Liaohuai Prefecture City

Liaohuai Prefecture City

Liaohuai Prefecture City was the ancestral mausoleum town of Yelü Deguang, the second emperor of the Liao Dynasty. The city site is located within Ganggen Sumu in Bairin Right Banner, built at the triangular junction where the Chuangjin River and Houpu River converge. To its southeast lies access to Shangjing, and to the northwest, Qingzhou — it sat along an ancient transportation route connecting the northern grasslands.

The city was square-shaped, aligned strictly north-south, with a perimeter of four Chinese li. Its walls were rammed earth constructions; apart from the western wall, which had been eroded by the river, the rest are relatively well-preserved, with remnants standing 2–4 meters high. The city had gates in the south and north, and watchtowers were built at each of the four corners. In the western part of the city, the remains of two large palace complexes can still be found. Outside the northern wall lies a dense cluster of residential ruins. The house foundations were not large, and there was also a rammed earth platform base. On the mountain to the north of the city stands the site of a large temple, where Buddhist-themed petroglyphs have been discovered on the temple platform. The surface of the area is scattered with architectural components and fragments of crafts from the Liao period.

Liaohuai was an early prefectural city of the Liao Dynasty. In the ninth year of the Tianning era (1119), after the Jin army captured Shangjing, the city was destroyed in the war.

Yelü Deguang (902?–947), courtesy name Dezhen, childhood name Yaogu, of the Khitan ethnicity, was the second son of Yelü Abaoji, the founding emperor of the Liao Dynasty, and Empress Shulü Ping, the Empress Chunqin. He was the second emperor of the Liao State, reigning from 927 to 947. In 922, he was appointed Grand General-in-Chief of All Armies and led troops to raid northern Ji. In 926, after the death of Emperor Taizu, with the support of Empress Dowager Yingtian, he ascended the throne the following year, continuing to use the reign title Tianxian.

In 938, Yelü Deguang renamed the Imperial Capital as Shangjing. He initiated reforms to the bureaucratic system, dividing officials into southern and northern branches to govern according to local customs. Northern officials administered the Khitans under the old Khitan system, while Southern officials governed the Han people under the Han system. He also revised... More details about Yelü Deguang++