Dinasti-dinasti China

Sejak dari kebangkitan Abaoji sehingga kejatuhan Dinasti Liao pada tahun 1125, sejumlah enam dinasti telah memerintah utara China. Pertamanya adalah Lima Dinasti, yang mana memerintah utara China berturut-turut bermula pada tahun 907 sehingga 960. Kemudian, Dinasti Song, yang mana mengantikan Dinasti Zhou Akhir pada tahun 960, dan yang mana dalam masa dua dekad, telah berjaya menggabungkan kerajaan-kerajaan di selatan ke dalam kerajaannya, menyatukan hampir keseluruhan tanah-tanah tradisional China.

Tang Akhir

Dinasti Tang Akhir telah diasakan oleh Shatuo Turks pada tahun 923 selepas pengasasnya, Li Cunxu, anak lelaki kepada saudara darah Abaoji, Li Keyong, menjatuhkan Dinasti Liang Akhir. Walaubagimanapun, hubungan antara kedua-dua semakin buruk, sebahagian besarnya disebabkan oleh serangan Khitan ke atas Hebei, mengambil harta rampasan dan tawanan.

Li Cunxu meninggal dunia pada tahun 926. Meskipun, ada umumnya menghadapi kemerosotan dalam hubungan, Dinasti Tang Akhir telah menghantar utusan bernama Yao Kun ke Dinasti Liao. Walau bagaimanapun, sewaktubeliau tiba, Abaoji sedang di dalam kempen, bagi melengkapkan penaklukan kerajaan Balhae (dikenali di dalam sejarah China sebagai Bohai). Selera Abaoji terhadap perluasan empayar tidak dapat dipuaskan dengan penaklukan Balhae, kerana beliau kemudian menghantar tuntutan berhenti Enam Belas Kerajaan Pengawasan, yang mana sempadan wilayah kepada dua buah empayar. Bagaimanapun, Abaoji meninggal dunia pada 6 September, dan menyebabkan perhatian terhadap Enam Belas Kerajaan Pengawasan ini beralih seketika.

Jin Akhir

Dinasti Tang Akhir mula lemah pada tahun 930-an. Apabila Shi Jingtang memberontak, Liao menghantar satu pasukan besar tentera di Shanxi bagi membantu. Sebagai ganjaran bagi bantuan ini, Dinasti Jin Akhir baru ini telah melepaskan Enam Belas Kerajaan Pengawasan kepada Liao.

Bangsa Cina Han dan Turk Shatuo yang tinggal dalam wilayah Jin Akhir jengkel akan kedudukan bawahan mereka dalam hubungan dengan Liao. Ini menyebabkan istana Jin Akhir berazam untuk bebas dari Liao. Kesannya, Khitan melancarkan serangan sejauh ke Kaifeng, di mana mereka merampas arkib peta, jam air, alat muzik, dan salinan Klasik, serta menculik para tukang dan ilmuwan. Kemudian, mereka hendak bergerak jauh ke kawasan yang kini merupakan wilayah Hebei dan Shanxi. Namun, oleh sebab berdepan dengan kesukaran mentadbir kependudukan tetap yang besar, maharaja Liao ingin melepaskan jawatan selaku maharaja China lalu membuat keputusan untuk kembali ke Ibu Kota Selatan. Sekembalinya pada tahun 947, baginda mangkat.

Peristiwa ini membawa kepada kejatuhan Dinasti Jin Akhir, dan untuk mengisi kekosongan yang disebabkan oleh kemangkatan maharaja Liao, maka tertubuhnya Dinasti Han Akhir yang berhayat singkat.

Zhou Akhir

Dinasti Zhou Akhir menyerang kedudukan Liao pada tahun 958 dalam satu cubaan untuk mendapatkan semula Enam Belas Kerajaan. Selepas berjaya mengambil alih dua kerajaan di Hebei, Maharaja Muzong menyertai pertempuran, memimpin satu pasukan kavalri Khitan ke ibu kota selatan pada tahun berikutnya. Konfrontasi ketenteraan dapat dihindarkan dengan kematian maharaja Zhou Akhir.

Dinasti Song

The Song Dynasty succeeded the Later Zhou Dynasty, the last of the Five Dynasties, in 960. Initially, the Song Dynasty court focused on reunifying the Chinese realm by incorporating the remaining southern kingdoms left over from the Ten Kingdoms period in the south. However, once Wuyue was brought into the fold in 978, Emperor Taizong began to focus on the north.

Two major issues caused relations between the Liao and the Song to sour. One was the continued Liao occupation of the Sixteen Prefectures. The other was Liao support for the Northern Han kingdom, the remnant of the Later Han Dynasty that was toppled in 950.

Emperor Taizong led the conquest of the Northern Han in 979. Then, he led an ill-advised invasion of the Sixteen Prefectures. The result was a resounding Liao victory, forcing the Song emperor to retreat in disgrace.

Song Emperor Taizong tried to take advantage of a fifteen-year-old Liao emperor by launching a three-pronged invasion in 986. The Song were decisively defeated on all three fronts. The Song court then resumed diplomatic contact with the Liao.

The Liao invaded the Song Dynasty in 1004, and stopped just north of Shanyuan, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of the Song capital of Kaifeng. The Song emperor Zhenzong met them with a force. The Treaty of Shanyuan was worked out in January, 1005. The Song Dynasty was required to pay an annual tribute to the Liao. The treaty also stipulated that the two imperial families address one another using familial terms. The tribute was increased and extended to Xi Xia when the Liao and Tanguts threatened further invasion in 1042.

Goryeo

When the Khitan conquered the kingdom of Balhae, the border with Korea had been pushed to the Yalu River. Korea itself was undergoing significant transformations at the same time. Goryeo was founded in 918, and eventually unified the entire Korean Peninsula. The Silla kingdom, which had ruled the entire peninsula since the seventh century, fell in 935.

In 993, the Khitan invaded Goryeo's northwest border with 800,000 troops. The Khitan withdrew and ceded territory to the east of the Yalu River when Goryeo agreed to end its alliance with Song Dynasty China. However, Goryeo continued to communicate with Song, having strengthened its position by building fortresses in the newly gained northern territories.

In 1010, Emperor Shengzong of Liao led a massive invasion with 400,000 men, commanding the troops himself. He easily defeated the resisting army of General Gang Jo, who was executed by the Khitans. However, Gang Gam-chan urged King Hyeonjong to escape from the palace, and not to surrender to the invading Liao troops. King Hyeonjong followed Gang Gam-chan's advice, and managed to escape from the burning capital. A Korean insurgency began to harass the Khitan forces. Eventually, Shengzong ordered a withdrawal of the entire Khitan force; the Khitans lost the war, and didn't gain anything. Thus another bloody war between two nations was foreshadowed, as both sides remained hostile to each other. After the war, Gang was promoted as the Minister of Government Administration.

In 1018, General Xiao Baiya of Liao invaded Goryeo with 100,000 men. This time, many officials urged to king to enter a peace negotiation, since the damage from the 2nd Koryo-Khitan War was so great and Goryeo was not able to recover from the damage. However Gang again urged the king to fight the Khitans, since the Khitan force was much smaller than the previous invasions. Gang volunteered to be deputy commander-in-chief of the Goryeo army, at the age of 71. He led about 200,000 men toward the Goryeo-Liao border. The first battle of the war was the Battle of Heunghwajin, which was won by General Gang by blocking a stream and then destroying the dam when the Khitans were mid-way through crossing. Many Khitans drowned, but General Xiao did not give up hope of capturing the capital, Gaeseong, and continued to march southward. Later Xiao realized that the mission was impossible to achieve, and decided to retreat. General Gang knew that the Khitan army would withdraw from the war, and waited for them at the fortress of Kwiju, where he encountered retreating Khitans in 1019. (Battle of Kwiju). Discouraged and starving, the Khitans lost the battle. Following his victories in the Third Goryeo-Khitan War, peace was made.

Other contact

From the time of the empire's creation all the way to its decline, the Liao Dynasty was recognized by Korea. Russian people in their first contacts with Khitan people of Liao, had believed that they had in fact established contact with the empire of China, whom were culturally and physically similar to the Chinese, and henceforth, the country-name of China in Russian, is called Китай (pronounced kitai). The Khitan were also in contact the Abassid empire, and the court of Baghdad once asked for a Khitan princess for marriage. These relations established the Khitans all across the steppes, before the Mongol expansion. Commercial activity allowed the Khitans to make their name known beyond the Pamirs and in Europe.

Kemerosotan

Menjelang pertengahan kurun ke-11, Khitan hilang moral mereka dan mula mengambil pendekatan mempertahankan diri terhadap jiran-jirannya. Ini disebabkan pengaruh Buddhisme dan hilangnya cara hidup nomad dalam kebanyakan orang Khitan. Sekitar kurun ke-12, kemerosotan empayar bergerak pantas ekorang masalah pewarisan, malapetaka semulajadi dan perkembangan positif Jurchen di timur laut. Lebih tekanan diletakkan kepada Khitan apabila Jurchen dan Song membuat persekutuan menentangnya dan pada tahun 1124-1125, Empayar Khitan runtuh.