastic replacement system, so it is often not taken seriously.
Comparison between the Southern Song Dynasty and the Western Liao
In the same period, who was more powerful in the Southern Song Dynasty and Western Liao? According to everyone's inherent impression, they would definitely feel that the Southern Song Dynasty was more powerful. Because during the Southern Song Dynasty, China stood at the top of the world. In terms of economy, if the Southern Song Dynasty wants to say second, which country dares to call it first?
In terms of science and technology, the compass, gunpowder, and papermaking were widely used in the Southern Song Dynasty, and great progress was made in medicine and mathematics. Speaking of culture, the top literati of the Southern Song Dynasty were all over the place, and a large number of classic works appeared in the fields of Song poetry and novels. It can be said that the social and economic development of the Southern Song Dynasty was very good.
But when it comes to military strength, the Southern Song Dynasty can't compare to Western Liao. Western Liao is heavy on military forces and has extremely strong combat effectiveness, otherwise it would not be able to become the hegemon of West Asia. Moreover, the comprehensive strength of Western Liao is not worse than that of the Southern Song Dynasty, if it is compared to the territory and the brave fighting, the Southern Song Dynasty is really inferior to the Western Liao.
Even so, it is impossible for the historians of the past dynasties to make a rich record of the Western Liao, after all, in their opinion, no matter how powerful it is, the history of the Western Liao is not a proper history. In fact, this was true not only for Western Liao, but also for other countries at that time. During the Northern and Southern Song periods, there were not a few countries that were active on the world stage at the same time.
In addition to the Western Liao, there were also Jin, Western Xia, Mongol, Tufan, and so on, all of which generally played villains in novels of various genres, none of which were told to us as orthodox history. Therefore, in our cognition, the Song Dynasty is a powerful existence, and those regimes are just small countries that are not worth mentioning.
Location characteristics of Western Liao
A closer look at the territory of the Southern Song Dynasty and Western Liao shows that these two countries were not next to each other, and there were also regimes such as Mongolia in between. The history of China is mainly about the evolution of the relationship between the dynasty and the surrounding regimes. If you want to enter my annals, you at least have nothing to do but dangle in front of my eyes and brush up on your presence. But Xiliao really doesn't have this condition.
At that time, the Southern Song Dynasty focused its main efforts on dealing with the countries bordering it that were doing things at every turn. Western Liao is also constantly pulling with neighboring countries, but the Southern Song Dynasty and Western Liao have nothing to do with each other. Since the relationship is estranged and the territory of Western Liao is outside China, it is indeed a bit far-fetched to have to be classified as Chinese history.
Moreover, in terms of importance, the history of the existence of Western Liao is obviously not short, but it is a pity that the real glory of this regime is really not very long. In other words, Xiliao is a country that is slowly developing, and when it is quite abundant, it will be majestic and heroic a few times, and then it will fall. In later generations, some people wanted to talk about Western Liao, but found that this regime was short-lived.
Relations between the Southern Song Dynasty and Western Liao
Due to the distance, the relationship between the Southern Song Dynasty and the Western Liao was not very close, but it cannot be said that there was no connection. The bond between the two countries is the common enemy of the two sides, Kim. Jin was also a regime established by ethnic minorities, and it was the Jurchens who established the regime. The Jurchens also possessed the courage of a nomad, which made Song miserable.
Jin, who was originally sandwiched between Western Liao and the Southern Song Dynasty, likes to provoke the two bigwigs when he has nothing to do. It is supposed to provoke the anger of the two countries and deal with Kim together. However, the Southern Song Dynasty did not join forces with the Western Liao, mainly because the Western Liao did not trust the Song Dynasty. This is mainly because what the Northern Song Dynasty did was indeed a bit unauthentic.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, Liao, the predecessor of Western Liao, had a good relationship with it. At that time, the two countries also had an alliance with each other. But soon with the rise of the Jurchens, the Northern Song Dynasty reached an alliance with the Jurchens to deal with the Liao together. Yelu Dashi had seen the Song Dynasty turn his face, and it was he who personally led the army to beat away the traitorous army of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Yelu Dashi therefore looked down on Song. So he would rather deal with Jin alone than cooperate with the Southern Song Dynasty. This also created the conditions for Kim's rapid expansion, allowing it to dare to send troops to both sides. At this time, even if the Southern Song Dynasty was willing to find the Western Liao Alliance again, the Western Liao was unwilling. For this reason, the Southern Song Dynasty can be regarded as eating its own bitter fruit.
Therefore, the Southern Song Dynasty and Western Liao are still antagonistic in the final analysis, and they did not fight because they were far apart. Since they look down on each other and are separated by 108,000 miles, they simply don't play together. There is little communication between the two countries, which is also one of the reasons why there are few records of Western Liao in history textbooks.
Brief summary:
In a nutshell, Western Liao appeared during the same period as the Southern Song Dynasty and was a very powerful regime. Its existence has enabled the development and growth of civilization in the whole of Asia, and has filled in an important color for the history of world civilization. However, for Chinese history, the contribution of Western Liao is not large, and it has not played much role in promoting China's economic and social development.
Xi in Chinese history education has been accustomed to focusing on the important regimes of an era, and mainly on the orthodox dynasties inherent in the Chinese mind. As a result, the narrative of history is mostly based on one regime, supplemented by other securities. The Southern Song Dynasty was no exception, and other regimes were derivatives in the history of the Southern Song Dynasty. Therefore, it is understandable that Western Liao is briefly described.